Makoto's eyelids are heavy. Kawakami-sensei is speaking to her, but nothing sticks. Her duties as Student Council President are ramping up. A number of club budgets need balancing. There's still undone prep for tomorrow's volleyball rally. Exam proctoring.
It is not something she can't handle. Yes, it is a lot when combined with her usual studies and college groundwork. Not to mention her sister's recent sour attitude.
However, none of this is why she barely slept last night. She spent too much time thinking about Akira Kurusu. She knows someone leaked his information online. Everyone was talking about it yesterday, but she's resisted the temptation to look. Kawakami's assurances had set her at ease, but then she'd heard he'd arrived five hours late, in the company of Ryuji Sakamoto.
And that they had scaled a wall in the courtyard.
Doubt infects her. What if the rumors are true? Is he dangerous? Violent? Unhinged? Homicidal? She imagines him, all buff and jagged lines, covered in tattoos, a murderous glint in his eyes. His voice is loud and obscene, his curses spit like saliva. Perhaps he is a former member of the yakuza. They've been known to accept adolescents. How did he get out? Had he gotten out? Was he missing a section of his pinky finger? If so, what had he done to deserve its removal? Was he a drug user? A drug pusher? An enforcer? She imagined, and imagines still, a stooped young man, stalking his way down the halls of Shujin, the students scattering at the sound of his approach. His eyes, dark and maniacal, are enough to scare away even the toughest potential challengers. And she imagined, and imagines still, herself, standing defiant in the face of impending conflict and-
"Niijima-san, are you listening to me?"
Makoto blinks, blushes and says, "I'm sorry, Kawakami-sensei. I know it's no excuse, but I didn't get much sleep last night."
Kawakami snorts. "Oh, believe me. It's an excuse." Then her lips become a tight line and she quickly says, "Anyway, I'm glad you decided to do this. He should be here any minute, hopefully."
Makoto nods and clears her mind of the delusions and fantasies. "I look forward to meeting him." That's right. Keep it together. All I have to do is show him around the school. That'll be easy. Then I can get back to what's really important.
She doesn't have time for idle speculation. Even if it is kind of fun. It's ridiculous that she allowed herself to indulge like that until the early morning. That isn't who she is. Still exhausted, she steels herself and continues to wait.
The door to the faculty office slides open and both women turn toward the noise. A tall, lean, dark haired student steps inside.
Kawakami rises from her chair. "Kurusu-kun. It's nice to see you fit us into your busy schedule."
The boy frowns and approaches. "Yes, Kawakami-sensei," he replies.
Makoto's brain is firing. Wait, this is Akira Kurusu? But he's just...
Kawakami's voice from yesterday fills in the blank.
Cute.
Her throat goes dry. She becomes uncomfortably aware of her pulse. This is nonsense. Her brain begins to reason with itself. Sleep deprivation. Dehydration. She did not get the opportunity to eat a balanced meal this morning. She is, simply put, off her game. She orders her mind to cut it out, but it is too busy assessing the young man in front of her, and comparing it to the version she'd concocted last night. Calm, collected, handsome, quiet, a little confident, handsome. Wait, what are these observations based on? He's only said two words! He stepped into the office all of five seconds ago.
"No more train delays?" Kawakami-sensei asks, a teasing lilt in her voice.
Kurusu sighs, and reaches towards his face with his hands. His fingers collide with the lenses of his glasses and he frowns. He removes them and rubs his eyes. "There were, but I left early so I could get here on time."
"How considerate of you," his homeroom teacher replies.
Akira Kurusu regards the both of them without his glasses.
Oh. Makoto thinks when he fixes her with his dark eyes. He looks better with them off.
"This," Kawakami-sensei says, and gestures to Makoto. "Is Makoto Niijima, Shujin Academy's Student Council President."
Makoto regains enough of herself to say, "It's very nice to meet you, Kurusu-kun." She does not stutter, and her voice does not squeak.
Akira Kurusu replaces the glasses on his face, and inclines his head. "And you, Niijima-senpai."
"Now then," Kawakami says, bringing her hands together in a single, loud clap. "I've asked Niijima-san here to tutor you, as-"
Makoto's heart lurches up to her throat. "Wait, what?"
Kawakami glances over at her, brows furrowed. Makoto gulps. She actually gulps. Such an outburst is unbecoming for her. And in front of a teacher?
