Chapter Four – Sticks and Bones

Ren sat down with a tired grunt. Futaba plopped herself down opposite him, and Morgana leaped onto the table right after.

"Man, I'm so tired," The cat laid his head down on his paws. Ren reached over and scratched his ears absent-mindedly.

"What the heck is up with Ryuji? It's almost like he's a different person!" Futaba said, her concern showing clearly on her face. Morgana shook off Ren's hand and sat up as well.

"I don't know. Something's really strange about him. It's not like him to ignore students in need like that."

Clink.

Sojiro placed a steaming cup of coffee in front of both Futaba and Ren while glancing at the black cat. "Sometimes it really does seem like he can talk." Shaking his head, the elderly man turned around and went back to the kitchen, ignoring Morgana's protesting meows.

"Thanks Sojiro, you have no idea how much I need this right now."

A momentary silence fell over the table as they nursed their coffees, deep in thought.

"If I might interject, there was a strange aura around Ryuji Sakamoto earlier."

The three jumped, startled. Ren pulled out of his phone and set it on the table, where Emma's figure was now prominently on the screen.

"Man, I'd forgotten all about her," Futaba remarked. She eyed the AI with a wary look, still distrusting of the once-God-obsessed entity.

"What do you mean, 'strange aura'?" Ren asked.

"I might have been mistaken, but I felt a certain kinship with Ryuji Sakamoto."

Morgana's hackles rose as he hissed at the blue figure. "Don't classify Ryuji with the likes of you. He's nothing like you!"

"Yeah! He's a million times better!" Futaba bristled indignantly.

"I…" Faced with the two of them, Emma faltered. Ren decided he had to step in at this point.

"Enough, you two. Let her talk." At his words, Morgana and Futaba sat back, but Ren could still tell that they were simmering with discontent. He turned his attention back to his phone. "EMMA, elaborate."

"Yes. For a brief moment, when Ryuji Sakamoto was questioned about the student Daito Fukuda, he emanated an extremely strange… smell."

"A… smell?" Ren started to get a sinking feeling.

"You mean… like how Sophia used to get smells? Are you saying that Ryuji… has a Jail?" Futaba's eyes were wide in shock.

"But I thought all the Jails were dealt with ages ago!"

Sojiro looked up at how loud the discussion was getting, annoyed, but the three ignored him.

"That would be incorrect. It was most definitely not a Jail that I sensed."

"Then what was it?" The challenge in the feline voice was unmistakable.

"I am uncertain. I have no data on this matter," Emma sounded hesitant. "But in that brief moment, I most certainly felt… as if Ryuji Sakamoto was emanating a smell much like when I assumed the form of Demiurge."

"…What?" The three of them echoed almost simultaneously, stunned.

"What does that even mean?"

"Futaba Sakura, I understand that you hold great distrust towards me at present. However, rest assured that I am not lying in this scenario. There is something extremely strange about Ryuji Sakamoto at present." Emma said firmly.

Another brief silence, as they all pondered deeply over what they had learned. Finally, Ren spoke up.

"With how strange Ryuji has been acting…"

"You can say that again. It's like he's a completely different person."

Ignoring Futaba's interruption, Ren continued, "…Do you think someone changed his heart?"

"How is that possible though? The Metaverse is gone. There's no more entry into it!"

"Not exactly," Morgana replied with narrow eyes. He swung his gaze once more to the phone.

"That's right… EMMA was the one who created the whole Jail fiasco in the first place!" Futaba's eyes held just as much suspicion and hostility.

"I assure you, I have no data of this incident." Emma said helplessly.

"Guys, this is getting nowhere." Before the situation could escalate, Ren stopped all of them. At times like this, he was grateful he had been pushed to the leader role of their little band; Morgana and Futaba stood down almost immediately.

"We'll go back to Shujin tomorrow, and hopefully find a few more clues in the process. It's getting late, we'll all turn in for the night. Futaba, are you alright to continue the investigation tomorrow?"

"It should be fine. I've got a couple of classes in the morning, but…" At this, she lowered her voice, "Nothing I can't skip." She stole a fearful glance at the counter, but Sojiro did not seem to have heard her. She breathed a sigh of relief.

