'Either there was some massive remodeling done in the past two minutes, or I really am hallucinating.' Kasumi thought to herself as she pulled herself out of the air vent. Nearly tipping over the edge of something, she shifted her weight, her back smacking against the stone wall. Sitting on the edge of what was a wooden bookshelf, she surveyed the room she was in.
The room looked like it belonged in an actual european castle that an actual king lived in. Candles in actual candlesticks and candlewicks (at least that was what she was sure they were called) illuminated the room. Furnished fancily with all the materials like silk and expensive carpeting, the only other furniture besides the coaches was a solid oak table right in the middle. As Kasumi took in all of this, the room wavered for a little bit.
Blinking, Kasumi knew she saw a normal classroom in Shujin appear before her eyes, with desks and chalk boards and everything normal! Then, like a mirage, the classroom turned back into the fancy room. Staring at this change, she rubbed her eyes again and stared again. That did happen, right?
Looking around, she realized something else: Ren and Sakamoto-san weren't here in this room. And considering there was one door and she just came through the air vent, there was one way they could have gone. And now she was wasting time when she could be catching up with them and seeing what they were planning to do in this castle.
Sliding off the edge and landing on the ground, Kasumi ran over and opened the door. Peeking out, she looked around the hall. On one side, the fancy hallway gave way to grey stone and a plain wooden door that all but screamed dungeon. On the other side, it looked like it was connected to the main hallway of the castle. However, no sign of Ren and Sakamoto-san, and from the sound of things, she couldn't hear anything like conversation or footsteps or anything like that.
Kasumi bit her lip as she slowly left the room and entered the hallway. Where were they? Did they really manage to make that much headway? She didn't like her chances of finding them. Considering just how big the castle was when she approached it, the idea that Ren and Sakamoto-san could be deep in the midst of the castle when she was just lost in it unsettled her. Not to mention that she still had no idea what they were even planning on doing here, or if it would even change anything in the real world.
Stepping out into the main hall, she looked around to see the same trappings of luxury and majesty she had seen back in the room. Velvet curtains covered the windows, huge crystal chandeliers hung overhead, and an expensive looking carpet led from the door to a large staircase that led to a second floor. However, it was the large painting that stood in the center of the staircase, likely the first thing that each and every person that entered the castle through the front door.
"Kamoshida?" Kasumi reacted in disgust as she stared at the painting. In it, Kamoshida wore a suit of shining armor, holding a sword in his hand as he prepared to bring it down on an enemy offscreen with an expression of triumph on his face. The sun shone behind one of his shoulders, the castle stood behind his other. Such effects would give the idea of Kamoshida being a glorious leader, a righteous defender of the castle.
It made her stomach roll as she looked away, unable to equate the eyes of such a supposed noble with the eyes that roamed over her in his office.
"INTRUDER!"
The shout made her jump as she heard the sound of clanking armor behind her. Looking back, she gasped at the sight of two... knights in stereotypical european full plate approaching her. Wielding swords and shields that looked far too real for her liking, she realized that the knights didn't even have faces, just still masks with red glowing dots behind the eye holes.
Taking a step back, she saw the knights pause for a moment, their glowing dots narrowing in on her face.
"Huh, what is the new concubine doing here?" "Does it matter? His majesty would want her back in her place!" "Oh course, come here!"
With that, the knights began to advance. Immediately not liking the prospect of getting caught, her mind went into overdrive thinking of ways to get away from them. Quickly turning to climb the stairs (hoping that there was another way downstairs or that she could lose them in the hallways up there), she stopped as two puddles appeared on the stairs. Before her eyes, the puddles exploded, and two identical knights appeared before her.
...NOPE!
Jumping to the side and avoiding the two arms that tried to grab her, she rolled forward and sprang to her feet, pushing off and sprinting away into another hallway. Just behind her, she could hear the clanking armor behind her as the knights gave chase. Kasumi resisted the urge to curse as she saw the hallways looking completely similar, with no signs or anything to tell her where to go.
Worst of all, she could hear the clanking of armor slowly getting closer. Even as her heart beat faster and her muscles started to ache from her efforts, there was no sign of slowing from the knights. Then again, considering two of them just burst from the ground, she clearly wasn't dealing with anything human, so why would they have human problems?
Coming across a fork in the hallway, she was about to keep going straight when another burst happened in front of her. Immediately turning around, she went down another hallway, suits of armor on both sides of her, shields and spears at the ready. There, at the end of a hallway, two doors were there. The sound of clanking armor coming close made her choose.