"Is that going to be a problem?" Kawakami asks. "I told you I wanted someone to help him adjust to life here, and a strong academic performance would go a long way towards that. As you've taken his courses already, I thought you would be the best person for this job."
Makoto keeps the scowl from her face. Like I don't have enough to do? She breathes in, breathes out. Breathes in, breathes out. She pushes her emotion down, captures her composure. Kurusu, for his part, looks indifferent. Relax. Relax. Another responsibility won't kill me. Kawakami-sensei is right. I am the best person for this job. I'm just tired and flustered. She turns to Kurusu and tries not to let her eyes linger on his face. It is a very nice face. "I am truly sorry for my outburst just now. Please accept my apology." She bows her head, just a bit. "I'd be happy to tutor you, Kurusu-kun."
His smile is polite, but lacks warmth. It is rehearsed, and Makoto knows this because she sees the same smile on the face of her sister nearly every day. "Thank you, Niijima-senpai."
She needs to take back control. She will not allow any compromise. "We'll meet in the library after school today. Please bring your notes and textbooks."
Kurusu hesitates for only a moment, before he nods and says, "Alright. I'll see you there."
Kawakami, evidently pleased with herself, wears a wide and proud grin. "There we go! See? Look at me, facilitating healthy relationships between my students." Makoto cringes at the word 'relationship,' but Kurusu doesn't seem to be bothered, so she doesn't let it show. "Alright, it's almost time for class. Kurusu-kun, you'll be coming with me. Niijima-san, thank you for your assistance in this." She stands and heads for the door, and Akira Kurusu gives Makoto a single, solid nod, before he follows her.
Makoto watches the two of them and mumbles an, "Of course," before she herself starts to leave.
#
Akira stares out the window as the morning's lecture drones on. Makoto Niijima, huh? Perhaps he misjudged Kawakami. Maybe she really did want to see him do well.
Plus, having the Student Council President around couldn't possibly hurt his standing any. The rumors about him have only intensified today. He is now either a former yakuza member, or an undercover yakuza member.
He's not going to hold his breath though. When Kawakami had asked Niijima to tutor him, she had seemed upset by the prospect. She had, actually, seemed flustered throughout the whole meeting.
She probably heard the rumors. She at least must've looked me up online.
Fine.
If that's how it is, that's how it is.
Just another pretty face. He thinks this, but admits to himself that, really, Niijima-san's is a very pretty face.
Yet, something nags at him. He doesn't know why, but he can't help thinking that he's seen her somewhere before.
#
Lunchtime arrives, and Ryuji struts into the classroom. The students turn their attention to him, and a fresh batch of whispers begins to bounce around the class. Ryuji ignores all this, and plops down in the empty seat alongside Akira. "Yo," he says, and leans in.
"Hey," Akira replies. The rumor mill is going to go nuts. Let it. "So..."
"Yeah." Ryuji leans in, and his voice drops to a whisper. "That thing yesterday? Wasn't a dream, right?" Akira nods. "Look, I don't know about you, but I need to know what's going on. Kamoshida, all the volleyball players we saw over there? None of them remember anything. Have you talked with Ann?"
"Not yet," Akira says. "But she hasn't said anything to me either." He glances at the other students. "And there's something else."
"Yeah?" Ryuji is expectant, listening.
"I've been having these dreams, ever since I got to Tokyo. At first I thought they were just weird nightmares. Now, I don't know." He takes a few moments to describe to Ryuji the contents of those strange visions.
"Whoa," Ryuji says. "That is creepy. But, do you, like, think it has something to do with all this? I mean, I'm not a dream-analyzing-guy myself, but you do have a record. Couldn't it just have to do with all of that?"
"That's just it. I thought so too. But last night, I had another dream. I was in the Velvet Room, and Igor congratulated me on awakening my Persona."
"But didn't that cat thing call it a Persona? Couldn't it have just come from that?"
"Yeah, but come on. Given how crazy things were yesterday, it wouldn't surprise me that this stuff in my dreams is real too."
Ryuji shrugs in surrender. "Alright, I guess that's a good point."
The door slides open and Ann Takamaki walks in. Her eyes are downcast, but when she sees Ryuji seated next to Akira, a fire returns to them. She marches up to the two boys and asks, "What're you doing here, Ryuji? This isn't your class."
Ryuji rolls his eyes. "Yeah, I know that." He inclines his head towards Akira. "I was just chattin' with this guy."
She crosses her arms and frowns. "Don't you think it's time you got lost already?"
