bopdog111: Akari is gonna tell us her story how she became a Phantom Thief.
Ulrich362: True, it's certainly going to be an interesting story to say the least. Oh, and to clarify something about the last chapter... Sae isn't telling Akari that she already thinks she's lying about what happened, she's pointing out that someone in her position immediately accusing someone else of falsely accusing her of a crime sounds suspicious which to be fair... it is. Whether or not it's true remains to be seen.
bopdog111: No otherway to find out then let Akari explain.
Ulrich362: Agreed, enjoy the chapter.
Disclaimer: We don't own Persona but we own the OCs!
4/9 (Saturday)
Akari herself awoken on a train having been asleep for a while as she looked around.
"Ladies, and Gentleman thank you for riding with us today. We will be arriving in Shibuya shortly. This is the last stop for this line, please transfer here for all subway lines. The doors to your left will open."
Akari frowned looking down receiving a slight memory lapse.
Flashback...
Where a car was there with a woman in trouble against a man, and upon seeing Akari over his shoulder she begged, "Please, help!"
Akari clenched her fists walking over, and turned the man over which he stumbled, and fell hitting his head on the concrete shocking the two as the woman watched in horror, and Akari looked at her hands if she killed someone. Seeing the man getting up holding his head from his wound she tried to tell him, "H-Hey, sorry, I-"
"Damn brat! I'll sue!" the man spat angerly.
Just then the police cars that were approaching apprehended her as she watched on in shock while the woman despite being the victim, and Akari managed to rescue her did not make a move to stop them.
End Flashback...
Remembering that she gritted her teeth clenching her fists tight, "That faggot... he ruined everything..." She then takes a deep breath letting it out, "Calm down... being mad will only get you in more trouble..."
"What? Are you for real? A mental shutdown?" asked a female voice as Akari looked over to see two girls talking.
"It's the truth!" another girl answered holding a pink phone.
"To a person though? That's gotta be a joke." the first girl mentioned. "You really love all that occult stuff, don't you?"
The two boys giggled at that.
'What are they talking about?' Akari thought hearing that blinking.
Sometime later Akari is walking down the street after the train is done while she looked at the GPS in her phone before looking over seeing she's in Shibuya Square seeing it's really active, and busy. Hearing something she looked down, and widen her eyes, 'What the...?'
She sees an app of a red, and black eye as it enlarged while she looked a little uneased staring at it tapping it a few times. Confused she looked up only to notice that the world around her seemed to have completely frozen as she was the only one who could move before a strange blue fire caught her attention as some kind of winged figure seemed to form out of the flames as it was reflected in her eyes and glasses before she saw an orange face that turned into her own with yellow eyes and a sinister looking smirk.
Gasping Akari looked around only to see people moving as though nothing had happened. Taking a look back she deleted the strange app on her phone. Later she make her way through the subway line, and eventually arrived at a station walking down a backstreet looking around. 'Let's see the caretaker's name is Sojiro Sakura... His house should be around here somewhere...'
She walked down the street finding a house seeing the nameplate says Sakura, and ringed the front door only for nothing to answer. After a few seconds she hears the voice of a delivery truck employee lamenting that Sojiro Sakura is managing a 'Cafe LeBlanc' at this time of day. Hearing that she walked down with directions eventually found LeBlanc looking at it before walking inside.
Inside she saw an elderly couple sitting at a table while an older man with a goatee was looking at a newspaper while sitting on a chair at the counter while a tabloid show was on the television.
"A public transit bus was driving down an opposing lane with the passengers still in it!" the host of the tabloid show mentioned. "The citizens can't live in peace if this keeps up!"
"How frightening." commented the elderly man.
"What could be going on? Didn't something similar happen just the other day?" the elderly woman inquired.
"And down is... the name of a shellfish used in pearl farming..." the older man noted seeming to have either not heard or completely ignored the TV before Akari shifted getting his attention as he looked up at her and put his paper on the counter. "...Oh, right. They did say that was today."