"Good, we'll meet again tomorrow then."

The clinking of chains woke him first. His eyes shot open.

Blue.

He sat up. Shaking the last remnants of sleep from his mind, he swung his legs over the side of the bunk bed and got up with some difficulty. Dragging the iron ball behind him, he made his way to the bars of his cell.

It's still open, huh.

Entering the Velvet Room proper, he glanced around cautiously, looking for any signs of life. A profound silence hung in the air, the azure walls illuminated somehow by an unseen light. Try as he might, he sensed no one in the room with him.

He approached the desk. Looking down, he saw the same parchment.

Put the Gods back in their place, Trickster.

The gate to Shujin Academy creaked slightly as Ren pushed it open. Pushing his bushy hair away from his face, he walked in with Futaba in tow.

The school was as crowded as it had been the day before. Despite it being after school hours, the halls buzzed with activity and chatter. Students on their way to their various clubs rushed past in varying degrees of haste, while students on their way home passed by Ren and Futaba in droves. One of them, lost in his own world, bumped into Ren on his way out.

"Oh, I'm sorry-"

The student broke out of his reverie and looked up, only to glance down quickly. He tried to make his way past, but Ren shot an arm out and gripped the kid by the shoulder.

"Daito Fukuda?"

Daito jolted, and winced visibly. Seeing the student in pain, Ren instinctively let go, and the teenager took advantage of this to bolt off.

"Hey!"

"After him!"

The two chased him out of the school. The chase did not last long; Daito was clearly favoring his side as he ran, and his speed suffered as a result. He managed to get as far as the little alleyway outside of school before Ren and Futaba caught up to him.

"Why'd you… run?" Futaba huffed as Ren pinned him to the wall.

"W-well, you chased me! You're the crazy lady and dude from yesterday, what are you doing back here again?"

"…What happened to you?"

The boy looked away to the side, trying to conceal a side of his face from them, but Ren grabbed his chin and forcibly pushed his head back.

"H-hey! Stop it!"

But it was too late; Ren's keen eyes quickly picked out the corner of a bruise, peeking out from under Daito's left collar. Grabbing his lapel, Ren ignored the boy's pained protests and yanked his collar open. Behind him, Futaba gasped.

Under the white shirt, a large bruise stretched from the base of Daito's left neck and disappeared downwards into where the shirt covered up more skin. Ren's eyes narrowed, and he let go of the boy's shirt. Daito quickly moved to cover himself back up.

"Look, it ain't any of your business-"

"Does Ryuji know?" Ren interrupted him. Daito's eyes shot him a fearful look.

"No! And don't you dare tell Coach Sakamoto about any of this!"

"What are you going on about? We need to get you to the nurse right away!" Futaba exclaimed.

"I'm not going! It's nothing, I'm just gonna go home and rest for the day! Bad enough that I'm missing practice for the day, I don't need the nurse telling Coach-!" Daito's sudden shout startled the two, and Ren stepped back. The teenager pushed past Ren – yelping in pain in the process – and ran off. Futaba made to go after him, but Ren held her back.

"…Forget it. We're not getting anything out of him. Let's go talk to Ryuji."

Walking through the front gates of Shujin again, Ren and Futaba stopped briefly by the front office to check in. While he was filling in the form, Ren felt his phone vibrate briefly in his pocket, but when he took it out there were no notifications. Puzzled, he placed the phone back, and made his way to the track where he presumed his old friend would be.

His guess was accurate; as they neared the track, they could hear the screeches of Ryuji's whistle, accompanied by the energetic responses of his students. Ryuji was staring at the track, his back to them. Something about the way he stood reflected a steely determination, Ren noted. The group made their way to the stands and waited silently for the coach to notice them.

Fortunately for them, they did not need to wait for too long; Ryuji spotted them soon enough. The blonde waved at them with a smile, but Ren knew him well enough that he was clearly upset by something. Getting up from his seat, he walked over to his old friend.

"What's up?"

"Nah, nothing. Just training the boys. Speaking of which, HEY FUKUDA PICK UP YOUR PACE!"

Ren looked toward the track at Ryuji's angry shout. A boy visibly started, and began to run faster. Ren squinted; this was the boy who had visited Daito back in the infirmary yesterday.