"Real nice, Takamaki," Ryuji says, standing. "By the way, have any plans on going back to the castle today?"
Akira's mouth is suddenly dry. He had wanted to ask Takamaki about her presence in Kamoshida's warped castle, but hadn't had the opportunity. He would have been a bit more subtle than outright asking her, though.
Ann's brows furrow. "Huh? What the heck are you talking about?"
"Sure was considerate of you, to just sit there while we were about to be executed."
She sighs. "I have no idea what kind of game you two idiots are playing, but keep me out of it."
Ryuji and Akira glance at each other. Both can tell what the other is thinking. She doesn't remember either.
"Fine, eff this. I'm going." Ryuji shoves his hands in his pockets and begins to walk off. Then he stops and turns back to Akira. "Meet me at the front gate after school, dude. We'll get to the bottom of this." He cracks a grin, and Akira can't help but return it.
"Sure," he says. Then Ryuji saunters out of the room and shuts the classroom door.
#
Akira meets Ryuji at Shujin's front gate. Students in the area scatter when they see the two together. Ryuji doesn't notice this either. Akira wonders if it's because of poor observational skills, or because he can't be bothered to care.
"So, I was thinking," Ryuji says as Akira walks up to him. "You know how Kamoshida and Takamaki don't remember us at all from the castle?"
"Yeah."
"Well, what if that weirdo wearing the speedo wasn't the real Kamoshida?"
"I don't follow."
"What if it was, like, a doppler, or something?"
"A doppler?"
Ryuji rolls his eyes. "Yeah. You know. Like something that looks like someone else, but isn't?"
"Oh," Akira says, and snaps his fingers a few times before he remembers the term. "You mean a doppelganger?"
"Yeah, that's it!"
Akira considers this for a few moments, then nods. "Makes sense."
"Wait, for real?"
"Sure. You said it yourself, you've seen Kamoshida since our time in the castle. He didn't say anything."
Ryuji leans back against the school's gate. "But what's it all mean? Like, what was that castle?"
"Well, if it's not the real Kamoshida, and those people he had in there weren't real students, does it really matter?"
Ryuji fixes him with a glare, and Akira blinks in surprise. "Of course it does!" The blonde boy shouts. "Think about it. He was torturing all those guys, and doing... all that stuff, with those girls. What if what he's doing over there is just a bigger version of what he's doing over here?"
Akira mulls this over. "You think he actually is hurting people, over here?"
Ryuji glances around, and in a lower voice, whispers, "I know he hurts people. I see a lot of guys on the volleyball team with bruises and slings. And sometimes I see the girls looking like that too."
Something goes cold inside Akira. Someone has flipped a switch, and the whirling fragments that compose his mind shut themselves up, and all he has left is a single, all-encompassing, solidified thought. If what Ryuji is saying is true, we have to do something. It is not a question for him. He remembers Arsene's challenge, and he remembers his response.
"You okay, dude?" Ryuji asks. "You went still all of a sudden."
Akira looks Ryuji in the eye, and says, "You want to go back there, don't you?"
His friend's frown turns into a grin, and his eyes light up. "Hell yeah, man! You in?"
"I'm in."
#
Tap. Tap. Tap.
Makoto's pencil is sharpened to a fine point, and the lead tip collides with the paper in a rhythmic, slow and consistent beat. She sits in the library. Second-year textbooks, which she borrowed from teachers, lay open before her in a neat little row.
She sits in the library, alone at a round table.
Tap. Tap. Tap.
There are other students in the library. Some sit by themselves, and some in small groups of two to three, hunched over their own desks and tables. All of them cast worried glances in Makoto's direction.
Tap. Tap. Tap.
Makoto prides herself on her stoicism. Even in distasteful situations, she is able to maintain a look of collected decorum on her face and in her posture. As she is a regular at the library, it is familiar to the students that frequent it.
But today, Makoto's brows are just a bit furrowed.
Today, her lips are squeezed together in a tight, white line.
Today, her pencil is tapping out a slow, angry code onto a blank piece of paper.
Today, Akira Kurusu is late.
Today, Akira Kurusu has stood her up.
One of the students at another table, a second-year, leans over to his friend and whispers in the lowest voice he can muster, "Man, the Prez is pissed!"
Tap. Tap. Tap.
###
A/N: Somewhat short, but for length and tone purposes this day had to be cut in two. The next chapter will be up on Monday, and its tentative title is 'The Captain's Call,' so take a guess as to what happens. Thank you for reading!