"We'll be going now. The payment's on the table." the man said as he, and his wife stand up.
"Thanks for coming." Sojiro said politely.
"This place is in the back alley, so there's no worry of a car crashing in here." the man mentioned.
"A what now?" Sojiro asked in confusion.
"There's been a string of those rampage accidents, you know. I just hope none happen around here." the man explained to him.
"It's none of my concern." Sojiro stated to him.
"Haha, we'll see you next time." the man smiled before leaving with his wife.
"... Four hours for just a single cup of joe." Sojiro sighed rubbing his head before turning to the teen. "So, you're Akari?"
Akari nodded remembering her manners, "Yes sir, thanks for taking care of me."
"...Uh-huh. I'm Sojiro Sakura. You'll be in my custody over the next year." Sojiro explained. "I was wondering what kind of unruly kid would show up, but you're the one, huh? Have you been told? A customer of mine and your parents knew each other and- Well, not that that matters- Follow me."
Sojiro turned and walked up some stairs in the back of the cafe as Akari followed him to the attic.
"This is your room. I'll at least give you sheets for your bed."
Akari looked around the attic only to frown slightly.
"You look like you wanna say something."
"It's cluttered." she answered from how messy it is.
"It's on you to clean up the rest." Sojiro told her. "I'll be leaving after I lock up each day. You'll be alone at night, but don't do anything stupid. I'll throw you out if you cause any trouble."
Akari nodded hearing that understanding that much due to being around a lot of unsavory characters.
"Now then... I got the gist of your situation." Sojiro mentioned. "You protected some woman from a man forcing himself on her, he got inured, then sued you. Right?"
"That's right, that asshole fell on his own and got me arrested for it." Akari growled clenching her fists.
Sojiro frowned seeing that. "That's what you get for sticking your nose in a matter between two adults. You did injure him, yeah?"
"I didn't mean too, I was trying to get him away from that woman but he stumbled on his feet cause he was drunk." Akari answered with a shake of her head.
Sojiro sighed. "Still, that got you a criminal record and you were expelled from your high school. The courts ordered you to transfer and move out here, which your parents also approved. In other words, they got rid of you for being a pain in the ass."
Akari looked down which Sojiro can see a really pissed off expression like seeing the incident really worked a temper on her which she is trying to hold back.
"It's best you not talk about anything unnecessary. I am in the restaurant business, you know. Behave yourself for the year. If nothing happens your probation will be lifted." Sojiro pointed out.
She slowly nodded taking a breath, "Whenever someone talks about it, the rage takes over... I am trying to hold back though, so I won't repeat that mistake again."
"Well, just keep it under control for a year." Sojiro mentioned. "Your sentence lasts until next spring, right? That's why you're gonna be here for the coming year. Cause any problems, and you'll be sent straight to juvie. We'll be going to Shujin tomorrow."
"Shujin?" Akari asked confused.
"Shujin Academy- The school you'll be attending." Sojiro explained. "We'll introduce ourselves properly to the the staff there. There's rarely a place that'll accept someone like you, you know."
He frowned at that.
"What a waste of my Sunday... Your 'luggage' arrived a little while ago. I brought if up here for you."
With that Sojiro walked back down to the cafe. Akari watches as he walks down before looking around before nodding, "I can work with this... Alright let's get some cleaning done."
With that decided she started dusting, sweeping, putting her luggage away, and making her bed which took most of the day before eventually Sojiro came back upstairs.
"What the heck? I heard you making all kinds of noise up here but I didn't think you were cleaning." he mentioned looking around with an approving nod. "Actually, the place doesn't look too bad. Though it's only natural you'd want to keep your room tidy. Why don't you go to bed for tonight? You don't have anything better to be doing, right? I'm going to close up shop and get out of here myself. I won't be the one looking after you if you get sick from staying up too late, you got that?"
Akari nodded as she walked back down before she looked outside, 'It's been late... I'll change, and head to bed.'
