Chapter 2: King of the Castle
Jake wakes up to see that it was early morning as hinted by the early cracks of dawn. Getting up from his bed, he goes to the bathroom to freshen up before heading to the kitchen. As he headed to the kitchen, he saw that his dad was already up as he prepared breakfast for the two of them. "Morning Jake," he said, taking a sip out of his coffee. "Morning dad," Jake said in response as he took a seat and ate his breakfast. While eating breakfast, Jake looked at what his dad was reading as his dad seemed rather interested in the paper. "Whatchu reading?" Jake asked, as his dad looked at him. "Something about a psychotic breakdown case that has been going on in Japan for the past two years. Hell some strange things had happened in this country before like that case involving a string of murders in a small foggy town called Inaba around 2011. Turns out the murderer was a detective, some punk named Adachi, but luckily he got apprehended so the town is safe," Mr. Creed said, before returning to his paper. "Right…anyways so what is the school you are going to introduce me to?" Jake asked. "Shujin Academy, it's the only school that could accept you on the fly given your recent transfer ever since that incident that happened back home," Mr. Creed stated.
"Ugh…don't remind me of that, I really don't want to talk about it," Jake stated. "Wasn't planning to, but anyways come on, we need to head to the school to get you registered," Mr. Creed stated and soon the two got ready before heading to the car and driving to the school. It was a quiet drive, as things were awkward for the two given that it's been years since the two actually interacted with each other. They soon arrived at the school, as Mr. Creed gave some advice to Jake. "Listen, given how you were sent here because of that incident, do me a favor and keep it to yourself, all right? This isn't America, so really try not to cause any trouble here as the law is unforgiving," Mr. Creed stated. "I know, I know, you don't have to tell me twice," Jake stated, as his dad gave him the look. "I'm serious Jake, you really have to behave yourself. I know that you're a good kid and aren't the type to cause trouble, but other people won't think the same so just try to keep out of trouble," Mr. Creed stated, before the two entered the school.
As they enter the school, the two see two other people walking out of the principal's office. One of them was a middle-aged man with slicked back hair that was receding, gray eyes, a chinstrap beard with a goatee, and was wearing glasses. The other person was a boy about the same age as Jake, and the boy has frizzy black hair, gray eyes, and like the middle-aged man, he too wears glasses. The two walked past them without a word, as they entered the office. Inside the office, there was fat bald man wearing a tacky yellow suit with a red bowtie and a woman in her mid to late twenties with dark brown unkempt hair, dark brown eyes, and a tired expression as she wears a yellow long-sleeved shirt striped with white and red horizontal lines, a blue denim skirt and white kitten heel pumps. "Can I help you two?" the bald principal asked. "Hello, this is Mr. Creed. I came here to register my son for this school, as he is a transfer student from America," Mr. Creed stated, handing in the paperwork. The bald principal took a look at the paperwork and looked at the two before nodding. "Very well, just so we're clear, you will immediately be expelled if you cause any problems. Normally we wouldn't be accepting any transfer requests on the fly, but luckily there were two seats available and looking at your transcript, it seems that you will be starting out as a second year. However, this isn't like your previous school back home, so do keep in mind that whatever it is you've done back home…those days are over," the bald principal stated.
"Now then, this here is the teacher in charge of your class," the bald principal introduced. "My name is Sadayo Kawakami and I will be your homeroom teacher. Here is your student ID along with the school rule book. Please make sure to read the rules and any violations will land you straight to the guidance office and if by chance you do cause any problems, I won't be able to protect you at all," Kawakami stated. "Understood," Jake stated, taking the ID and rule book. After a few minutes of paperwork and some explanations, the two soon left the room. "Well that turned out better than I thought," Jake pointed out. "True, but remember what I said, stay out of trouble as the law here is unforgiving," Mr. Creed stated. Soon they got in the car and as they drove home, they were stuck in traffic. "God damn, even in another country, you really can't escape traffic, huh?" Mr. Creed jokes, noticing that Jake was rather quiet. "Listen, tomorrow you will be taking the train to go to school as I got work early in the morning, got it?" Mr. Creed asked, as Jake could only nod.