Quickly running to one of the suits of armor, she pulled it down as she grabbed the spear. As the suit of armor crashed into the ground and scattered, Kasumi scrambled towards the door, unused to the length of the spear. Quickly opening the doors, she caught a glimpse of the knights having trouble getting through the mess before she closed the doors. She secured the spear through the door handles before stepping back and looking around to see what room she holed up in.
"W-what?" Kasumi gasped as she saw what the room was.
Rose petals littered the red carpet and black and blue checkered floor in front of her as the amount of candles that surrounded the area scented the room with vanilla. The walls were covered with red curtains and as she reached up and pulled them back, was nothing but walls. Kasumi paled as she looked around, pulling back each of the curtains as horrible reality asserted itself.
She just trapped herself.
'No no no- This can't be happening, can't be. CALM DOWN, calm down, Kasumi. Just think this through…'
"...My fault…"
Hearing a whisper, she turned and gasped. There, in the far end of the room, underneath a painting of a crown wearing Kamoshida, bare chested with bishie sparkles as he laughed at the poor subject below, a girl hung on a rack. The rags she wore barely hid her modesty as she seemed to just hang there, her head bowed with her whispers faint and tired. Immediately, Kasumi forgot her worries as she ran up to assist the girl, ignoring how her red colored hair seemed familiar.
"HEY! Are you alright?! Do you need help?" Kasumi asked, briefly admonishing herself for asking if the person needed help in a creepy castle where faceless knights could burst out of the floor to chase you down for their majesty. Come to think of it, she now had a pretty good idea of who that was from the two paintings she had seen. Shaking her head, she fully concentrated on trying to help this person out of her predicament.
The sound of the doors banging and the spear starting to splinter made her look over the chains more carefully. Maybe there was a weak link in her chains, something she could break off. Grabbing hold of one of the chains, she tried to pull as hard as she could, even putting a foot on what area she could find on the rack and adding her leg muscles to her arm muscles.
No luck.
Looking back, Kasumi saw that the spear was at its breaking point, and the knights on the other side would storm in. Looking at the person, who hadn't even noticed or even acknowledged Kasumi, she went up and shook her by the shoulder. "COME ON! HELP ME GET YOU OUT OF HERE!"
"...Deserve to be here… It's all my fault…"
Despite the situation, Kasumi shook her head. "No, you're wrong! You don't deserve to be here! You don't deserve this treatment! Why aren't you doing anything?! PLEASE LET ME HELP YOU!"
The girl shook her head, so slightly that Kasumi nearly missed it. "No...It's my fault…"
She raised her head… and Kasumi Yoshizawa stared at Sumire Yoshizawa.
"Wha-W-" Kasumi took a step back, everything going to the background as she stared at her younger twin. Slowly, surely, she began to notice all the different things: Sumire's hair color was wrong, her beauty mole was missing… Wait, she had the beauty mole, but she just covered it up, it's just too painful to look at, did she cover it up with makeup this morning, she must have because no one commented on it, but everyone knows that Sumire Yoshizawa always has a beauty mole on her face…
"I...I failed my sister...I failed her…" "Hu-" CRASH!
Turning around, she saw the knights flooding the room. Immediately the knights paused as they stared between the two identical looking girls. "What? Two concubines?" "What is going on?"
"What do you think, fools?"
A familiar, yet distorted voice called out. The knights immediately parted for the one who called out, inclining their heads as he passed by. Kasumi blinked as another familiar yet infinitely more unpleasant face stood in front of the knights.
"K-Kamoshida?"
As Kamoshida, or at least a being that looked a lot like Shujin's PE teacher, stepped out into the open, she was struck dumb by his appearance. He stood tall and arrogant, even though the only piece of clothing he was wearing was a pair of pink heart patterned boxers. His shoulders were covered by a heart patterned blanket that he fastened around his neck like a childish cape. Finally, a small and unadorned golden crown sat on top of his head, standing out among the black mop of hair. The Kamoshida doppelganger smirked as he pointed to Kasumi.
"This one is clearly a fake! You are all absolutely worthless if you cannot tell a piece of trash from the genuine article!"
Upon hearing this, the rest of the knights gasped as they quickly bowed their heads. "WE APOLOGIZE FOR OUR IGNORANCE! PLEASE FORGIVE US, YOUR MAJESTY!"
The Kamoshida smirked, and it was only then that Kasumi realized that he had bright yellow eyes, completely different from ones that the Kamoshida back in the world that made sense. "Be grateful, for today you shall receive the king's mercy. Now then, what shall we do with the fake here?"