Changing down into PJs she laid down thinking about the incident that brought her here in the first place. From numerous anime she watches she sees heroes saving people who are in danger which brought her a sense of justice that wants to help people from danger. That day she done that, and what does she get? Sent to prison. Is cause that damn woman double crossed her ever though she rescued her. Though she couldn't blame her since he mentioned before he was saying something about steering this country. As she thinks that she recalled what happened.
Flashback...
It was a year back then, she was an ordinary kid at school as a otaku, and she was staying late for a study hall and was on her way back home when she heard it.
"Just get in the car." mentioned a male voice.
'Huh, that sounds like an argument.' Akari thought. 'It sounds like they're just up ahead.'
Deciding to see what was going on she continued running towards the argument.
"How dare you cross me!" the male voice stated in annoyance.
Akari soon saw a man struggling with a woman as he tried to get her into a car.
"No...!" the woman cried.
"Don't give me that shit..." the man told her as Akari noticed he looked drunk.
"O-Ow, please stop!"
Deciding to do something Akari walked over to examine her best course of action as they struggle against each other.
"Tch... what a waste of time." the man grumbled in annoyance. "You think you're worth causing me trouble? Huh?"
"I-I'll call the police!"
"Heh, call them if you want! The police are my bitches. They're not gonna take you seriously."
"No... stop!"
Before Akari can step in all three begin to hear sirens in the distance.
"Someone called the cops, huh?" the man frowned. "Get in the car! Incompetent fools like you just need to shut your mouths and follow where I steer this country!"
He then turned and noticed Akari.
"... What're you looking at? Get outta my face! This ain't a show. Get lost, kid."
He looked back at the woman in annoyance.
"See? This is all because you're so damn slow! Get in the car!"
End Flashback...
Akari grit her teeth recalling that only to be startled by her phone beeping at her.
The same app she deleted before is on her phone, 'Didn't I delete this?' She went, and delete it again before placing down her phone looking up at the celling, 'Well... I hope this will go well...' She slowly closed her eyes.
Soon though her eyes shot open as she found herself in an unfamiliar blue room as a chain slowly rattled nearby as a single drop of water dripped into a toilet for some reason as she sat up only to see that she was wearing prison stripes and her arms were handcuffed together. Confused she moved and put her head in one hand only to hear someone chuckle as she turned to a cell door where she saw two young boys wearing what looked like blue warden uniforms wearing eyepatches appear as they just stared at her.
Confused she got up and started to walk to the cell door only to notice her left leg was chained to a heavy iron ball as she slowly walked to the cell door and grabbed hold of the bars as the two boys turned towards a desk where Akari saw a man in a suit with an extremely long nose as he extended a hand.
"Trickster... welcome to my Velvet Room." the mysterious figure grinned.
(Cue Theme: Aria of the Soul)
'What the hell...?' Akari looked around while pulling on the cell door.
"Your finally awake, Inmate." the boy on her right said to her turning her head.
"Don't worry your real self currently fast asleep." the boy on her left said in a monotone voice, "This is only a dream."
"Eyes forward, and back straight, your in the presence of our master!" the boy on her right snapped to her as Akari looked back over to the man.
Hearing that Akari frowned before looking at the mysterious man with the long nose.
"Welcome. I am delighted to make your acquaintance." the man smiled. "This place exists between dream and reality, mind and matter. It is a room that only those who are bound by a 'Contract' may enter. I am Igor, the master of this place. Remember it well. I summoned you to speak of important matters. It involves your life as well."
"Important matters?" Akari questioned.
"Still, this is a surprise... The state of this room reflects the state of your own heart. To think a prison would appear as such." Igor noted looking around the Velvet Room. "You truly are a 'Prisoner' of fate. In the near future, there is no mistake that ruin awaits you."
"Are you kidding me?" Akari doesn't feel like joking around even if this dream is really bizarre.