"You seem upset over something."

Ryuji scratched the back of his head. "That obvious, huh?" He turned back to the track. "For some reason, one of my boys has been performing really poorly today. The kid I shouted at, you see him?"

"Yeah… You said he was Fukuda?" Ren narrowed his eyes, the cogs in his brain turning. "…Does he have any relation to Daito Fukuda?"

"Who?" Ryuji looked genuinely confused for a moment, then he snapped his fingers. "Oh, the kid who fell yesterday? Yeah, they're brothers. Ain't too hard to connect the dots there, huh?"

"Did something happen?"

"Nothing serious that I know of. Daito's not feeling well today, that's about it. Saito on the other hand seems so distracted. I can't have that in one of my stars, so I'm pushing him extra today."

Ren looked back at the track at the boy doing laps, who was clearly struggling and out of breath. He was pressing on with a dogged determination, but every step he took seemed difficult and beleaguered. Ren turned back to Ryuji and opened his mouth to speak, but stopped short when he saw the expression on his friend's face. It was an ugly expression of clear displeasure.

"…Aren't you being a little harsh on the kid?" Futaba's worried voice came from behind.

"Nah. They need a little push every now and then. They're tough kids." Ryuji didn't even turn to look at her.

"What about Daito Fukuda, what happened to him?" Morgana probed. Ryuji shrugged, and made a non-committal noise. "Who knows? It's not any of my business. He's not on the team anymore anyway, he can do whatever he wants."

"That's surprising."

Ryuji turned and looked at Ren, his brow furrowed in irritation. "Oh yeah? What's so surprising about it?" Ren simply looked at Ryuji in response, and the two locked gazes for a long while. Futaba shifted about uncomfortably. Ryuji was the first to look away.

"What the kid does is literally none of my business. I learned that the hard way. Now if you'll excuse me I've got a team to coach." Ryuji blew a long note on his whistle, and slowly the students came to a stop in front of him, huffing and puffing.

"Ryuji…" Ren started, but Ryuji refused to look at him. Frustrated, Ren reached out and grabbed Ryuji by the shoulder.

"The hell are you doing, man?!"

Ryuji's outburst startled all of them, and Futaba, Ren and Morgana all took a step back. Ryuji turned to them, his anger plain on his face. "I'm busy, dude! Get out of my track!"

Ren started to say something, but stopped when he saw the students' faces behind Ryuji. Their expressions mirrored Ryuji's anger, and all of them were staring at Ren and Futaba with naked hostility.

"…Let's go."

Turning, he led his friends away from the track.

"What the hell was that about?!" Futaba fumed.

The three now stood at the entrance to the track, away from Ryuji and his students. Behind them, they could hear the sounds of the whistle resuming. Ren frowned.

"Did you see the looks on the students' faces at the end there?"

Morgana nodded. "Yeah, I did. That was creepy."

"Who cares about the students, did you see how that asshole was treating us?!"

"We were there too, Futaba…"

Suddenly, Ren felt a trembling in his pocket. Reaching in, he pulled out his phone, which was vibrating fiercely. On the screen, Emma's figure was in full view, a vacant expression on her face.

"…What's wrong, EMMA?" Ren asked, but he received no reply. Beside him, Futaba was still exclaiming angrily, while Morgana was still trying to mollify her in vain.

"…You hear me, Ryuji Sakamoto?! We're gonna have a long talk after this!" Futaba shouted in the direction of the track.

Ren's phone stopped vibrating abruptly. Emma spoke.

"…Keyword accepted."

Black waves tinged with red erupted from the phone, enveloping the group. As the waves washed over him, Ren found that he was unable to move or react. A heavy, oppressive feeling came over him, an all-too familiar feeling.

Impossible…

As suddenly as it came, the feeling lifted, and he found that he could move again. His phone was still in his now-gloved hand, but the screen was black and empty. Looking up, he looked at Oracle and Mona, both with equally shocked expressions on their faces.

From somewhere behind them, Emma's voice rang out.

"Welcome to the Church of Skull."

Author's Note: I will strive to keep these chapters coming at a much more regular pace. I really struggled with this chapter but with this we should be good. The hill has been crested people - for now at least. Let's go.