Something about how this Kamoshida disregarding her as fake and the pathetic copy beside her as the real thing was the last feather in a day she wanted to forget. "WHAT DO YOU MEAN BY THAT?!"
"Hmm? Are you-" "SHUT UP!" Kasumi Yoshizawa shouted as she struggled to contain her surging emotions. It was just too much... Mishima-san, the office, Kamoshida, Ren, the castle, the doppleganger...
"THAT-" She pointed at the doppleganger, who didn't even react towards Kasumi's outburst. "IS NOT ME! I DON'T GIVE UP! I DON'T QUIT! I'M NOT PATHETIC LIKE HER! I AM NOTHING LIKE HER! I'M ME! I AM KASUMI YOSHIZAWA! AND SCREW YOU, KAMOSHIDA!"
Rushing forward, the red haired girl reared her hand back, ready to give this Kamoshida the slap he deserved. As she threw it, a hand caught her wrist, stopping it dead. Reason took over Kasumi's head again, as she stared at... Other Kamoshida as he tutted.
"Raising a hand to the king? Normally, I would sentence you to death for such a transgression, but that fire in your eyes..." Other Kamoshida leered at her, and the shiver rumbled through her spine. "It would bring me joy to douse it once more..."
Throwing Kasumi back and watching her stumble, he looked back at his knights. "Bring me the dog. I want to hear my concubine and her... double scream."
'Dog?' Kasumi thought before her doppelganger immediately started screaming, the chains rattling as she tried to pull forward.
"NO! PLEASE DON'T HURT HIM! I'LL DO ANYTHING, JUST LET HIM BE!"
Kasumi blinked at this naked display from her doppelganger, wondering who she was even referring to when she heard struggling from the crowd of knights. Eventually, a knight slightly bigger than the other knights and in gold armor dragged something, or someone forward, a chain around their neck. Trembling from exertion, the person looked up.
And Kasumi looked at Ren.
Only, it wasn't Ren. Ren didn't have a pair of dog ears or a fluffy black tail. Ren also looked healthy and well and safe, even when he was going with Sakamoto-san and that mascot cat thing into this castle. This Ren looked beaten and tortured and abused and nothing like he- the Ren she knew.
She didn't know how to feel when the Other Ren saw her doppelganger and immediately lightened. She didn't want to know how she felt about how the look in his eye came closest to a person seeing the reason why they lived.
She still gasped when Other Kamoshida turned around and booted Other Ren in the face. Her doppelganger immediately screamed.
"STOP!"
Other Kamoshida smirked. "Tell me. Who is the King?"
The doppelganger sniffed as she bowed her head. "You are."
"Who has the right to decide who lives and who dies in this castle?"
"You do."
"Who has the love to attend to a broken girl like you?"
"You do…"
Kasumi couldn't think. Too much had happened in too short a time. She could only stand there, surrounded by knights as Other Kamoshida grinded his heel on Other Ren's cheek.
"Now then, remind me… Who let their sister die?"
Wh-
Her doppelganger sniffled. "I...did."
"Who felt so guilty, she gladly looked for a replacement?"
Wha-
Her clone choked. "...I did."
"Who latched on to a mutt like this, just because he wore glasses like their sister?"
What?
Her… double sobbed. "I did."
"Who was so selfish that she tried to steal one of my slaves?"
Kasumi gasped as she instantly knew who Other Kamoshida was talking about, and more and more she just had the feeling that this Kamoshida was connected to the one she knew. "Mishima… You genuinely think that way of him?"
Other Kamoshida scoffed. "He should have been grateful that I even bothered letting him on the team. He was so useless...and you deceived him into thinking that he could be anymore."
"W-what do you mean by that?" Kasumi asked, an insidious idea working its way into her head.
"Mishima knew his place. He went where I told him to, he did what I told him to do, he brought who I told him to bring. So imagine my surprise that for the first time… he lies straight to my face. He dared to deceive me, ME! So I disciplined him, to remind who he served. All he had to do was to bow again, show me that he understood who the king was."
Other Kamoshida gave a ugly snarl.
"But he didn't. No matter how many times I disciplined him, he always kept rising, always denying the truth, my truth. Still, he was still a useless worm, and eventually his body couldn't take it anymore. And I should thank him. I got to hear the one he was thinking of, the one he worshipped, the one name that slipped past his lips as he fell unconscious."
He grinned at a paling Kasumi.