Igor only chuckled at her question. "Worry not. There is a means to oppose such a fate. You must be 'rehabilitated'. Rehabilitated towards freedom. That is your only means to avoid ruin... Do you have the resolve to challenge the distortion of the world?"
"What? What are you talking about?" Akari wasn't sure what to think, like what does he mean by distortion of the world? None of this is making much sense to her, there are so many questions she wants to ask.
"Allow me to observe the path of your rehabilitation." Igor mentioned as the two boys turned back to Akari. "Ah, pardon me for not introducing the others."
Akari looked down at the two boys.
"To your right is Henry; to your left, Alphonse. They serve as wardens here."
Alphonse has noticeable ruffled hair with his eyepatch over his right eye. Henry meanwhile has smoother hair that's bowled with his eyepatch over his left eye. They both have green hair, and there eyes are yellow.
"You can struggle as hard as you like, it wouldn't do any good on those bonds." Henry stated to her while he holds a large police baton that's half as tall as him behind his back acting like a warden.
"As wardens it is our duty to protect inmates." Alphonse added to her while holding a clipboard in his right arm while adjusting a monocle on his face that Akari somehow didn't notice was there before. "In addition to that role, we are also your collaborators. ...If you manage to behave yourself, that is."
"I shall explain the roles of these two at another occasion." Igor mentioned as Henry and Alphonse turned to him. "Now then, it seems the night is waning... it is almost time. Take your time to slowly come to understand this place. We will surely meet again, eventually..."
With that a bell started to ring.
"Time's up. Now hurry up and go back to sleep." Henry told Akari as she grabbed the cell door only for the Velvet Room to slowly fade away.
4/10 (Sunday)
Akari slowly waken up placing on hand on her head shaking her sitting up, 'What was that? Ruin? Rehabilitation? What the hell is with that?'
"Looks like your up."
Hearing the voice Akari looked up seeing Sojiro just walked up seeing Akari is awake in the female Shujin uniform after she woken up. "Well then, let's go introduce ourselves properly to the staff about your transfer. The school your attending is in the Aoyama district. It'll take a while to get there by train. The transfers are a real hassle, too. I'll drive you there, but just for today. Let's go."
Akari slowly nodded standing up, and following Sojiro out of the cafe. Soon the two of them arrived at a school.
"Do me a favor and behave yourself, all right?" Sojiro asked. "Don't get me wrong-I don't care what happens to you. Just don't cause me any trouble."
Sighing he turned as they walked into the school and headed to the principal's office where a female teacher and a bald obese man sitting behind the desk were waiting as Sojiro filled out some forms.
"To reiterate, just so we're clear, you will immediately be expelled if you cause any problems." the principal told Akari. "In my opinion, you're nothing but a liability, but we had our circumstances to consider... Whatever you might've gotten away with in your hometown... those days are over. If you are thrown out from our school, there will be no place for you to go. Keep that in mind."
'Asshole.' Akari wanted to spat out but with strict circumstances she held her tongue, and managed to suppress her glare.
The principal turned over to the female teacher, "This is the teacher in charge of your class."
They looked over as she introduced herself to her, "I'm Sadayo Kawakami. Here's your student ID." She pulled something out of her pocket placing it down on the Principal's Desk for her to take. Akari went to take it but paused. "Huh?"
Underneath her student ID was something else which looks like a pink pamphlet. Miss Kawakami blinked seeing that looking to see before her eyes widened and she quickly grabbed it before Akari took her student ID.
"Be sure to read the school rules. Any violations will send you straight to the guidance office." Kawakami explained. "And, if by chance you cause any problems, I won't be able to protect you at all."
She then turned to the principal.
"...That IS your promise, yes, Principal Kobayakawa?"
"She is responsible for all her actions." the principal confirmed.
"But really though, why me? There should've been better candidates." Kawakami frowned.
"It was a sudden transfer, and your class was the only one that had an opening." the principal told her.
