4/11 - Monday
(Part 3)
"It wasn't so much that I was afraid of the place itself, but I was afraid of the creatures who masqueraded as people."
Hiromi Kawakami
Ryuji was unable to say whether the whirlwind that made his brain dance was rather caused by the incomprehension born of his unimaginable situation or by the two arms that took his shoulder and shook him like a plum tree under the incredulous gaze of destabilized passers-by.
"Was I dreaming?" yelled the young Frenchman without ceasing to shake him. "Qu'est-ce qui s'est passé, bon sang ?!" (What the fuck happened?!)
"Stop shaking me, baka!" (idiot) stammered Ryuji, unable to find enough balance to resist this uncontrolled panic.
The rebellious high school student could not, for lack of balance and clear ideas, free himself from the vigorous vice that formed the Gaijin's hand. The words that managed to escape from his mouth were too much stirred to form intelligible sentences. The only words that Felix managed to grasp were not spoken by his companion in misery.
"Dekai ko dana?" (What's with the hurling?) asked a voice imperious enough to bring the two teenagers out of their confusion.
Their eyes froze at the sight of two policemen whose irritated looks were a bad omen. The one who had shouted at them stared at Ryuji and Felix with an almost contradictory presence because of his small size compensated by a musculature tied in his uniform. He was accompanied by an inverted reflection of himself, a slender skeleton that would have looked like a giant on the bicycle he was pulling beside him. The stupor had given way to an anguish that froze the two students as the muscular agent considered them from head to toe with the eyes of dogs ready to bite.
"Are you students of Shujin?" he asked coldly.
"Cutting classes, are we?" accused his colleague with a contempt he did not conceal.
"Huh? No!" Ryuji replied. "We were tryin' to get to school, and we ended up in that weird castle!"
A short and confused silence followed these words.
"Nanda…?" (What?) the burly little man muttered, arching an eyebrow.
His co-worker sharpened his gaze and ordered the blond high schooler to show him his bag, suspecting the presence of drugs on him. Furious at first, Ryuji's defense was derailed when he was no longer the center of the officers' attention. They had diverted their eyes on the one who asked nothing better than to disappear.
"Gaikokujin ka?" (A foreigner?) muttered the most aggressive of the agents.
"Are you with him?" Asked his teammate.
Troubled by this frightening and unwanted attention, the Frenchman sputtered barely audible remarks accompanied by a look that met everything but the eyes of law enforcement officers. His neurons had become tangled and could no longer find his words, especially their Japanese translation. Ryuji had a similar mindset regarding this confirmed return of the old Felix. He could not understand how the shy boy he met had been able to go so suddenly from an absurd and uninhibited madness to this attitude of a little boy who had lost his parents.
"Was this student troubling you?" asked the most pugnacious agent.
"If that's the case, gaki (brat)," his partner added, glancing snidely at a bewildered Ryuji "you can be sure your Principal will hear about that".
"Nani?!" (What?!) replied the high school student in a louder tone. "What the hell…?!"
"No!" the foreigner interrupted in a clear voice, accompanied by a small jump that brought him between the policemen and the blond rebel, surprised by this explosion of energy.
Himself surprised by his action, Felix added with a broken voice.
"I just got lost," said the Frenchman. "We are in the same high school. He was helping me to go there."
The stony stares of the two police officers made the frail foreigner sway as Ryuji's eyes widened. The silence of the officers made the hearts of the two teenagers tremble and their throats blocked.
"Soka…" (I see.) spat the little officer. "Then you better go."
His partner added in an equally irritated tone.
"And make sure we don't see you again in the area outside of class hours."
Felix, as surprised as his new acquaintance, noted the stony stares of the policemen for an unbearable second. Their eyebrows were on the border of anger and boredom. Eventually the french teenager eagerly let out a frantic apology, accompanied by a lower than necessary bow, before striding away, his hand grabbing the arm of the blond rebel. Dumbfounded, Sakamoto could only sputter as he was dragged by the french teenager between the passers-by.
Once in another street and after taking a last look back, Felix ended up letting go of his guide and catching his breath as if he had manipulated a time bomb. Ryuji checked the disappearance of the policemen and muttered with an undiminished concern.
"I hope we are not in too much trouble. With teachers, I'm used to it, but the police…"
"Don't worry," answered Felix. "I think they believe they wasted their time with us. They will probably have forgotten about us within an hour."
"Are you sure?" Sakamoto asked, worried.
"Chigainai," (I am certain) declared Saint-Clair with a conviction weakened by anguish. "If not, they would have questioned us a bit more. They seemed more upset than doubtful."
Sakamoto grumbled for a while before accepting this hypothesis with more hope than certainty. After that, he began to observe the Frenchman from head to toe with the eyes of a hunting dog. This inspection disturbed Saint-Clair, who felt as naked as if he had been x-rayed.
"What?" dared to ask the subject of this disturbing fixation.
"Are you really back to normal?" Ryuji asked insistently.
The question surprised Saint-Clair. He observed himself from all angles before answering.
"Watashi ha so omou…" (I think so)
Ryuji sighed a big sigh before asking a new, more general question.
"Seriously, what the hell was all that? A castle… Creatures… You transforming into a crazy black clown… And that talking cat…"
"Morgana."
"Yeah, right. Did we just dream all this?"
"I don't think so," replied Felix. "I doubt we could have the exact same dream or hallucination together."
"Sore ha hontou da." (That's true)
Ryuji then plunged into his thoughts with a seriousness that discouraged the stranger from interrupting him, despite his keen curiosity. The energetic rebel hurled himself into the street, to the surprise of the Frenchman who hurriedly followed him, his bag banging against his ribs during every second of this frantic race.
While two high school students rushed through the crowded and noisy streets, the office of the director of the Special Investigation Unit was immersed in cathedral silence. The TV turned off and the telephone asleep implied for its occupant the necessary calm for his reflections. Director Tomohisa, his head resting on his hands, broke this tranquility only to better organize his thoughts.
"Fifteen percent raise…" he muttered before letting out a quiet sneer. "Things are accelerating."
The old headmaster savored his analysis with the same delight as if he enjoyed a fine wine.
"When this will be confirmed by the media, it will indeed embarrass a lot of people," he added as a welcome prophecy. "We just have to wait for the contract with France to be signed and they'll have a free hand."
Tomohisa cast a vague gaze beyond the large windows where the tall Tokyo buildings sprang up. A painting where the concrete bars tried in vain to pierce the sky, nevertheless managing to make the squares of bright blue ugly. His smile faded a bit as he considered a potential problem.
"Sae Niijima…That reminds me…"
The director's deep sigh resonated with nostalgia.
"Let's hope she doesn't discover unnecessary things," he muttered. "We've secured our backs but... it would be troublesome to get rid of such a talented person."
The director rose from his worn leather throne and closed the distance between him and the window. He gazed at the city with a gaze heavy with subtle contempt, as if observing a failed wooden shack, trembling precariously on its slender branches.
"The country will need her when all this will be over."
Lunchtime rang a long time ago at Shujin Academy. Morning classes were over, but that was not what bothered the french student and the stunned rebel standing outside the entrance.
"Majika yo…?" (Is this for real?)
Instead of the gigantic and sickly yellow castle that had served as their prison, Ryuji was surprised to find his usual and monotonous high school. The stranger scanned the street with a puzzled look. The drink distributors shattered his doubts about the possibility of having taken another path.
"What's going on here…?" Ryuji staggered at this surprisingly predictable discovery.
Felix finished observing the narrow concrete street and took his cell phone out of his pocket in a haste that intrigued his Japanese companion. Firstly surprised by the application with the red and black eye, he opened the GPS. What he revealed was again disconcertingly predictable.
"We're in the right place," the Frenchman informed in a strained but softened voice. "As bizarre as the situation is... That's pretty good news, isn't it?"
"Da to omo u," (I guess so)
"I wouldn't be so sure!" a loud voice exploded.
Saint-Clair and Sakamoto looked up at a school staff member who was glaring at them with a fury partially masked by his Japanese countenance and small glasses. If his eyes could shoot bullets, Felix thought they would both be dead.
"I'm not surprised to see you skipping class Sakamoto-kun," the counselor continued dismissively, "but it surprises me to see you with someone…"
The counselor's sentence seemed to stumble. A sudden awareness of the person in front of him shattered his poise.