"Yours. One must take responsibility for the messes they create, and I simply do not think you have repented enough." Other Kamoshida smirked as he gestured to one of his knights. It came forward, drawing its sword before bowing and presenting it to him. He took it, smirking as he laid the blade on Ren's cheek. With a contemptuous ease, he slashed Ren's cheek, prompting more screams from Kasumi's double.
"PLEASE, I'M SORRY! DON'T KILL HIM, DON'T KILL REN!"
Other Kamoshida shook his head as he tutted. "Quiet from you. If anything, I want to hear from the fake."Kasumi didn't even react as the situation made itself clear to her. She wasn't getting out. This Kamoshida wasn't just connected to the Kamoshida she knew, this Other Kamoshida was everything that the Kamoshida in the real world dared not reveal about himself. And all the things that he was saying, all the things that her double was saying… she couldn't ignore any of it. There was no way out, she couldn't see one.
"What… what do you even want me to say?"
"That everything is true, everything that my concubine says is true. I'll consider whether or not to spare the dog here, based on your word. Though… I certainly hope that you're not thinking of replacing this dog with Sakamoto…""PLEASE, JUST ACCEPT IT! DON'T STEAL AWAY MY SECOND CHANCE! I CAN'T FAIL AGAIN! I CAN'T!"
Surrounded on all sides, Kasumi began to shut down. All the sounds, the smells, the sights, all of it began to get away from her. Maybe she was trying to get away from it all, away from the horrible situation she found herself in. It didn't matter to her, as long as she got away from the horrible reality, all the things that she wanted to deny, but were all shoved in her face until she choked on them.
She failed at being a good sister. She failed at being a good daughter. She failed at being a good athlete. She failed at being a good friend…
Sakamoto was staring at her, blocking her view of Ren."I mean it. You can't come. Unless you have a really, really good reason why you should. No begging, just a real good reason why we should let you come." She stepped forward, a hand to her heart. "Because I'm…" For a brief moment, Ren was replaced by Sumire.
She is selfish. She is hopeless. She is useless.
And selfish, hopeless, useless people like her could only do one thing."HELP!"
Her cry echoed throughout the empty room and into the halls. But no one answered. The Other Kamoshida smirked. "Now what were you hoping that wou-""SENPAI!"
The golden knight raised its shield to protect Other Kamoshida as the other knights were blown away by-
Kasumi blinked at the sight of the giant skeleton pirate with a cannon for a hand and riding a pirate ship like a surfboard. This day… just got crazier by the minute, didn't it? Suddenly, three figures jumped from the ship and began to shoot at the remaining knights with guns. Actually, one of them, the mascot cat monster, was shooting at them with a slingshot. After shooting one knight in the head with a pistol, and seeing it fade into nothingness, Ren looked up at her with relief in his eyes.
"SENPAI, WE'RE HERE!"
Kasumi froze as she realized where she was, and what Ren saw. 'Don't look… Don't look at me.'
Any moment, Ren's eyes would drift, to her Other restrained to the rack, to the Dog version of him, and instantly realize the significance of the two. She feared when he looked back. Would he be shocked, repulsed, disgusted, betrayed? Would he decide that she wasn't worth it anymore?
"Well, to think we would have to meet again. Still, it seems you insist on surrounding yourself with trash, and now you seek to rescue my con-" "Shut up."
Ren turned back to Kasumi and smiled. "Sorry for getting you into this, Senpai. Don't worry, we're getting you out of here."
Kasumi looked at the two doubles of her and Ren then looked back to him. 'Do those two really not bother him?'
"You dare ig-" "You said that one out loud, Senpai. Whatever King Douche is telling you, don't listen to him. Everything in this castle, from him to even those two, its all how he sees the world, how he sees Shujin. His own little castle, full of people that he can boss around and look down on as much as he wants."
"YOU DARE IGNORE HIS MAJESTY TWICE? YOU MUST PERISH FOR YOUR INSOLENCE!" The golden knight exploded, transforming to become… a giant demon sitting on a plain white toilet.
"OH SHUT UP! JACK O LANTERN! AGI!" Briefly tipping his mask off his face, Ren summoned a pumpkin head, wearing a pointy hat and a purple cloak, and holding a lantern in one hand. Raising that lantern, the Pumpkin thing shot out a fire ball, smacking against the giant demon's face. With a cry of pain, the giant demon collapsed on the ground holding its face. Not expecting the lucky break, Ren turned back to Kasumi.
"Come on, Senpai!" "WAIT RI- AHH!"Just as Other Kamoshida tried to interject, the Mascot Cat Thing sneaked up behind him before smacking his knee with the blunt end of his scimitar sword. As Other Kamoshida dropped his sword and fell to the ground, the Mascot Cat Thing immediately ran to Kasumi's side. The red haired gymnast numbl noted that it came up to her thigh.