Akari couldn't help but feel bad towards this woman. It was cause since she has a criminal record she is treated like a bad guy everywhere she goes. Then again, having a criminal record does that to ya, but she didn't mean to injure the fucking guy! Well now otherside from this probation is also a teacher who clearly expresses displeasure on teaching someone like her which she should come up with a way to apologize to her about.
"If your done explaining things, mind if we get going?" Sojiro's voice break her out of her train of thought which she paid attention to the conversation. "I got a store to get back to."
"Sakura-san, please keep a close eye on her." the Principal told him with a serious expression. "Don't let her cause any trouble outside..."
"Well, I'll be sure to have a serious talk about the situation she's in." Sojiro mentioned.
"Come to the faculty office when you arrive at school tomorrow. I'll show you to your classroom." Kawakami told Akari.
"Right, thank you." Akari nodded before walking out of the office with Sojiro.
Once outside Sojiro sighed, "Everyone's giving you the cold shoulder. That's what having a criminal record does to you. Turns out your past follows you wherever you go." He turned to her while saying that, "By the way... if you get expelled now, I won't hesitate to kick you out. Got it?"
"I'll behave. It wouldn't do us any good if my temper gets me in another mess." Akari said to him with a nod.
"Well, it sounds like you understand the situation." Sojiro noted before sighing. "School never changes, huh? Come on, we're going home."
She nodded as they walked out.
Meanwhile at another part of the school...
Miss Kawakami was walking by herself down at the courtyard just as a voice got her attention, "What a troublesome situation."
She blinked looking over seeing a man was there. He has a white shirt, blue jeans, and a stopwatch around his neck.
"I can't believe they pushed someone with a record on me. A male teacher would be better suited for this..." Kawakami frowned.
"Why in the world was someone like that admitted here?" the male teacher questioned.
"Who knows? It was the principal's decision." Kawakami answered. "I was told it's for the school's reputation."
The male teacher shook his head. "I would've thought that my volleyball team has contributed more than enough to cover that."
"That's certainly true."
He moved his arms popping some joints, "Be careful, okay? Then again, if anything were to happen, I'd kick out a student like that right away."
"I keep wishing he'd just end up not coming to school." Miss Kawakami admitted rubbing her head. "Still, that isn't something I should be saying as a teacher..."
"Well, I should be returning to practice." the male teacher mentioned.
"Oh, right. The tournament's coming up, isn't it?" Kawakami recalled.
"Hehe, having such high expectations placed on you by others is a problem in itself." the male teacher grinned. "We'll have to work hard to make up for the track team too."
"Yes... that's true." Kawakami nodded looking down as the male teacher walked off. "Why'd it have to be my class?"
Meanwhile...
(Cue Theme: Beneath the Mask -Instrumental-)
Both Akari, and Sojiro were in his car where it is a large traffic jam there without cars moving while Sojiro taps his wheel impatiently. "Uuugh. Traffic's not moving at all... You're taking the train starting tomorrow." He then turned to Akari asking her, "...So, how was it? The school, I mean. You think you can manage?"
Akari thinks about her response for a moment. Otherside from the Principal, and Miss Kawakami the school seems pleasant enough. And also that as long as her criminal record is under tight lips like it should be to protect the student body, it should be alright for her. So she responded with a smile. "It'll fun."
"Right..." Sojiro nodded. "Still, you were expelled once already. To think you'd re-enroll at a different one. It's not like anyone will be sympathetic with you. ...If that's what it was like at school, people might say stuff about me in the future too... what a troublesome kid I've taken in..."
"Why did you take me in?" Akari inquired.
"I was asked to do it, and I just... happened to agree to it." Sojiro answered. "I've already been paid for it too, after all."
"...And now back to today's top stories. A subway train has derailed, severely affecting the timetable across all of-"
Sojiro sighed in annoyance. "...Another accident? So that's why it's so crowded. There's been a lot of those lately." He then looked somber telling her, "In fact, there was a real sad one just last month..."
"There is?"