"Ore wa…" (You are…) he whispered, unsure of what to say.
The blond rebel looked as lost as the counselor. His gaze followed that of his accuser and his thoughts tangled at the inference that his foreigner comrade was the source of this fixation. Felix dared not move, frozen in a new anguish that pushed him to cast a pleading look in the direction of Sakamoto. The embarrassment that blocked the blond rebel shattered his hopes of being helped. Deliverance came with a voice that made their blood run cold.
"Naniga,okotteiluno?" (What's happening?) nonchalantly asked a professor appearing behind his colleague.
The high school students were amazed to discover the massive body and dark curls of their torturer, Kamoshida. Except that instead of his pink underpants and his royal red cape, he had his immaculate black & white sportswear, his plastic stopwatch and the innocent smile of an altar boy. A slight surprise spread over his face, contrasting with the amazed and terrified ones of the two teenagers at the bottom of the stairs.
"Ooo… (Well) That's quite a surprise," Kamoshida said in a sugary voice. "What are you doing with our new student, Sakamoto-kun? I hope you are not giving him bad habits."
"Nani?" (What?) Ryuji wondered.
"Skipping class is one thing," Kamoshida added, "but that's no reason to drag Sankureru-kun down with you. You've turned really bad since you left the athletics club."
Ryuji goes from shock to anger in a flash upon hearing this.
"Repeat that, you…!"
"How dare you speak to Kamoshida-sensei like that?!" the counselor interrupted without hesitation.
"He is the one who…" replied the thug.
"Don't worry about that," interrupted the suave sportsman in turn. "I'm more interested in why our new student is with him."
This interrogation took his three interlocutors by surprise. Felix looked at everyone. If the curiosity of Ryuji and the Counselor did not worry him, beyond the embarrassment felt, that of Kamoshida troubled him a lot. He did not know if it was a remnant of the terror provoked by the false king who almost killed them, but he seemed to perceive behind the sportsman's lamb eyes a pernicious shadow. Something that watched his every move, ready to happily attack whenever a weakness revealed itself.
Felix didn't know what it was, but he realized that if he panicked and said something stupid, Sakamoto would be in trouble. He refused to abandon this loud but benevolent rebel. His companion in misfortune, even if he had not known him for a long time, did not seem to deserve the disdain shown to him by the school staff. His newfound determination, though troubled by his fear, cleared his mind. Enough to understand that it was enough to act like before.
"I got lost while coming here," Felix said in a much less shaky voice than usual. "Sakamoto-san found me confused and I humbly asked him to guide me."
Despite having heard it before, Ryuji seemed a little taken aback by Felix's bogus excuse. The surprise did not come from the excuse itself, but from its more assured formulation and the less worried look of the young man.
"And it took you this long to get there?" doubted the Counselor, under the inquisitive eyes of Kamoshida.
Felix stammered a bit, improvising a follow-up to his explanations.
"I…I forgot…My cellphone! I know it's a bit silly but… I really, really need it for… my translation apps. So I had to go back home and Sakamoto-kun… San! Stood with me."
Felix blocked his throat as soon as he felt his tongue whirling too fast. Terror at having said something stupid made him look down at the dirty asphalt of the small street. He felt like he was tied to a firing squad. Ryuji, his surprised gaze fixed on the foreigner, didn't show it, but he had the exact same feeling.
"Well…" hesitated the Counselor, "I guess you can't study without them."
The high school students looked up in astonishment at him. Kamoshida did the same, but with a colder face.
"But Sakamoto-kun didn't have the obligation to go with you," the bespectacled man added hurriedly, eager to save what was left of his authority. "Phones have GPS after all."
First frozen like kids caught with the hand in the cookie jar, Felix let out an embarrassed laugh.
"I guess none of us thought about that," said the young Frenchman quickly. "Da yo ne, Sakamoto-san?" (Isn't it, Sakamoto?)
Ryuji froze like a broken machine for an endless second before accepting the foreigner's game.
"Yeah! How silly of us, right?" he continued, laughing.
Felix and Ryuji looked discreetly at the two school staff members. Kamoshida remained unmoved, but his face seemed darker than before. Their blood-chilling concern faded as a sigh of frustration escaped the Counselor.
"That doesn't change that you are extremely late," he said in annoyance. "You both go to the Faculty Office and explain this to your teachers. Understood?"
Like two runners on the verge of reaching the finish line, the two high school students felt invaded by a wave of almost euphoric energy that they had trouble containing. However, Kamoshida's voice, under thinly veiled irritation, prevented the teens from smiling reassuringly.
"Are you sure that's not being too indulgent?" He expressed himself with discreet venom.
The Counselor looked even more embarrassed than before, as if he had dared to take an initiative that was not permitted to him. Felix saw in his lost look the face of a soldier who didn't know to which general to obey.
"Kamoshida-sensei…" he stammered. "He was late for a good reason and… well… I don't think Principal Kobayakawa would like our brand new student to have trouble for that."
If Ryuji was struggling to grasp what he was seeing, Felix understood that the Counselor was not trying to help him get out of trouble. He was just trying to avoid incurring the Principal's wrath. The young Frenchman was not untouchable, but giving him a bad reputation for quite understandable small deviations risked irritating the official head of the establishment. Felix was no fool. He knew he was some kind of trophy. A good decoration for the prestige of the school. It bothered him; He did not know if he should consider himself a privileged or a dog displayed in public. Either way, he felt humiliated, but if it could get him and Sakamoto out of this mess, he was willing to forget about it for a moment.
"I guess so," said the sportsman with a new smile. "Then he better hurry. The Afternoon classes will start soon."
"True!" exclaimed the Counselor with the eagerness of one who wants to get out of a troubling situation very quickly. "You two! Go directly to the Faculty Office."
The counselor did not wait for the affirmative answers from the teenagers, who climbed the steps immediately, also eager to put an end to this atrocious situation.
"Mate." (Wait) commanded Kamoshida with an imperial calm, when Saint-Clair walked close to him.
This voice echoed with the same coldness as that of the other world's king, freezing the gaijin in place and causing Sakamoto to turn towards him. Saint-Clair hesitated before daring to meet the gaze of the colossal professor. His fear exploded when he saw the eyes of a wild animal staring at him.
"You may be the son of an important man," the professor mumbled with terrible self-control, "but you are just a student here, like all the others. You are not above the rules. Do you understand?"
If the idea that the professor seemed to convey seemed as essential as it was healthy, Felix was not fooled. He remembered the rumors that Sakamoto had told him, the attitude of the second Kamoshida and above all, even more damning proof, the hesitation with which the Counselor had opposed him. The hypocrisy took precedence over the appearance of a reminder of student equality on the sportsman's face. Anger replaced fear in Felix's heart.
"Tu peux parler, toi." (you're one to speak) whispered the young Frenchman, whose gaze had in turn become sharp.
"What do you say?" Kamoshida asked, more because of the volume of his voice than the language used.
Felix recovered quickly, worried that he had spoken without thinking and taken a huge risk.
"I just said that I understand."
Felix hurried away without looking back. Sakamoto was the only intrigued witness to something he hadn't seen for some time. While he suspected that by fleeing, Felix thought to save himself from Kamoshida's anger, the blond rebel perceived in the professor the opposite effect. Turning your back on him like that without speaking clearly had been a kind of insult. Sakamoto avoided meeting his gaze and left in turn, discovering the stranger sneaking his head down the hallway. He didn't quite understand who this gaijin was, but for some reason that somehow escaped him, he had caught Kamoshida's attention as soon as he arrived. More than that, he had got his wrath. Ryuji couldn't understand how such a timid person could have enraged Kamoshida so quickly.
The high school thug left this question aside to follow their source. He and Felix were going to the same place after all. Nevertheless, his position a bit behind allowed him to observe an intriguing phenomenon. Saint-Clair hugged the walls and kept his eyes on the floor, fiddling with his rabbit-tail like pony tail like it was a vital lucky charm. Yet as they advanced, more and more faces made them the center of all attention. Wolf eyes and starry eyes followed the foreigner with relative stealth, often followed by scheming whispers. A few cell phones targeted him. Ryuji understood the oddity of a gaijin's arrival in Shujin, but he hadn't expected such a reaction.
As they arrived at the Faculty Office, Ryuji paused for a moment to observe the hallway. Everyone had turned their eyes towards the french teenager, who had not looked up for a second and hastened to disappear behind the door. The rebel even thought he saw someone running after Felix passed, probably to warn someone. And another one hiding awkwardly behind a corner of the corridor and observing the door of the Office.
