Author's Note: ... I really should update Shadowbuster...

Edit on 16/06/2017 for better grammar and some edited scenes.

Blessed Messiah

Chapter 3

He contemplated going inside, twisting and turning the set of keys with nimble hands. Junpei paced around, huffing and sighing until he groaned in frustration in front of a God-forsaken dormitory. He guessed that the word 'haunted' fitted the old building so well, what with the elegance only adding up to the creepiness of the building.

To enter or not to enter.

Not that he was a coward, mind you.

"Junpei... san?"

He yelped, clutching hard at his chest and darted backward with the speed of a short-distance runner. He hid behind the tree just outside the dorm and slowly, very slowly, glanced up at the person who dared enough to question his bravery.

"Ken." He deadpanned, thumping his head on the tree trunk while simultaneously stepping out from the shade. The younger man laughed at his antics and shook his unruly head with amused mirth. Junpei hated the fact that he had to glance up to look at Ken when he used to mock the kid's height. He swore that Ken actually looked like the kid could outgrow even Aragaki-senpai.

And apparently, Ken followed his line of thought because he smirked victoriously and swooped down to pull him into a one-armed hug. The tall brat pounded his shoulder, grinning widely and Junpei reluctantly patted his broad shoulder back.

A few seconds later, Ken finally stopped suffocating him and let him breath. "It's good to see you. Has it really been 7 years?"

"You got tall, kiddo. Guess all those glasses of milk paid off, right?" Junpei said with a proud smile.

Ken chuckled, raising his hand to adjust the frameless beige-coloured glasses perched on his nose. "I'm lactose intolerant, senpai." He rolled his eyes and crossed his arms. That was when Junpei noticed the yellow armband pinned on his standard Gekkoukan High School uniform's left bicep.

Junpei's eyebrows shot up, "You even made it into the Student Council! Congrats!"

The brat huffed with an ill-suffering face and said, "You have no idea. I can barely rest nowadays. I don't know how Mitsuru-senpai did that."

"Don't bother. She's a damn super woman." Junpei felt something missing, though. Something that always tagged along Ken...

"Oh! That's it! Where's Koro-chan?"

To which his question only brought a sad smile on Ken's face. "The old dog died last winter. He has some pups and I'm taking care of one now. We can see her later." Again, for his credit, Ken regarded him with a curious look and said,

"Right, so what brings you to the town?"

Junpei grinned, and he wondered how it looked to Ken. The way it felt to him was more like a badly-hidden grimace and judging from the frown on Ken's pubescent features, he really was never a good actor.

Ken was closer to him than the rest of his dorm mates and he was never that good at hiding his emotions. They connected through their similar love of action figures. It was him who introduced Ken to his favourite games and tokusatsu movies aside from Featherman but the kid was prudent about it. He was just glad that the kid seemed like he has loosen up enough during the years. It was good on him.

Junpei shrugged faintly, "Saw a pamphlet on our dorm's remodeling. Akihiko-senpai told me about it, so I just came by to check. Then..."

There was an air of understanding around Ken. "You've seen it, then."

"What do you think, about it?"

Ken paused, then inclined his head towards the rain-beaten paveway. "It's... just a fragment, I guess. Whatever it is. Supernatural or not. You do know that I'm not one to believe things like that, Junpei-san but ultimately, it's harmless." He rasped.

Funny, even Mitsuru said the same thing.

"Just..." Ken paused again, casting his gaze towards the locked door. "We should let it be. And focus on the future," he murmured before Junpei could add his own two cents.

The Student Council President shrugged and gave Junpei a small smile, "I'm about to visit Yukari-san, wanna come?"

He looked back at the mold-covered building. He came back here in this city in part of a mere coincidence and that meant his impromptu reunion with his friends and the remnant of his dead dorm mate was one coincidence after coincidence, too. So perhaps, it was better if he left it at that. It wasn't his business.

Maybe.

They caught her during her short break. Yukari was fanning herself and waving tiredly at them while a harried-looking makeup artist was hovering around her. Inwardly, he shuddered at the sheer amount of overdone frills and girlishness but he can admit that she looked comfortable in that costume. Her ridiculous white frilly costume flowed around her figure while her pink wig was styled into long twin tails encased in white ribbons.

"It's nice to see you around the town, Yukari-senpai. What are you filming on?" Ken began first. He leaned on one of the railings and took a can of drink from his backpack.

Yukari gratefully popped open the can and drank, careful not to ruin the beautiful dress. "You're a lifesaver, Ken. And I'm filming for the live action version of a popular magical girl series. Hey, even Stupei's here," Yukari giggled. Junpei did tried to be the more mature one, but he can't help but quipped loudly.

"Even scaredy cat Yuka-tan is here," to which Yukari glowered a bit and Junpei stuck out his tongue childishly.

Yukari became snappish, "Geez, you're gonna start a game of quip here?"

To which Junpei waggled his eyebrows playfully. "Dude, that's me."

Ken laughed into his drink and his shoulder shook with mirth. "You really haven't changed, Junpei-san."

A sigh came from the actress, "You're still the ordinary ol' Junpei. Isn't it about time you evolved into someone cooler?"

"Hey! I'm cool enough!"

"Nuh-uh. Not happening anytime soon, right, Ken?"

"Hear, hear."

They even had the gall to toast. He was stuck with shitty dorm mates. Revenge will be sweet.