He nodded to her. "It happened before you came here. If I remember right, the girl that passed away was only fifteen. Her parents had gotta be just-"
"...All traffic around Shibuya Station is being redirected due to the accident, so drivers should expect jam-packed streets." the radio suddenly voiced to them.
"Oh, come on!" Sojiro groaned.
Meanwhile underground a group of people were waiting for a train only for it to race past at high speeds without stopping. The passengers tried to keep themselves balanced while one man tried to bang against the door where the conductor is trying to tell him to stop. In the conductor's car he is groaning a bit while gasping as something dripped from his face as he raised his head showing a black liquid is leaking from his mouth, and his eyes are blank due to being rolled at the back.
"We're experiencing technical difficulties in the lower line." a intercom said to the next stop as the passengers are waiting confused from hearing a screeching.
"I don't have a visual yet." an officer said to a walkie-talkie before noticing something, and widen his eyes, "Of f-!"
Suddenly the train came in crashing against the lane as people quickly stand back crying out from the force as it stopped in a position.
"That was direct footage from the accident. According to the police, the engineers life was not in danger, despite his injuries." stated a female reporter. "After questioning, even he could not explain his high speed when approaching the station. No farther comments were made."
"Police are still looking for a plausible motive."
"It's less of an operating accident and more of a crime of the company and the government."
In the office watching the report was Sae with an elder man with glasses, and is balding sitting on a chair.
"Site inspectors apparently reported all of this six months ago- the deterioration of the tracks and the ATC." the elder man noted. "Seems the railway company and the Ministry of Transport both turned a blind eye to the truth. There's no way they can hide. This will go all the way to the top."
"Now, on to our main story." the reporter continued. "With this derailment accident, as well as other recent incidents of unknown motive, concern is spreading among the general public. Just what could be causing such a drastic change so suddenly in these people?"
"Everything's linked- that's what your thinking, correct?" the elder man asked Sae.
She didn't respond focused on the report which he gave a slight chuckle, "...Ah well." He then offered to her, "Are you free? You and I haven't gone for a drink in a while."
She looked over with a small smile, "Thank you, sir, but I have another meeting to attend." She bowed to him. "I must be going." She walked out of the room while the man stared as the report goes on, and he leaned back in his chair with a sigh.
Sae walked down a staircase where a young brown-haired man with a suitcase was waiting for her.
"Did you ask for me? Is it a case?" the young man asked.
"Not quite. I want your opinion on something." Sae answered.
"Sure. Your judgement is quite often correct, though." the young man smiled. "Can we discuss this over sushi, perhaps? You are making a student work late, after all."
"Conveyor belt only." Sae answered making the young man frowned slightly.
Meanwhile...
Akari, and Sojiro arrived back at Cafe LeBlanc walking in as Sojiro groaned, "Damn, to think there'd be that much traffic... What a waste of time. I wasn't able to open the cafe today..."
Akari felt bad for him turning over, "I'm sorry."
"... Whatever." Sojiro sighed. "Just head upstairs. There's something I need to give you."
Akari nodded as the two of them walked up to the attic again.
"Talk about a gruesome accident... Eighty people were involved." he read from his phone before putting it away and taking out a book. "Here's a diary. Make sure you keep it up to date. You may be under probation, but there's no special limitations on what you do in particular. Besides following the law, that is. However, I'm obligated to report on you, which is why I'm having you record your daily activities."
Akari only smiled at the sight of the diary as she does used to own a diary herself before this whole incident happened. Just then a phone rang confusing her as Sojiro takes his phone answering it, "Hey, what's up? ...I'm about to leave right now. Don't worry, I'll be there in no time. ...Uh-huh, I'll see you soon."
After hanging up turned his head towards her. "Well, I'm off. I'll lock the place up, so do whatever you want for the rest of the night." He then warns her. "Oh, but don't mess up my store. If something goes missing, I'll hand you right over to the cops. You got school tomorrow... You better head off to bed, all right?"