"Bakageteruyo!" (That's ridiculous) lamented Sakamoto, disappearing in turn into the teachers' office
Once the door of the room passed, the gaijin finally felt able to breathe. He caught sight of Ryuji out of the corner of his eye, without the latter returning his gaze. The youthful thug approached a professor whose disdain was visible from the moon. Felix, though concerned for the blond rebel, hurriedly looked around for a familiar face. Even the Principal's fat one would have given him some stability in this ocean of uncertainty. Luckily, he found the bushy locks and the yellowish sweater of his homeroom teacher. When he finished approaching Kawakami-sensei, she looked up at him with a face marked by astonishment that quickly gave way to relief marked by annoyance.
"Yokatta…" (Thank goodness) she whispered without much conviction. "Where were you, Sankureru-kun? You missed the entire morning class."
Facing the professor's mitigated anger, which only served to hide the burning embers of it, the fears of the gaijin rose to the surface and twisted his face as well as his body which hurriedly bowed while uttering his apology and fallacious explanation. The ninety degrees he managed to form did not seem exaggerated to him this time. Not for Kawakami-sensei either.
"Shinjirarenai," (I can't believe it) she sighed. "I guess you are the least used to the area here, indeed, but make sure it never happens again, please."
The foreign student relaxed again, but began to tire from the rollercoaster ride his heartbeat was going through since this morning.
"Chinami ni," (By the way) she added ,"I got a message saying you were with Sakamoto-kun."
"So desu…" (That's right) the intrigued gaijin cautiously confirmed.
"You better avoid him," Kawakami said with benevolent firmness. "He was a good athlete in the track & field club, but now… Let's say he brings a lot of trouble."
Felix discreetly observed the subject of this warning at the other end of the room. He couldn't decide whether the nonchalance he showed in the face of his own teacher's reprimands was a sign of courage or a confirmation of the rebellious nature that Kawakami-sensei evoked. The embarrassed gaijin felt compelled to say a word to defend the one with whom he had faced so many dangers.
"Sensei, (Teacher) if I may, Sakamoto-san seemed quite respectable to me during the short time I spent with him."
Although surprised by this improvised defense, the professor understood from the young man's lowered gaze that his intentions were not to oppose her. This convinced her to soften her voice.
"Don't be fooled by appearances, Sankureru-kun," she said. "I don't like to say bad things about a student for no reason, believe me, but you are already under a lot of stress since you come from another country. I'm just trying to make sure you avoid unnecessary trouble."
The young Frenchman saw in his teacher's eyes, weighed down by fatigue, that the concern was largely sincere. He suspected she was saying that too because any trouble he would get into would have repercussions on her as his homeroom teacher. Nonetheless, he appreciated having someone in the school trying to help him. The gaijin couldn't make her false promises, but he could at least reassure her for a while.
"Domo arigato," (Thank you very much) he said with a slight bow. "I'll do my best to not cause you trouble."
The teacher's arched eyebrow told him that he had probably been too formal to seem fully honest, but Kawakami-sensei just stood up straight away, a stack of papers under her arm.
"Fine," she sighed. "Then follow me. The next class will begin in a moment."
"What?!" exclaimed the young man with puppy eyes. "But I didn't have lunch."
"You should have thought about that before missing half of a school day," the professor fatally condemned. "Now that I remember, you're lucky, actually. Class will end sooner today."
"Honto?" (Really) wondered Felix with a certain amount of relief.
"Honto ni. (Indeed) The teachers and I have to attend a meeting imposed by the minister this afternoon."
Felix followed his teacher quickly, but not without letting go of a last look at Sakamoto who was trying to hide with his nonchalant demeanor how much his teacher's reprimands worried him now. The French boy understood him a little as he left the room. Crossing the corridors still caused him to stare at the ground, with the futile hope of disappearing. Each step under the captivated eyes of the other students was bearable only because he was getting closer to his destination, where he could be even more discreet. Kawakami-sensei's sudden stop did not reassure him.
"By the way," she whispered, "when you introduce yourself… You know how to do that, right?"
"Hai," (Yes) hurriedly replied Felix, eager to get back on the road.
"Good. Then just be polite and don't say unnecessary things. Understood?"
Felix reassured his teacher and lost no time in resuming his walk, while two young girls looked at him without shame.
"It's him, right?" whispered one of the schoolgirls.
Her friend nodded enthusiastically. The voice she had to hold back with both hands sounded like a little mouse in front of a beautiful cheese. Felix felt a blush rise to his cheeks as he perceived these awkwardly concealed high-pitched notes. The embarrassment increased when he was asked to stand in front of the class 2-D's door for a few seconds, planted like a statue in the middle of a park. He ignored the puzzled looks in his direction and preferred to focus on the hubbub that was easing behind the door. The young foreigner had his teeth chattering and his knees danced very badly. His body regained some control of itself when Kawakami-sensei opened the door and invited him to come inside.
Once he entered the class, he discovered an audience of teenagers sitting straight behind their desks lined up to the millimeter. Everyone looked up at him with wide-open eyes full of abyssal incomprehension and powerful disbelief. A dead silence hovered over this army in school uniform. The ocean of black and red seemed unmoved by the slightest breath of air. Only a white, wavy island, a sweater with rolled up sleeves, stood out a bit, but his low head reduced the effect. Felix couldn't resist taking a small step aside to be as close as possible to the professor.
"As I said," she announced with the soft voice of a peaceful queen, "this is the transfer student from France: Sankureru no Ferikusu."
The assembly remained unmoved, frozen in a contemplation that tortured the target with their big eyes.
"We had him attend from the afternoon on since he wasn't feeling well."
This excuse indeed seemed less embarrassing than his first idea. He thanked his teacher in the secrecy of his thoughts for her foresight. She then turned an almost empty gaze towards the gaijin.
"All right, please say something to the class."
His preparations didn't stop Felix's heart from trying to break out of his chest. He clenched his fists so as not to lose his composure. He puffed out his chest a little, bowed thirty degrees and activated his vocal cords.
"Hajimemashite. Watashinonamaeha Sankurerudesu." (My name is Saint-Clair and it is nice to meet you.)
Felix hoped he wasn't too formal. His anguish was not reduced by getting up, discovering the faces still frozen with astonishment of his new comrades. An entire gallery of masks seemed to be staring at him, not revealing a single expression that could shatter the painful doubts torturing him.
"Arigato," (Thank you) the teacher saved him, finally allowing him to breathe and unclench his teeth. "We hope you'll enjoy living in Japan."
Words sprang like a champagne cork from the Frenchman's lips.
"Well, there are less pigeons and the trains are on time so, for now, I made a good trade."
Felix's heart jumped as high as the incredulous fingers he clapped to his lips. The shock that froze his face and widened his eyes mirrored her teacher's. It contrasted, however, with the chuckles that escaped from a few students in the class like barely restrained sneezes. The majority of the class woke up to this strange remark. Seething murmurs rose in the room as Felix's face turned uncontrollably to red. A coughing from the professor calmed down everyone.
"Shizukani!" (Be quiet) she snapped before turning her annoyance-wrinkled face to the gaijin. "Your seat will be the one that's open, close to the window."
Felix snapped out of his stupor and lowered his head before dashing off to his seat. Passing between his comrades' desks made him want to curl up like a snail in its shell. The only thing that managed to stop his course was a familiar voice, a quiet one, almost haughty whisper.
"Uso." (Lies)
The gaijin's footsteps stopped and his eyes, which had regained a bit of curiosity at that familiar sound, looked up to discover a soft but dark face between two blond waterfalls. In the middle of these sat two blue eyes like pure icebergs fixed for a moment on those of Felix. He recognized the young girl with dazzling automatism. The only blue-eyed blonde he had noticed since arriving in Japan. The one who had looked so surprised to him earlier in the morning, on the sidewalk, before entering Kamoshida-sensei's car with a bitter face: Takamaki-san. Her worrying gaze quickly turned to the window.
The surprise passed, Felix finally sat down with a sigh, but not without taking his eyes off the blonde girl who turned out to be his front neighbor. If curiosity whispered to him to say a word to her, if only to understand why she had accused him of lying, a mountain of shame and a sea of unease made him keep his eyes fixed on the table instead. This did not prevent the gaijin from hearing whispers in the direction of his neighbor on the right.