The two immediately became wary when an evil glint reached Junpei's eyes. "Y'know, Yuka-tan-"

He drawled. "-I still remember that someone shrieked like a goddamn banshee when she heard a door creak and clung to me for dear life. While this brat here-" he caught Ken in a headlock. Ken tried to escape him, but he wasn't planning to let him go anytime soon. "-Once upon a time asked me to accompany him sneaking in to a cinema to watch Feather- Mmph!"

Ken succesfully blocked his mouth and Yukari glared with all her might. Their attempts were almost cute.

"I would vehemently deny that I clung to you for dear life, Stupei!"

"And I've never ask you to accompany me watching Featherman Victory! ...I-I mean, uh, yeah. I don't care. I don't even watch that show!"

"No! It was during the Film Festival, Ken. I remember that you asked me to watch it since you're too embarrassed to go alone."

Ken frowned. "...No, actually I asked Arisato-san to go with me."

"Ha! You admit watching that! ...Wait, wait. He agreed to go with you? That insufferable emo?"

"Yeah..."

This time, Yukari looked at Junpei with confused eyes. Even Ken eyed him as if there was something wrong with him. But isn't everyone?

His memory confused him.

Click.

This was crazy. He was getting crazy.

Thud.

The rusty chain fell to the broken patch of cement with a loud sound and Junpei watched in wary mesmerism that the key actually worked. Something made him not wanting to go inside, but he was in too deep to ignore this now. Things didn't make any sense, it was confusing and he'd be damned if he tried to shift it into something his simple mind could understand.

But he needed this. Needed this clarification, this sense of foreboding that didn't have anything to do with being buddies with Arisato or not. He might be stupid, but anyone with eyes could fucking see that something was wrong. He could've ignored that nagging voice in the back of his mind, but for that to actually happened thrice was a friggin' big clue that those were no coincidences.

Their memories were a jumbled and confused mess.

He tried to fumble with the door knob, but once his fingers touched the metal, goosebumps raised on his arms. Junpei had to fought the scalding chill that erupted suddenly and he gritted his teeth at the onslaught of pure dread he felt on his fingertips.

Somehow, he felt that he'd be damned if he left it alone.

A strong gust of wind flushed warmth from his body, charging the air that trembled around him with iciness that surpassed the cool autumn night. Junpei knew that he should've come here in the morning or ask some of his dorm mates to come here, but he wanted to see that fragment once again though he didn't know for what.

Maybe he wanted to gloat that at least he was still alive. Maybe he wanted to see that wretched face of utter despair. Maybe it was another thing altogether.

Call him crazy, he knew it could've been true.

And with another forced smash, the old wooden door was pushed open so hard that Junpei fell gracelessly on the frayed-ended carpet that was once a rich red. He coughed, clearing his lungs from the dust that permeated around the air and pulling himself up.

"Oww, damn I scratched my knee." He said aloud and looked up.

The scene that greeted him took his breath away. The empty hallway was a dingy, dark cleared space that was their common room. The furnitures were gone, sold away as they had no other purpose to serve and for once, Junpei let his jaw gaped open at the change. No wonder Mitsuru wanted to remodel it, since the interior looked like an abandoned haunted mansion more than the home he associated with his high school years instead.

It was so dark that he couldn't see much, so Junpei pulled up his phone and turned on the flashlight. As fluorescent light filled the room, he noted that the clock on his phone showed that it was three minutes to midnight. He smirked, wondering what that scaredy cat's reaction would be if she accompanied him here.

Junpei shrugged, deciding that Yukari would never go to any haunted place even if someone paid her. She would rather sleep with one eye open than touch anything scary with a ten-feet pole.

His amusement forgotten, Junpei took a deep breath. Mentally preparing himself for Arisato's fragment, if it ever appear. He would hope not, but then his night exploration would be meaningless.

It was only for the sake of curiosity, nothing else.

Junpei stepped back as a misty form seeped into the empty hallway from the door. It still took his breath away, so he leaned on the wall nearest from the entrance. The misty shape grew, forming another shape entirely and Junpei couldn't look away. It changed, revealing something with human-like quality in a way that ghosts in movies doesn't.

But it wasn't scary, nor it made Junpei wanted to run away. Instead, the figure looked as if it absorbed colour as it entered the dorm. The dark blue of its hair and the silver of its eyes and the black of its clothes transformed into something so alike Arisato. It was transparent, since Junpei could still see the time-worn carpet beneath its feet.

The fragment floated forward, not touching the floor but it looked like it didn't even noticed that it floated. Instead, it stood still. It stood long enough to make Junpei noticed that it has the gun from last week in one hand. He found that held his breath and let it out in a shaky exhale, suddenly unsure if he should leave or not.

Junpei wondered whether it was about to shoot it own head. But before he could bolt to his escape, the fragment moved-

-and the world was drenched in a horrible mess of nightmare.

A sick flood of sensations hit him. Emotions and sounds and light and colours and gravity struck him as Junpei staggered. He fell backward on the carpet and blood rushed to his ears. His pupils were blown wide, breath came in short pants and it was another second later when he noticed that he was curled up against the wall with his hands on his hair.

Junpei thought that the unstoppable shaking of his shoulders might've changed into sobbing instead, but he just wanted to sit there, trying to come to terms with what he had seen, with what he had heard.

With what he had witnessed.