Akari nodded hearing that, "Understood." With that he walked off just as she walked to the diary, and smiled, "Well at least this is something familiar..." She used to own a diary to right with her but due to the circumstances of the incident she haven't written it down for a while. She felt a sense of nostalgia while she started writing down her activities of what she was doing in the diary.
Smiling she put the diary away and walked to the bed only to hear a phone ringing from downstairs as she blinked before going to answer it. "Hello?"
"Hey, it's me." mentioned a male voice.
"Who is this?" Akari asked hearing that.
"You seriously forgotten my voice already? It's Sakura." Sojiro mentioned. "Anyway... I closed up shop, but I forgot to flip the sign to 'Closed' when I left. It's too much trouble for me to come back just for that. Think you can do it for me?"
Akari blinked at this before then nodding, "Okay, I can do that."
"Thanks." Sojiro mentioned hanging up the phone.
Akari walked first flipping it before heading back to her home walking to her bed sitting down, "Tomorrow's a day at school... Well here's to a good day..." She laid down to make a note on it seeing the news on her phone before pausing seeing the app is back again, and frowned, "Okay this is getting old." She moved deleting the app again before placing it away, "I better make a note to reboot it later..."
With that she closed her eyes going to sleep.
The next day...
4/11 (Monday)
Akari woke up to a surprisingly good smell as she walked down to see a plate on the counter.
"So, you're actually going to school, huh?" Sojiro inquired. "Here, I'll feed you. Just make sure you finish it before the customers start coming in."
"This is my breakfast?" Akari asked in surprise seeing the food.
"Don't complain. Just eat." Sojiro told her.
Nodding Akari sat down to eat the food as her eyes widened from the taste.
"It's time for you to go."
"That was delicious." she smiled to him.
Sojiro grinned a bit. "Huh, turns out you do have manners after all." He then told her. "...Hurry over to school. You'll end up late if you get lost on the way."
"Right." Akari nodded walking to the door.
Sojiro then remembered something calling to her, "Oh yeah, and flip the sign outside to 'Open' for me."
"Right." Akari nodded to him hearing that.
"Don't forget to do that for me, all right?" Sojiro asked her before then telling her, "Now, you better hurry on our. You're gonna be late if you get lost, country girl."
Akari nodded walking out, and flipped the sign to open before walking out to the subway entering a train where she finds herself crammed into the car while holding her bag shuddering as she recalled the news finding them true after all while seeing some on the TV on the train. When her train stopped she exited out heading to the Ginza Line entering the train.
Meanwhile...
Back at LeBlanc, Sojiro already has a customer there who is someone that is getting a coffee before heading to work before he paused, "Oh man... did it say it was going to rain today?"
"Huh? It's raining outside?" Sojiro asked hearing that.
"It just started all of a sudden... This is why I hate the early spring." the customer admitted.
"That reminds me... did she take an umbrella?" Sojiro pondered.
"Hm? Who're you talking about?" the customer inquired.
"Don't mind me." Sojiro mentioned. "So, what'll it be?"
"One house blend, please." the customer ordered as Sojiro started making the coffee.
"The effects of yesterday's subway accident continues on today as various lines suffer delays and-" a reporter on the TV started.
"There's been a lot of nasty accidents lately. You know, I mean the subway accident that the news is talking about... My coworker got caught up in it and is I the hospital now... But that aside, it's kind of creepy. The people who caused these accidents supposedly went crazy all of a sudden. I heard that some of them suffered from nervous breakdowns during the interrogation."
"Huh..." Sojiro commented.
Meanwhile...
Akari was outside the station is under a building to avoid the rain before checking her phone to see where the school is on her GPS before pausing seeing the same app once again on her phone. "Oh, come on." It enlarged as she sighed in annoyance, "At this point it be better to leave it alone if it keeps popping up."
Hearing something she turned over seeing someone stepped beside her before lowering her hood showing it was a girl with blue eyes, and having long blonde hair in two long curls on both sides of her head which Akari widen her eyes seeing it.