"So what do you think of the school?" he asked. "It's alright, though I wish I was still at home as I'm still not used to being in a new area," Jake stated, as his dad sighed. "I know, but listen you'll manage, I mean I was in your situation once when I was transferred here for work and soon I got used to this place," he stated, even though Jake didn't say anything. Mr. Creed sighed, but didn't say anything as he didn't want to pry at how his son was feeling. After a few hours of waiting in traffic, the two soon arrived home though it was night time. "Alright, I'm going to make dinner, go wash your hands," Mr. Creed said, as Jake nodded. For dinner, they ate chicken katsu and once dinner was over the two went to bed preparing for a new day.
The Next Day
Jake wakes up to see that it was early morning. Changing into his school uniform which was a red-buttoned black blazer with the school emblem on the pocket, a white turtleneck shirt with a black chevron like design on the collar, and red plaid pants. 'Better get used to this uniform,' Jake thought as he left his room to see that no one was there. He goes to the kitchen to see that his breakfast was already made along with a note from his dad. After reading the note, Jake ate his breakfast before leaving the house to start his first day of school. Given how he was on his own when it came to navigating where he needed to be, Jake had to ask people for directions as to where he had to go. It was even a nightmare when it came to finding which trains to take, but luckily he wasn't alone in this situation. Jake notices the same boy he saw yesterday at the school and from how he looked, it seems that he was lost as well.
"You lost too, huh?" Jake asked, as the boy in the glasses turned around. "Yeah, I'm still getting used to this place given that I just came to this city two days ago," the boy in the glasses stated. "Same here and I'm guessing you're the same guy I saw at the school yesterday?" Jake asked, as the boy with glasses nodded. "Well then, let's go find the train we are looking for," Jake stated. The two went to find the train that goes to their school and as they searched for the train, the two introduced themselves to each other. "I'm Jake by the way, Jake Creed," Jake introduced himself. "Ren Amamiya, nice to meet you too," Ren introduced himself. The two managed to get on the train that goes on the Ginza line and it was packed.
Soon they got off the train and as they were walking to the exit, they talked for some time. "So you're a transfer student like me and also in the same year as me, right?" Ren asked. "Yup and my homeroom teacher is Kawakami," Jake stated. "No way, I also have Kawakami as my homeroom teacher," Ren stated. "Looks like you and I are going to get along just fine," Jake quipped, as Ren chuckled. When the two exited the station, it was raining hard outside as indicated by everyone rushing with their umbrellas. "Shit, forgot to bring an umbrella with me," Jake groaned. "There, let's go underneath the awning of that store," Ren pointed out and the two did so. As they were staying dry, Jake noticed that Ren was looking at his phone in frustration. "Phone trouble?" Jake asked, as Ren nodded. "Yeah, I'm trying to delete an app but it's not going away," Ren explained.
Jake raised an eyebrow, but didn't respond as he figured that it was probably a glitch or something. While the two waited, a hooded female stood next to them. She wore the female version of the school uniform, though she had a hooded sweatshirt with a four leaf clover on the hood and red tights under her skirt. Just like them, she too was soaked, indicating by the fact that she too doesn't have an umbrella. When she took off her hood, both Jake and Ren were surprised by how beautiful she was. The girl was definitely mixed just by how she looked both American and Japanese, with fair skin, platinum blond hair tied into pigtails that flow past her shoulders, light blue eyes, and she sports two small pearl earrings on her ears. She turned to the two boys and smiled at them.
"Hello there," Jake said, getting out of his stupor. "Hello to you as well," the girl said in response. It was quiet for the three as they waited for the rain to go away. Now before Jake could fully introduce himself to the girl, a car stopped by and the windows rolled down revealing a man with long black unkempt hair and thick eyebrows, a broad and square jawline, wearing a tracksuit. "Morning Ann, do you need a lift, cause you're going to be late," the man said. "Sure thank you," the girl named Ann replied. Jake notices that something was wrong with Ann as hinted by how she looked when entering the car. The teacher then notices the two boys and offers them a ride, but they politely refuse. As soon as the car left, a blond boy about their age ran past them before stopping. "Damn it, screw that pervy teacher!" the blond boy cursed.