In a reflex inherited from his long Japanese lessons, Felix listened carefully to understand what was being said. He was afraid of being the subject of an awkward conversation, but he felt the need to translate to get used to this new environment rather than automatically confining himself in his French-speaking bubble.
"Did you catch that?" whispered a brunette to her neighbor from behind with a bowl cut. "Do you think she's already hitting on him?"
"Masaka," (Impossible) replied the neighbor in a silly voice. "She would be cheating on Kamoshida-sensei so quickly?"
"Well, that's Takamaki-san after all," the brunette teased.
Felix wasn't sure he had all the pieces of the puzzle to fully understand this dismissive conversation. Student gossip had never interested him and only aroused in him a deep desire to immerse himself in his fantasy books. Nevertheless, he retained from all this the rumor about a relationship with the sports teacher. Felix assumed it was just bored girl's gossip. Teacher-student relationships didn't happen in real-life, after all. At least he hoped so, because if the perverted king he had met had anything to do with the real Kamoshida, the car ride the young blonde had taken with him, especially with that saddened face, awakened in the French boy suspicions which sent shivers down his spine.
"So da!" (Oh, right!) Kawakami-sensei said cheerfully, eager to get down to business. "The volleyball's rally is in two days…"
The teacher's announcement prompted the newcomer to concentrate, especially when the lesson began, but he couldn't help but think about this morning of pure insanity. After discovering that castle, his sudden personality change and that curious talking cat, he couldn't seem to find his first few hours of class particularly captivating.
When the time came for the exceptional end of classes in the middle of the afternoon, the first to leave class was paradoxically the last to arrive. Félix had tried hard to take a few notes with serious attention, but he still had the disconcerting habit of mixing French and Japanese in his notebook. His thoughts went from one language to another as much as they focused alternately on class and on his unreal adventure. Added to this was Takamaki-san's curious attitude, which turned his neurons into a painful bag of knots. He needed some fresh air and rushed out of the classroom the second he slung his bag over his shoulder.
His onset of migraine didn't subside as the high school hallway fluctuated before his eyes like a broken television screen. Waxed parquet floors and busy students overlapped an empty hallway decorated with red and gold carpets.
"Daijobu?" (Are you okay?) asked a troubled voice.
Kawakami-sensei was looking at him with concern. The gaijin anxiously searched for the ostentatious decorations, but found nothing.
"Daijoubu da… (Yes, I am fine)" he mumbled. "I just have a migraine."
Felix guessed a slight disappointment and an irritation in his professor's eyes that made him want to step back, like facing a feline angry with an agitator.
"What was that after your presentation?" she asks in a deceptively soft voice. "I told you to not say useless things. Are you taking this seriously?"
"Of course," the gaijin tried to say, cheeks flushed at the memory of his unintentional joke. "I was…"
The air stood blocked in Felix's throat. No matter how much he wanted with all his heart to reassure his teacher, he couldn't explain himself. Simply because he had no idea why he had let that joke go. His whole short speech had been perfectly calculated in order not to attract attention. This incomprehensible failure locked his lips and prevented his eyes from facing the woman in yellow.
"I know you are under a lot of stress," Kawakami-sensei growled, his voice in a precarious balance between understanding and anger, "but please pull yourself together. Gaijin or not, I don't accept troublemakers in my class."
The young Frenchman guessed how Kawakami-sensei was not joking about this, even if the accident just now was not serious in itself.
"Meiwaku wo kakete sumimasen," (Sorry for the troubles I caused) the young man uttered in a voice heavy with shame.
The professor relaxed her face and sighed.
"You should go home," she said empathically. "You probably need rest. And Sakura-san is worried about you cutting class."
"Nani? (What) He knows?" Felix wondered.
"Muron. (Of course) We had to call him when you didn't arrive. Tonikaku, (Anyway) just stay out of trouble. And that includes Sakamoto-kun."
"Why is that?" asked an annoyed voice that the professor and the foreigner recognized.
The famous blond rebel ended up approaching the duo, his hands in his pockets. If Kawakami-sensei was annoyed at being overheard, she didn't reveal it.
"Sakamoto-kun," she began with her voice of benevolent authority, "I see you haven't dyed your hair back to black."
"Sumi ma sensei?" (Sorry, professor) grumbled the thug, well aware of her attempt to change the subject.
Refusing to participate in a game of hypocrites, the blond Japanese man approached Felix and whispered to him a sentence that Felix had a little trouble grasping with his reduced tone.
"I'll be waitin' on the rooftop," he realized before he left without taking a last look at the lady in yellow.
The latter ended up lowering her gaze in a despair that fatigue had finished fueling. She then looked at the watch on her wrist and frowned.
"Sorry, but I have to go. Take care of yourself," she declared before stalking off.
Felix remained frozen for a moment, unable to put his thoughts in place. It was his first day and he already had a thug who wanted to talk to him, a teacher on the verge of abandoning him and serious doubts about his mental health. He really needed some fresh air and that famous roof seemed as good a place as any.
"Sumimasen!" (Excuse me) called a perky voice behind him.
"Putain, juste une minute…" (F**k, just a minute…) muttered the Frenchman before turning around to discover two high school girls with wide smiles.
The gaijin was surprised to see his two class neighbors facing him. The same ones who chattered like shrews about Takamaki-san. The one with the bowl cut stood up straight as if she was used to talking to the entire world, while her brunette friend crossed her hands as if she was about to bow. The two wore a smile close to that of a mannequin in a shop's window.
"Can I help you?" asked the Frenchman, too carried away by surprise to stammer.
The two high school girls exchanged a discreet knowing look before the one with the bowl cut replied in a cheerful voice.
"Hajimemashite. (Nice to meet you) I'm Miyashita Saki, and my friend here is Tozuka Rie." The brunette said her own greetings before her friend spoke again. "We wanted to welcome you to our class."
"Honto?" (Really) reacted Félix in mild shock. "That's nice of you. Thanks."
"Do itashimashite." (You're welcome) continued Miyashita cheerfully. "We are next to you in class, so we should try to get along."
"Yeah, I guess so," the gaijin confirmed with relief, rubbing the back of his neck.
"We hope you didn't have trouble with the lesson," Tozuka worried. "You must be quite confused since everything is in japanese."
"Oh, not so much," Felix replied smiling. "I've been learning Japanese almost since I was born."
"Honto? Sugoi desu!" (Really? That's amazing) Miyashita exclaimed.
Even if the compliments embarrassed him a little, Félix finally relaxed, discovering affable people. He thought that despite their habit of gossiping, these young girls did not seem malicious.
"Have you ever visited Tokyo?" Asked Tozuka.
"No, it's the first time I come here," Felix replied kindly.
"Really?" continued Miyashita. "Well, we could make you visit some places if you want."
"Yeah!" declared her excited friend with bright eyes. "It would be our pleasure to make you discover the city. You seem like a very interesting person."
A security blockage occurred in the head of the gaijin, as if a guard had suddenly spat out his coffee and pushed the alarm button in a survival reflex. His neural inspectors scanned the last minute he lived at full speed and combined the spotted elements for a conclusion that was so obvious that the need for this examination became shameful. These two young girls weren't just nice to him. They were potentially flirting with him.
All of Felix's muscles tensed like an athlete stuck on the starting block. He had nothing against them, and he had no problem with girls in general, but he vividly remembered his mother's warnings about the unfortunately very real possibility that a Japanese girl would try to get close to him out of sheer desire to appear like a superstar. Although a bit cliché, she had made it clear to him that this still happened from time to time in major Japanese cities. Felix, even if he had no certainty, preferred to avoid getting closer to these two gossiping girls with potentially ill intentions. He didn't want to be like a nice jewel or a cute chihuahua used to impress, but he found himself stuck by the most important lesson his mother had taught him.
'It doesn't matter if you like her or not, Felix,' he recalled. 'Always be nice with a woman.'
The young Frenchman only wanted to run away from these two high school girls, but he was not sure of their true intentions. Maybe he was just having a paranoid attack because of the stress. In doubt, he remembered the second part of his mother's lesson.
'And if she is troublesome, just try to get out of the situation with tact and dignity. Then there will be no wrong answer, whether sincere or a bit dishonest.'