Noticing Akari staring at her the girl turned to her before smiling gently just before a car pulled up and the window rolled down revealing the same teacher that had been talking to Kawakami the other day.
"Good morning. You want me to give you a ride to school? You're gonna be late." the teacher mentioned to them.
"Um, sure. Thank you." the blonde girl replied getting in the car as the teacher noticed Akari.
"Do you need a lift too?" he asked her.
"H-Huh?" Akari asked hearing that before giving a short smile waving to him, "Uh, no thanks, I'd appreciate it."
As the teacher rolled up the window Akari noticed the girl looked saddened. She blinked as the car drove off wondering what that was about. Based on that look she seemed to be depressed over something.
She didn't hear running steps as someone ran in front of her seething at the car that drove off, "Dammit... screw that pervy teacher."
"...Pervy teacher?" Akari asked confused hearing that unaware that triggered something on her phone just as the person turned over showing it was a blonde haired boy wearing the Shujin Uniform while having on a yellow shirt with a pink star on the chest with 'OMG!' at the bottom of it.
"... What do you want?" the boy questioned walking up to her. "You plannin' on rattin' me out to Kamoshida?"
"Who do you mean?" Akari asked him.
"Huh? In that car just now. It was Kamoshida." the boy explained in confusion. "He does whatever the hell he wants. Who does he think he is- The king of a castle? Don't you agree?"
"That depends on which castle you mean." Akari admitted to him.
Taken aback by what she said the boy quickly cleared up to prevent a misunderstanding from happening. "Uh, it's just a sayin'..." He looks over her recognizing the uniform but doesn't seem to remember her. "..Wait. You don't know Kamoshida? Are you for real?"
"Nada." Akari shook her head to answer that. "I'm a transfer student heading to Shujin Academy."
"Oh. Huh, then no wonder you don't know him." the boy said now understanding why Akari doesn't seem to know Kamoshida. Turning over he informed her, "This rain ain't too bad. We better hurry up, or we'll be late."
Akari nodded as they moved only for a ringing to trigger in there heads.
The boy groaned at that holding his head in his hands for a moment. "Uuugh, my head hurts... Damnit... I wanna go home..."
He walked off as Akari looked around before following him.
In the interrogation room...
Akari having said her story up to that point looked up towards Sae for a small break who stared at her before saying, "...There was a terrible subway accident that day. You remember it, don't you? I assume you know of the uproar that the public calls the 'psychotic breakdown incidents.'"
"What does that mean?" Akari asked her.
Sae sighed hearing that. "It was all over the news, and one of the victims included a teacher at your high school. I've no doubt you've heard about it. On that day... were you still an 'ordinary' student?"
Akari looked down hearing that.
"... Let me change the question." Sae stated. "You transferred to Shujin Academy, correct?"
"Yes." Akari nodded to her.
"An ordinary prep school that could be found in any city..." Sae said cupping her chin in thought. "...That's what it should've been." She looked at Akari before asking, "What happened around that time? Tell me everything-truthfully."
Akari at that closed her eyes to recall more.
The story...
Akari, and the boy were walking together while the app in Akari's phone seemed to be triggered by something while they walked through an ally way as water is reflected a bit from one of Akari's steps prompting her to stop looking around to see if someone is following her before shrugging, and continued her walk seeing the boy stopped looking stunned. "Wha-!?"
"What's the matter?" Akari asked walking over, and when she looked what's in front of her she gasped, "What the fuck?"
Instead of the school she'd seen with Sojiro the day before, in front of them was of all things a medieval castle.
Ulrich362: What's going on here?
bopdog111: A castle just materialized instead of the school?
Ulrich362: Something very strange is going on, hopefully there's an explanation.
bopdog111: There better be cause right now it doesn't make sense how it came up.
Ulrich362: Well, maybe we'll find out next time. See you in the next chapter.
bopdog111: Be sure to review!