"Pervy teacher…" Ren said, sounding confused as he didn't notice that his phone was listening to him. Jake raised an eyebrow at what the blond boy stated, as the blond boy suspiciously looked at them. "What do you two want? Plannin' on rattin' me out to Kamoshida?" the blond boy asked. "Who the hell is Kamoshida?" Jake asked, as he raised an eyebrow. The blond boy was taken aback by this response, looking rather surprised. "Huh? In that car just now. It was Kamoshida," the blond boy stated. He then goes on a rant about how the guy acts like a king in a castle. "Look man, we don't even know who Kamoshida is, let alone we don't even know him personally," Jake stated. "For real? Wait, are you two even from Shujin?" the blond boy asked. "We're transfer students starting our first day at the school," Ren explained quickly. "Oh, so no wonder you two don't know him. Anyways this rain ain't too bad, come on we better hurry up, or we'll be late," the blond boy stated.
But as the three were about to head to the school, the three felt light headed all of a sudden. "You guys felt that?" Jake asked, as the others nodded. "Ugh, my head hurts, dammit…I want to go home," the blond boy stated. "Me too, I feel light-headed for some reason," Ren added. Nevertheless the three walked to where they needed to be, but what they're about to see will shock them. "What the hell?! Why is there a castle there? Heck where is the school?" Jake asked. "I don't even know, this should be where the school is. What's going on here?" the blond boy asked, as Ren shrugged not knowing what to say. "Well I guess we'll have to go and ask," the blond boy suggested. The three entered the castle not knowing what was inside or rather who was inside.
"Ok this is starting to get weird, a school is supposed to be here and yet it's not. This better not be some elaborate prank," Jake asked. "It's not a prank bro, heck it said Shujin outside at the gate," the blond boy remarked. "I don't know about this, come on let's get out of here," Ren stated. But before they could leave, someone came by and it was some guy in knight armor. "Geez, you freaked me out. Who are you? You a student?" the blond boy asked. "Really man, you think some guy in a rather suspicious knight armor is just a student?" Jake retorted sarcastically. "What? I mean he could be a student. Though the costume is rather impressive and looks rather real," the blond boy stated, before turning to the knight. "Say something at least," he asked and just then another knight came. "H-Hey what's going on…?" the blond boy asked, looking rather nervous. "This is getting really bad," Ren pointed out. "Agreed, come on guys let's bolt out of here!" Jake exclaimed. But before they could escape, one of the guards knocked out the blond boy and then knocked out the other two.
A Few Minutes Later
Jake wakes up to see that he was in chains, as he looks around to see that the others are ok. "Hey, you're finally awake. You alright man?" the blond boy asked. "Just peachy, how are you two?" Jake asked. "Yeah, we're alright more or less," the blond boy asked. "Where are we exactly?" Ren asked. "I don't even know. Ugh, what's going on?!" the blond boy cried out in frustration, before going to the gate and shaking it. "Damn it, nobody is responding. What is this, a goddamn movie set?!" the blond responded with visible frustration. Just then, a scream could be heard outside of the room. "Ok this is starting to get really bad. Like I'm freaking out man!" the blond boy panicked. "Calm down, we need to formulate a plan to escape," Ren stated. "Agreed, come on there's gotta be something to break the locks," Jake added. But before they could do so, several footsteps could be heard outside the cell. A couple of guards arrived, as they prepared to give the news. "Be glad that your punishment has been decided upon. Your charge is 'unlawful entry.' Thus, you will be sentenced to death," one of the guards responded. This was shocking to hear, as there is no way, not on the first day. "This has to be a joke, right? There is no way?!" Jake exclaimed. "No one's allowed to do as they please in my castle," a familiar voice stated coming out of the shadows. "Huh? Wait…is that you, Kamoshida?!" the blond boy asked in shock. "You?! You're Kamoshida?!" Jake asked, pointing at Kamoshida, as he smirked.