Felix took a deep breath, forming a plan. The best way to make a lie work, as he had learned earlier, was to mix it with a bit of truth. His eyes unable to fix his interlocutors, he told in a voice as assured as possible.
"That would be great. You both seem nice, but… I don't know when I can do that at all. I need to work in a restaurant to have somewhere to live. And I don't know what my schedule will be. So maybe we can talk about that some other day. When I have more information."
Felix's heart was about to jump out of his chest when he forced himself to look the two young Japanese girls in the eye to find out their reaction. Their frozen faces quickly turned to disappointment.
"Oh...that's too bad," Tozuka lamented, looking down.
"Well, just tell us when you know. Right?" Miyashita added.
"Yeah, sure!" exclaimed Felix, his throat tight. "Now, I'm sorry but I really need to go. I have to put all my stuff away at my new home."
"We understand," Tozuka said. "Have a nice day."
Miyashita greeted Felix in turn before he made a slight bow and walked away with a step that he forced himself to keep at a normal pace. When he disappeared up the stairs to the upper floor, he finally took the time to lean against a wall and breathe. He listened for fear of being followed. If any of them had realized that he wasn't dropping out of school, he didn't know how to justify himself.
Fortunately, the two friends seemed to move away in the other direction. They exchanged to understand if their approach had been too direct. Miyashita countered that with a gaijin, being aggressive but polite should have worked. Felix sighed, delighted to have avoided, for a time, throwing himself into the lion's den. His relief allowed him to perceive a new, much more intriguing discussion, in the secrecy of the staircase leading to the lower floor. Hidden by the concrete that separated the two stairwells, he heard the voices of Principal Kobayakawa and the King-Sportsman Kamoshida.
"Are you sure accepting this gaijin among us was a good idea?" inquired the sportsman with an acid sweetness. "I heard he hangs out with Sakamoto-kun. Aren't you worried that he may actually be a source of trouble?"
"I'm sure you're exaggerating," Kobayakawa sputtered cautiously. "He seemed like an honorable young man, yesterday."
"Appearances can be deceiving," warns Kamoshida-sensei. "He is not a mere student arriving from the countryside, I remind you. If he ever does something detrimental to our school, it will have serious consequences. Even my efforts will probably not compensate for it."
"Don't say that, Kamoshida-san," the fat principal continued with a fearful bow. "You are the real star of our school. Nothing this young man could do could eclipse all that you have done and are still doing for us."
A slight silence fell between the accuser and the principal. The affable tone that the sportsman took did not deceive the hidden Frenchman.
"You do me too much honor. I guess I just have to work hard to meet your expectations."
"Thank you. Now, if you excuse me, I'll see you in the gym for the meeting later. I have to talk with the speaker first."
Félix stuck to the wall when the sentences gave way to footsteps. Some were descending and others were approaching. The French boy thought he was suffocating when the Olympian body of Kamoshida appeared near him. He relaxed only when the professor disappeared down the hall. If the gaijin was relieved, he was also intrigued by the anguish that pinned another person against a wall in front of him. A puny high school student wrapped in a white sweater and whose face looked like it had served as a punching bag for a boxing champion. This frail guy, who Felix recognized as one of his classmate, was crumpled with deep terror as he watched the sovereign sportsman.
The boy in white relaxed only after he was sure he hadn't been noticed, like a mouse passed under the muzzle of a cat. He only changed to mimic the surprise the gaijin displayed. Troubled by the wounds of this high school student, Felix cautiously asked him how he was.
"It's… nothing," the young man muttered, taken aback, before lowering his head in shame.
The gaijin was not stupid, but he also knew how to recognize when someone did not want to talk. The young Frenchman simply took the stairs without looking back. He didn't want to embarass this injured classmate by getting involved in what was none of his business. Felix didn't need to think about where the roof was. He climbed the stairs passing without paying much attention to it near a high school girl dressed in pink who ended up bowing in front of a teacher, talking about plants.
When he reached the top of the stairs, in a narrow place where only a door with a forbidden access sign could be found, Felix ended up confused. Maybe he wasn't in the right place after all. No doubt there was another access to the roof for the students. As Felix turned around, he heard the door open and discovered a surprised, then furious Sakamoto.
"Oi oi!" (Hey!) grumbled the thug. "Doko deshitaka?! (Where were you?) I was about to look for you."
A deep embarrassment invaded the gaijin.
"Gomene," (Sorry) tried to pronounce the French boy while laughing. "I was held back by someone."
"Yeah, sure," growled the blond Japanese man. "Just come here."
The foreigner followed his interlocutor through the door with the warning, discovering gigantic blocks as ventilation systems, gratings as big as zoo barriers and old classroom tables and chairs on which were some young plants.
"Isn't it forbidden to come here?" asked the gaijin with apprehension.
"Nobody comes here and it's never locked," declared Ryuji. "So it's the school's fault for not securing this place correctly."
The argument of the thug half convinced the Frenchman to his own surprise. Saint-Clair felt more at ease than he would have thought in this forbidden space. No doubt it was because no one would think of looking for them here. Sakamoto settled on a worn chair, one leg on a table, with a nonchalance that no longer surprised the gaijin, unlike the stare the japanese student was giving him, like a wary gorilla.
"Listen," he said with disconcerting seriousness, "I asked you to come because we need to talk."
"About what?" Felix asked, predicting the answer.
"That castle. We didn't dream about it, did we?"
Felix thought back to their adventure, but especially to the vision in the hallway.
"I'm not sure…" Felix hesitated, "I hope not."
"What do you mean?" Asked Ryuji.
Confused, the gaijin refused to talk about his vision, fearing Ryuji's reaction. He could only keep his eyes fixed on the young plants.
"Because if not, then we are both becoming insane."
"I see what you mean…" admitted Sakamoto. "Demo… (However) I must admit your attitude could be described as insane there."
This reminder of his transformation into a masked jester awakened in Felix a nauseating cocktail of embarrassment and terror. His desire to disappear from the face of the earth awakened. He became overwhelmed by Ryuji's inquisitive gaze.
"Do you know what happened there?" he asked with a tone showing he would not accept silence as an answer. "Why did you turn into this… thing?"
Felix dug into his brain for an explanation. It was quick because he had already spent part of his time in class thinking about it.
"Honestly, I don't know," declared Saint-Clair, fixing Ryuji in the eyes. "I know I heard voices when this weird Kamoshioda tried to kill you. Then I made… a pact, I think. It is hard to explain. It was all in my head. And after that…"
The Frenchman took a moment to choose his words. Explaining his experience was as delicate as depicting a color to a blind man.
"It was like something switched on a button in my mind," he tried. "I was thinking way faster. My impulses turned into actions without any control, but at the same time it didn't feel like it was necessary. I had the certitude that everything I was doing was… what I wanted. And that I didn't have to feel any shame for it. It reminds me of what people look like when they are drunk but… with some kind of personal control and reason still on."
The gaijin stopped when he realized he couldn't be any clearer. Ryuji in turn immersed himself in intense reflection. For some reason he didn't fully grasp, the young Frenchman dreaded a negative reaction from the blond Japanese man.
"Whatever happened," Ryuji muttered with a small smile, "I must admit it saved my life. More than once probably. So yeah… Arigato, Sankureru-san." (Thank you, Saint-Clair)
A wave of relief enveloped Felix and gave him a sincere smile as well.
"Do itashimashite, Sakamoto-san." (You're welcome, Sakamoto) he replied happily. "And by the way, you saved me too."
"So desu," (Indeed) Ryuji bragged without shame. "In the cell, this knight almost killed you. If I hadn't pushed him, things would have been different. Kakkoii desu ne?" (Cool, isn't it?)
Felix raised his eyes to heaven with sympathy for his savior. Recalling their time in the cell with the king in his underpants, a question arose in the gaijin's mind.
"Oshiete kudasai" (Tell me) he said curiously. "Did the Kamoshida we saw in the castle really look like the one from high school? They seem physically similar to me, but their personalities are different. You know him better than I do."
Ryuji's smile faded in one go. The French boy understood that this name was in no circumstances a source of good humor.
"He was indeed very different," Sakamoto asserted, but pondering each of his words. "But at the same time it felt like it was really him in front of us. His attitude, like the king of his castle, reminds me a bit of the real one's personality."
"What do you mean?" asked Saint-Clair, sitting down on one of the used tables.
"He is a former Olympic medalist. And since he is one of Shujin's teachers, he has led our Volleyball team to the national level."