"Come with us, Lady Senpai!"
...Sure, at this point, why can't the Mascot Cat Thing talk? At this point, Kasumi just hoped that this was all just a bad dream. As she ran with the Mascot Cat Thing towards Ren and Sakamoto-san, she remarked. "My name isn't Senpai, it's Kasumi. What do they call you?"
The Mascot Cat Thing looked up, and Kasumi noted how it ran, its legs obscured by white circles just like all those looney tune cartoons she used to watch with- "Ah, very well, Lady Kasumi. By the way, why does Joker call you Senpai?"
"COME ON, LET'S GO!" Sakamoto-san shouted, holding his shotgun as he peered out into the hallway. As everyone started to run towards the exit, a shout chilled her.
"MAGARU!" A sound of howling winds roared behind her. Suddenly, someone pushed her forward, just as the winds howled their loudest, joined by a yell of pain. Tumbling back on her feet and looking back, she gasped in horror.
Ren was on the ground, breathing heavily as his eyes were wide in pain. The Toilet Demon was drifting closer to him, its eyes squarely on him. Ren briefly looked up and gathered his breath.
"G-G-GOO!"
"LIKE HELL I AM! MORGANA, GET YOSHIZAWA OUT OF HERE! WE'LL MEET YOU OUT THERE!" Sakamoto-san shouted as he loaded his shotgun with some shells from his belt before running past her and Morgana.
Firing at the Toilet Demon with his shotgun, Sakamoto-san summoned the Ghost Pirate again, before pointing at the Toilet Demon. "LUNGE!"Shooting forward like a rocket, the Ghost Pirate collided with the Toilet Demon as Sakamoto-san got to Ren's side. Grabbing one of Ren's arms and pulling it over his shoulders, he began to help Ren to the other two. As Morgana told them to hurry up, Kasumi watched.
'Sakamoto-san is helping Ren to safety… and here I am, on the sidelines needing help… I can't stand this. But what can I do? I'm just… me…'
At that point, something broke in Kasumi.
'No...NO… NO! What if I'm selfish, hopeless, useless and all that?! REN IS FIGHTING, SAKAMOTO IS FIGHTING! I WILL NOT BE ON THE SIDELINES! I REFUSE TO BE HERE ANYMORE! I AM KASUMI YOSHIZAWA, AND I WILL NOT QUIT! PLEASE, THERE HAS TO BE SOMETHING I CAN DO!'
"My, so adamant…"Suddenly, the most splitting headache made Kasumi stop. Gripping her head, she pressed tightly, trying to relieve some of the pressure that was threatening to split her head in two. However, it didn't do anything, the source of the pressure coming from something not physical yet deep inside her.
"Rather than accept a life in cinders... You'd strive towards splendor- you know the risk…"Slowly, Kasumi began to listen to the voice that was pushing through the pain. Despite herself, the voice… soothed her. No, that wasn't enough to describe it. Like for the first time, her soul knew what it was like to be still once again…
"Well, if those really are the shoes you've chosen... Then we'll dance to the end."Immediately, Kasumi realized what the voice was offering. 'YES! PLEASE HELP ME FIGHT!'
"Very well, I am thou, thou art I…"At that moment, something formed from azure fire over her face. Feeling it, she knew it was a mask… and she knew that she needed to take it off.
"Accept this contract... The spell cast upon you.""I ACCEPT!" With a yell, Kasumi took the mask off her face. Almost immediately, her inside, her soul was overcome with such relief, like ice cold water after a hellish training session. Suddenly, energy sprung up from inside before running over, her clothes suddenly feeling much different from before as two objects formed in her hands.
As the transformation ended, she felt a wind blowing through her hair, though she knew it was now in a bun like she would during a competition. Taking a deep breath, she exhaled before bringing her new arms up to bare. In one hand, a level action rifle that she kept pointed to the ground. In her other, a rapier that she pointed at the Toilet Demon as Ren and the others looked up at her and her… persona.
Without looking up, she knew what the manifestation of her soul looked like. Piercing blue eyes stared out from orange crystal that looked like hair and with a giant pink bow tied on top. A mantle of pure white contrasted her dark skin and blue tattoos. A golden wire design encircled her waist. And from the chest down, her body was clad in rough crystal. This was the maiden covered in cinders who found the courage to go to the ball…
"LET US INTRODUCE US, CENDRILLON!"