"Sugoi desu," (Impressive) acknowledged Felix coldly.
"Tabun," (Maybe) continued the blond student halfheartedly, "but because of that, no one says anything to him. As soon as he gives his opinion on something, the other teachers and even the principal agree with him. And then there are rumors, but… nothing I'm sure of."
Ryuji said all this with visible disgust and frustration that he clearly wanted to vent.
"So yeah, in a way, looking at this caricature felt paradoxically like looking at a more real version of Kamoshida. If that makes any sense."
Felix considered Ryuji's sentence carefully before answering so that his assertion would be most sincere.
"I think I see what you mean."
"Great," Sakamoto reacts with relief, before thinking aloud, as if he's reached the end of a journey. "So what should we do?"
Felix found himself in the same confusion as Ryuji. This avalanche of strangeness had been so hard to digest that he hadn't thought what to do with it. He clearly couldn't act like nothing had happened. It would spin around in his head like ghosts that hadn't found peace. Even if he would have liked the opposite. The more he thought about it, the less sure he was. A suggestion made its way between his doubts. A risky suggestion, which made his blood run cold, but which his now insatiable curiosity tempered, because accompanied by his desire to find out if his mental state was still good.
"You think we could go back to this castle?" asked Saint-Clair carefully.
"Go back?" Ryuji wondered. "You want to return there?"
"Betsu ni," (Not really) quipped the gaijin. "But if it's possible, and we didn't just dream it all, maybe we can find Morgana there. He could give us some answers."
"I guess it makes sense," Ryuji admitted, considering the Frenchman's suggestion. "We didn't have time to ask him anything."
"So, what do you think?" Felix asked apprehensively.
Ryuji thought for a moment. A short moment.
"Well, if we find a way to see this bake neko (Monster cat) again, that seems like a plan."
Felix had no idea what to do, but he was glad to have Sakamoto on his side in his search for an answer. Alone, he did not think he could have convinced himself to even try.
"Seems like we'll have to stick together for some time," Ryuji sneered. "You think the new star of Shujin can stand the school's troublemaker?"
"Douiu imi desu ka?" (What do you mean) asked Felix, confused.
"Believe it or not, but everyone's talking about you," the thug explained amusedly. "I am a bit jealous, I admitted. No one would imagine us hanging out. We're, like, real opposites."
The idea of being the subject of discussion for the whole school once again aroused Felix's embarrassment, which continued to amuse the blonde thug.
"You know my name but let me introduce myself correctly," said the latter with a broad smile. "Watashi wa Sakamoto no Ryuji. (I am Sakamoto Ryuji)" The lack of inclination didn't surprise the gaijin. "I'll come talk if I see you around. Don't ignore me, all right?"
Félix perceived a note of hope modestly hidden under the detached tone of his new acquaintance. The Frenchman gave him an amused smile.
"How could I ignore my mighty savior?"
Sakamoto snickered again, until a metallic screeching caught his attention and took him from amusement to surprise. Felix turned to follow his eyes and discovered with the same reaction a new person who had dared to ignore the message on the door to the roof. A young girl bundled up in a thick pink turtleneck cardigan stood in the doorway. The high school girl had an ingenuous face framed by curls cut to her cheeks which made her look like an old porcelain doll. A face that mimicked the reaction of the two young men as her milky coffee colored eyes flickered from one intruder to the other.
"Koko de nani wo shiteiruno?" (What are you doing here) asked the girl in pink, destabilized. "It is forbidden to come here."
The Frenchman tensed at the thought of the potential trouble he had gotten himself into.
"And you? What are you doing here?" Sakamoto exclaimed brutally, shocking both the girl and Saint-Clair. "It's already taken here. Leave us alone!"
"Oi oi !" (Hey) Felix swung, slapping Ryuji's arm with the back of his hand. "Why are you talking to her like that?"
The reaction of the French boy, as much as the sudden and abnormally abrupt physical contact, ended up shocking the blonde thug.
"Nani…?" (What) he stammered, as if Felix had again become a completely different character.
"Don't talk to women like that," Saint-Clair continued with a disapproving look that pinned Ryuji to the spot.
"Matte…" (Wait) thought the newcomer for a moment. "Are you the new student from France?"
At first surprised, Felix was getting used to being recognized immediately at Shujin Academy. The gaijin regained an engaging smile and bowed slightly.
"That's right," he confirmed in a pleasant voice. "I am Sankureru no Ferikusu. Sorry if we were a bit rude. We are quite stressed today."
The young girl relaxed while remaining fixated on Felix, while Ryuji observed the scene like an innocent spectator facing an esoteric magic trick.
"Daijobu," (It's okay) replied the girl in pink before bowing with the graceful discipline of a princess. "My name is Okumura no Haru."
This presentation awoke the amazed rebel.
"Okumura?" he asked with a more intrigued and casual tone. "I remember that name… Aren't you in third year?"
"That's right," Haru confirmed with a calmness that gave the impression that she had completely forgotten the caller's rudeness. "And you are…?"
"Sakamoto no Ryuji…" said the thug.
"Oh! I heard about you," reacted the lady in pink with understanding. "But, really, what are you doing here?"
Felix and Ryuji exchanged a knowing look; Felix understood from Sakamoto's short mumble that he was going to have to improvise again.
"We just wanted some fresh air and solitude," Felix explained with his face down and his hand stroking his bun. "We had a hectic day and it's a very nice place to rest, away from the rest of the world."
Felix stopped there. He had absolutely not lied and hoped that he would not have to think again at lightning speed. He was getting tired of looking for excuses all the time. If Okumura had any doubts, she didn't show them. She contented herself with displaying a smile filled with a saddened understanding that intrigued Felix.
"I see," she said in her soft voice. "But it is still a forbidden place."
"Then what are you doing here?" Ryuji asked calmly, under the controlling look of Saint-Clair.
"I am here to take care of the plants," Haru explained, prompting his two interlocutors to take a look at the seedlings on the abandoned tables. "I volunteered for that so the teachers gave me the permission."
"Soka," (I see) noticed Felix with a smile. "Then I should say Gambattene." (Do your best)
"Merci pour votre soutien." declared the girl in pink, to everyone's surprise.
"You speak french?" Felix asked with wide eyes.
"Indeed," Okumura confirmed. "My father wants me to have the best education possible, so he made me learn four foreign languages."
"And what did you say?" asked an irritated but curious Ryuji. "You know, for those who stick to japanese."
"Oh! Gomenasai." apologized the amused girl. "I just said: Thank you for your support. Was it okay, Sankureru-san?"
"A bit formal but grammatically perfect."
"Yokatta," (I'm glad) Haru uttered before returning to a more troubled tone. "So… What should we do? You are not supposed to be here."
"Come on," Ryuji sighed. "Can't you just forget about us? We were just talking and we were going away. We didn't do anything wrong."
"I guess not…" Haru muttered, a finger on her lips.
At Haru's hesitation, the gaijin's heart quickened. When she finished thinking, she gave them an all too adorable smile.
"Let's make a deal," the girl in pink offered innocently. "I'll not tell the teachers that you come here as long as you avoid trouble and take care of the plants too."
"Aaaa?!" (What?!) Ryuji exclaimed. "Are you serious? We are no gardeners."
"Oh, please!" Haru implored. "That's not so much and I can't come every day."
The amused look Sakamoto saw on Felix's face caught him off guard.
"That sounds fine to me," acknowledged the Frenchman. "However, as Sakamoto-san said, we are no gardeners. We can't do much more than water them."
"That's okay," Haru gushed. "It helps a lot already."
"What do you think?" Felix asked his companion in misfortune.
Sakamoto wasn't sure how to react, but he had to admit that if he could stay out of trouble and have access to this place where he could lay down away from others, it was a reasonable deal.
"Alright," sighed the thug. "I guess it's fair."
The gaijin thanked Haru as he headed for the door, Ryuji on his heels.
"Well…" Felix said as he passed Haru. "Jyaa matane (See you soon) I hope"
"Ai!" (Yes) answered the young girl with joy. "Jyaa matane."
The two young men closed the door behind them and sighed in relief once they reached the stairs.
"Seriously," Ryuji lamented. "Can't we have a moment?"
"You know what?" imitated Felix. "That's exactly what I said earlier."
"By the way," the rebel added angrily to the gaijin, "What was that about?"
"That what?"
"Your angry attitude and how you hit me.
Felix plunged back into deep embarrassment at the memory of his previous attitude. Which made him let out a confused chuckle.
"I'm sorry," regretted Saint-Clair, "I don't react well when someone torments a girl."
"Torment?" Ryuji protested. "You exaggerate."
"Well, you were definitely rude."
"Maybe, but that's different."
"I'm really sorry," Felix insisted, massaging his neck. "It's just that my mother taught me to treat girls correctly."
This confession caught Ryuji off guard and pushed him into a frustrated sigh to let go of his anger.
"Seriously," he muttered, "you change behavior so suddenly and frequently… You must be insane for real."
Felix mused about the hallway illusion prank and admitted with deep exhaustion.
"Trust me, I think I start believing that too."
"Whatever, I'll just go home," Ryuji scolded as he stalked wearily through the halls.
The gaijin stayed with him for a while until their paths parted outside the school. Unlike the teachers in the hallways who gathered to join the gymnasium. And while everyone was busy with his next objective, Haru was standing still on the rooftop. She forgot her own, appreciating the quiet environment and thinking about the enw student's words.
"Away from the rest of the world..." she whispered with heavy eyes, " That seems nice, indeed."
The gymnasium had been modified to look as it needed on the days of important speeches. The stage curtain had been drawn and plastic chairs were placed, occupied by the entire staff of Shujin Academy. The lectern had been removed, but a white screen was unrolled. A small projector was standing in the middle of the rows.
The last teachers were finishing settling in and everyone was patient in their own way. The flirtatious Mrs. Chouno finished putting her hairstyle back in place with the help of a pocket mirror while the severe Mr. Ushimaru stood with his arms crossed, like a rock untouched by boredom. Which was not the case with Kamoshida. His foot tapped at a rate that gradually accelerated, much to the despair of Kawakami who tried to write in a notebook with strained attention. She sighed heavily to release the pressure before politely addressing her neighbor.
"Could you stop that, please?"
"Sorry," the sportsman apologized. "I just would like this meeting to finish as soon as possible."
"It's important," Kawakami replied.
"I know, but we don't have this kind of problem here."
"True," admitted Kawakami. "That's a blessing."
"The only one who could pose a problem like this is Sakamoto-kun," Kamoshida suggested. "Don't you think?"
The professor in the yellow sweater did not imagine the blond rebel causing such trouble, but at the same time, she had to admit that he had changed a lot.
"I hope not," she admitted.
"What about Sankureru-kun?" suggested the colossus.
Kawakami was surprised by this accusation coming out of nowhere.
"What do you mean?" asked the woman in yellow.
"He was with Sakamoto-kun this morning," Kamoshida recalled. "You know that, right?"
"Yeah, but…"
"It worries me, I admit. The excuse they gave for their absence seemed a bit weird."
Kawakami had a few things to say about Felix, but she didn't think he was capable of hurting anyone. In fact, she imagined him spending the rest of the year silent at the back of the class more than causing trouble. Before she could reply, Professor Ushimaru opened his little boar eyes and muttered to the sportsman.
"You suspect something?" he asked in his hollow voice.
"I don't have certainty," admitted Kamoshida. "It just felt like they were a bit too… close. Sankureru-kun have not been in Japan for long. Why would two complete strangers be one the same wavelength except if they had the same personality? And we know how troublesome Sakamoto-kun is."
Kawakami found this argument rather weak, even if it had a curiously valid basis.
"It makes sense," said Professor Usami, raising her large glasses. "We should keep an eye on them. I don't really like having this gaijin in our school. The students are acting ridiculous since they talk a lot about him."
"What should we do if something wrong happens?" asked Hiruta-sensei looking up from his cell phone at Kamoshida. "The principal was quite enthusiastic about having such a prestigious student here. Sankureru-kun's father could make a scandal."
"Not if we can all testify of his attitude," Kamoshida said, crossing his arms. "The scandal would be on them."
"If he brings troubles," added Kawakami-sensei sharply, bringing on her the eyes of the Olympic athlete.
"Of course," he answered with a smile. "That's obvious."
Kawakami didn't appreciate his colleague's smug face. It felt as smooth as a Halloween mask. However, the discussion stopped when a man in a white suit and rectangular glasses appeared on stage to stand in front of a microphone placed on a tripod.
"Good afternoon, everyone," greeted the speaker. "I am Dr. Takuto Maruki. As you may know, I have been mandated by the Ministry of Education to make a series of meetings in Tokyo in the context of the program to reduce violence at school."
The doctor in white took out of his pocket a remote control with which he turned on the projector. On the screen displayed graphics in warm colors.
"As these data show," explained the speaker, "acts of violence among students have increased by about twenty-five percent since last year. Moreover, we can note an increase of acts leading to severe physical injuries of nearly sixty-seven percent.
Much of the audience struggled to contain their dread. Some teachers whispered to share their shock. Professor Inui whispered to Kawakami-sensei in anguish.
"The rumors I heard were true, then."
"Do not worry," continued Dr. Maruki in a calm voice, "I will explain to you how to detect and prevent this kind of problem. And also how to react if a fight should ever happen. With the help of our new methods based on the last research the ministry ordered, you'll be perfectly ready for any kind of trouble."
When night fell on Tokyo, the Leblanc café seemed patient, ready to open its arms to any customer wishing to enjoy a good coffee. However, no one seemed to do it. Even its owner did not seem really interested in his job. Sojiro was rather making sure that his new decoration was properly placed, with a blissful smile. They were just small orange plastic flowers and leaves arranged in an equally small black pot, yet the shopkeeper handled them with the delicacy due to a masterpiece. Placed in a corner of the café facing the bar, this simple addition appealed to Sojiro. He had a renewed hope at the sound of the entrance bell. Except that instead of a client, he discovered Félix Saint-Clair returning with a content face.
"Finally…" growled the shopkeeper. "Doko deshita ka? (Where were you) The school ended hours ago."
Surprised by this stormy welcome, Felix approached the merchant with apprehension.
"I couldn't have lunch so I stopped by a restaurant on the way." Explained the gaijin. "I was starving. There are actually many interesting restaurants in Shibuya."
"Ai ai…" (Yeah yeah) grumbled Sojiro who didn't intend to beat around the bush for very long. "Listen, your school called me."
Felix's body turned to stone. He had expected to have this discussion, but that didn't make confronting this man with a sharp goatee any easier.
"They called twice actually," Sojiro added sternly. "The first time I was just thinking you were late, but the second time, they said you told them you came back here with another student to take your cellphone after being lost."
This, on the other hand, Saint-Clair did not expect it at all. The soul of the Frenchman seemed to spring from his body to flee as far as possible. His body therefore remained like stone.
"What did you tell them?" asked Felix, shaking with fear.
Sojiro's gaze seemed like it could melt metal.
"I said it was true," revealed Sojiro, without reassuring Felix. "But you better have a good explanation."
Felix was starting to faint. His legs were cotton and his lips danced badly. He couldn't see how to reuse his lie without making it grotesque, so he tried another approach.
"That will sound weird but… I was indeed lost and I met this student who wanted to help. We got along well and talked for a long time. So much that we got even more lost."
"Are you serious?" Doubted Sojiro. "What's his name?"
"Sakamoto no Ryuji," the gaijin replied promptly. "He is a bit impulsive and rude, but he seems trustworthy. I mean…he helped me and we had good conversations, even after class. So he seems like a nice person."
Sojiro stood in front of the foreign high school student, as if he could see into his mind. Felix prayed inwardly that it was only an impression. Eventually, the shopkeeper seemed to give up on his questioning, not without a strong and visible irritation. These explanations had not fully convinced him, but the young man seemed sincere about his new acquaintance. That Félix was bonding with someone was a good thing he preferred to focus on.
"Well, make sure it never happens again," he growled.
"I will," reassured the young man.
The shopkeeper returned to his bar to take off his apron as he cautiously admitted something.
"I was about to call your father, you know."
As expected, Sojiro caught the flinch in Felix's gaze before he held it frozen in an obscurely neutral expression.
"I'm glad you didn't," said the teenager in a monotonous voice.
"He called me this morning, you know," announced the old man. "He wanted to know if you were fine. He'll do his best to come now that the contracts were signed by the minister."
"Yeah, sure," exclaimed the french teenager, rolling his eyes to heaven.
Sojiro didn't know how to get past the wall that Felix was rising every time he was talking about Zephyr. He wasn't sure he wanted to make that effort, actually. He already had enough to deal with at home. His good humor returned when his phone rang.
"Moshi moshi…" (Hello) answered Sojiro. "I'm on my way… Yeah, I put your present in the café. It looks great… Don't worry. I'm on my way."
The shopkeeper put his phone away as he walked towards the exit.
"I need to go," he announced to Felix. "Can you lock the door and turn off all the lights?"
"I may not have a good sense of orientation, but I still have my hands." Felix let escape.
The french boy was surprised for a moment by this new unexpected joke, unlike Sojiro who appreciated it.
"I probably was too worried, indeed," he declared with a smile before leaving the cafe.
Finally alone, Felix felt able to breathe. To be sure, he followed Sojiro's instructions before returning to his room, or his attic depending on the point of view. When he finally felt cut off from the world, Felix put his bag down at the foot of his bed and collapsed on the mattress. He stood still staring at the ceiling to let his thoughts calm down, like water in an overly agitated vase.
The young man thought back to this strange world, this castle filled with creatures and magic. He would have thought he was in one of his fantasy novels if the event hadn't been so frightening. Not only because of the danger, but also because of what had happened to him. Remembering when he became this masked jester made his blood run cold. At least he had been lucid enough to protect Sakamoto, but his bizarre jokes made him want to disappear under his blanket. Maybe he and Ryuji would get more answers later.
Felix lost himself in contemplation of a moth stuck with him in the attic. The insect was circling around the light bulb in the ceiling, not quite knowing where to go. Sometimes the butterfly bumped into it. Saint-Clair did not like that. This little creature was stuck in a loop and probably would get burned if it continued. Only one idea came to his mind. The young man opened his window and turned off the light. A shadow passed before his eyes and landed on the windowsill. The image of this butterfly resting, wings spread, on this edge of wood, at the border with a barely lit street, made him want to resume a good old habit.
The teenager gently took his camera out of his bag and adjusted it to capture the reluctant insect in its frame. The sound of the device as he pressed the button prompted the moth to come out. Felix simply smiled. His photo was impeccable and the little beast was free. So he closed the window and enjoyed the darkness. The accumulated fatigue drained over his shoulders and almost prevented him from getting up. After facing such a day at school, he happily contented himself with putting on his pajamas before disappearing under his blanket.
The teeanager thought about the world of monsters he visited, the lies he had to make, the mysterious Takamaki, the energetic Sakamoto, the innocent Haru… All these things he never could have immagine to discover on his first day at school. Sleep overtook him in an instant as brief as it was sweet.
The softness of the bed was brutally replaced by the rigor of a plank. Felix turned around in search of a better position, but his arms refused to move to help him. The contrition he felt, as if caught by a cotton anaconda, combined with the fresh air scratching his skin, roused the young man from his sleep. He remembered that feeling and hoped he was wrong. Leaping from his bed, he found himself on his knees, again unable to keep his balance. His arms were again locked in a straitjacket. An iron barred door stood between him and a huge white hallway once more. His shock vanished at the sight of the two little blonde nurses and the grotesque doctor watching him with demonic eyes.
"Dites moi que c'est une blague..." (Tell me it's a joke) whispered the prisoner.
"About time you've come to, Kanja!" (Patient) scolded the batting girl. "On your feet!"
Felix got back to his feet, but not without trying to quell the anger that this sudden awakening aroused in him. He gave the nurse with a staff a reproachful look that heightened the tension between them. As if to prevent a conflagration, the blonde twin with the notepad announced with icy gentleness.
"Our master wishes to speak with you. It's for your own sake that you take the doctor's words to heart."
Felix didn't answer. The calm nurse's sword-like voice scared him more than the howls of her excited sister. Although he was strangely beginning to get used to the bizarre events that happened to him, Felix had a hard time keeping his composure when the long-nosed doctor addressed him, his elbows resting on his carved wooden table.
"First off," Igor began in his high-pitched voice, "let us celebrate this new session. Regularity is the key to good therapy."
The doctor's bulging eyes watched the young man from head to toe. The latter could not know what his examination caused in him as a reaction because the deformed face of the doctor remained frozen in a huge and fixed smile.
"I see you have awakened to your power..." he remarked with interest. "A very curious one."
"Do you mean that strange transformation? With this clown? Arlequin?"
"Don't interrupt the doctor!" Caroline screamed, striking the door with her metal staff.
"Yes, that's what I am talking about," Igor confirmed amusedly. "The persona is supposed to be a mask. An armor of the heart to face worldly matters. However, your case is very unusual."
"Qu'est-ce que vous voulez dire?" (What do you mean)
"Your personality in the metaverse and the material world are different, but not like polar opposite," analyzed the doctor, fiddling with his stethoscope. "I perceive faint links between the two. Which makes me think that your true self was considered so socially unacceptable that you repressed it for a long time. So long that it grew stronger in the darkness of your unconscious, to a very flamboyant point. Now that you have opened the door to your true self, it enjoys every moment it can to express itself."
"Pardon?" (Excuse me) Felix declared, quite confused. "Then why didn't I stand crazy when I returned to the real world."
"We don't use these words here, Kanja," (Patient) explained Justine gently.
"Lesquels?" (Which one)
"Crazy and Real world," she answered. "Crazy has a negative connotation that prevents people from searching for the exact causes of someone's deviant personality. Their analyzes are then biased by their vision of what someone's personality is supposed to be."
"And Real world is no better," added Caroline. "It implies that what happens in the metaverse, the unconscious, is unrelated to the material world, unsignificant. Which is both incorrect and dangerous."
Although fascinated by these explanations, Felix preferred to return to his question.
"D'accord, mais pourquoi je suis redevenu… comme d'habitude, alors?" (Alright, but why did I turn back… like usual, then?) he asked the doctor.
"Because, in the metaverse, the frontier between someone's personality and its true self is thinner. The social and cultural barriers that repress one's attitude have less power. That is why someone can hear his true self better there. In some cases, they can even be destroyed. When you came back to the material world, these barriers reappeared, for your unconscious knows the difference between the two worlds and the importance of these repressions for survival reasons." A high-pitched chuckle interrupted his explanation. "Well…for the most part. You probably have perceived that, as I said, your true self tries to express itself as much as possible, even when you don't want to."
Felix remembered the jokes he had blurted out without thinking with fear.
"Do not worry," Justine anticipated. "Everything will be fine, Kanja." (Patient)
"By the by…" called Igor in his hissing voice. "Have you come to appreciate the metaverse navigator?"
"You mean that app on my phone?" asked Felix.
"Indeed," confirmed the long-nosed doctor. "The Navigator will help you come and go between Palaces and the material world. Exploring them is part of the therapy."
"What's a Palace?" Felix asked, raising an eyebrow.
"You'll know it soon enough," Igor continued as if his speech hadn't been interrupted. "The Navigator is an important part of your training as a thief."
"Un quoi?" (A what) reacted Felix.
"The metaverse Navigator is a gift from our master!" declared Caroline as a warning. "You better take care in using it, kanja!" (Patient)
"Devote yourself to your training so that you may become a fine thief," added Justine calmly.
Destabilized, the Frenchman began to feel dizzy.
"We know visiting the metaverse can be excruciating," explained Igor. "That is why if you find anyone who would prove beneficial to your therapy, I will grant the navigator to them as well."
The bulging-eyed doctor sat back in his chair, crossing his fingers.
"Be reassured," he laughed through his teeth. "You'll not have to fulfill your therapy alone."
Before Felix could ask more, a deafening alarm sounded in the corridor of this dream asylum.
"It's time," Caroline announced. "Enjoy whatever rest you might have."
Unable to resist, Felix's eyes closed and plunged him into comfortable darkness.
Thanks for reading my fiction.
Don't forget to share and review.
I'll see you next time !
Random anecdote:
In Persona 5, Haru can be found in the third-floor corridor talking to a teacher about taking care of the plants, right before the discussion with Ryuji. So I imagined that, if the protagonist and Sakamoto had talked a bit later, they could have met Haru at the very beginning of the game. Discussing for a moment with the two girls after class, named with real voice actresses' names, then implied more changes to the timeline, which I found more interesting. I also did my best to show that the Hate Syndrome will not be a background thing, but is slowly influencing the thieves' environment.
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