Ch.2: Birth Of The Cool Part 2
April 10, 2016
AN: Been a while, here's an extra long chapter to compensate
A sudden snapping jolted Bruno awake.
"Hey, kid, you in there?"
Sojiro's voice further dragged him out of his stupor and back into the present, where he realized that they'd arrived just outside the gate of his school for the next year, Shujin Academy.
"Sorry," he said while rubbing the sleep from his eyes. "just zoned out for a minute there."
Calling it a minute was one hell of an understatement, as he'd basically been stuck in this state the entire morning as he tried to process whether any of what had happened last night had been real, or if it all had been just another nightmare that would no doubt cement itself in the increasingly familiar rotation of night terrors that'd started to plague his unconscious mind.
He'd barely even reacted when Sojiro told him that they were going to Shujin to meet some of the staff and learn more about the rules surrounding his 'Special Circumstance'. The subsequent car ride and most his guardian's lecture about not embarrassing him during the meeting had passed by in a haze, almost all of it going in one ear and out the other.
Sojiro sighed "You've been like this since you woke up, don't tell me you were up all night on your phone or something stupid like that."
Bruno shook his head "No, it's nothing like that, it's just…"
He paused for a second, quickly trying to think up an explanation other than 'I hallucinated a weird app and had a nightmare about making some sort of supernatural deal with a creepy old man and his abusive servants.' He could tell Sojiro barely tolerated him as it was, and if he heard something like that, he'd probably throw him out onto the street. Obligation be damned.
"…Well, that mattress isn't exactly comfortable. The lumps just kept waking me up throughout the night."
A faint trace of guilt passed over Sojiro's face before it settled back to its normal stern scowl.
"Well you better get used to it fast, cause this cannot become an everyday thing you hear me?"
After a quick nod from Bruno, Sojiro pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose and continued where he left off. "Listen, just don't cause any trouble in there. I don't need you embarrassing me, and you already have enough reasons for them to be gunning for you, no need to add on to them and risk getting kicked to the curb."
The older man huffed "Not that I care what happens to you anyway."
One of Bruno's eyebrows twitched a bit as he suppressed his growing resentment at his guardian's constant beratement.
'I've barely known this man for twelve hours and he's already insulted me more times than I can keep track of…'
As the teen attempted to calm himself down, Sojiro checked his watch
"Come on, let's get moving. If we show up late, they might just expel you on the spot."
Bruno let out a sigh as he followed the middle-aged man past the gate and into the school campus.
So far the day had not had a good start, and something in his gut told him it wasn't going to get better anytime soon.
"Honestly, I was hesitant at first to accept someone with your record. But after some… unforeseen circumstances, I decided it would be a fine bit of charity work for us to take in someone like you. Our good deed for the year if you will."
Sadayo Kawakimi stared ahead listlessly, barely listening to the principal's self-aggrandizing speech. Honestly she was a bit ticked off that she was even here, as today was one of her only days off this month, but the principle insisted that her presence would help make a good impression on their 'Charity Case' as he had dubbed him. Kawakimi sighed.
'At least I don't have to go to my "other job" today…"
"Now, I don't know what they let you get away with in Italy, or whatever little nowhere town you've been living in while in Japan, but rest assured if you try anything like that in these halls you'll be expelled within the hour."
The small lump of a man gave a hollow smile "And if that does happen, I doubt you'd find another school as charitable as us, understand?"
The student gave a monotone response "Yes, principle."
He'd been standing there for the past five minutes nodding and saying yes whenever the principle had directed him to, probably just to get it over with faster. Honestly Kawakimi couldn't blame him. His appearance had caught her off guard when she first saw him, he definitely wasn't the typical looking thug (although that bob cut had made her do a double take at first), but what'd really thrown her off was his eyes.
Instead of the expected bitterness and anger at their punishment that she'd expect from a teenager with an assault charge, she only saw disappointment in themselves and a hollowness that made it seem as if he were watching his own life crumble right in front of him. It almost got her to feel sorry for the kid. But then she remembered the year's worth of headaches he'd probably be causing her just by his very existence, and any good will she had quickly went out the window.
'Dammit! If only that Fujiwara kid had picked any other time to move, I wouldn't be in this mess!'
"This is Sadayo Kawakimi, she'll be the teacher in charge of your class for the year" The principle introduced her. Bruno gave her a small, polite bow. While Kawakimi ran through the script she was supposed to give in her head again.
"Pleasure to make your acquaintance, here's your student ID." She said plainly while handing the small plastic badge over.
"Be sure to read through the school rules, any violation well send you straight to the guidance office, and most likely get you expelled. If such an event does occur I will have no ability to aid or protect you at all."
After speaking as if she was reading her lines off a teleprompter, Kawakimi shot the principle a look. "That is the official policy on the matter, right Principal Kobayakawa?"
After giving a small 'Mm-Hmm' as confirmation, the principle spoke.
"You heard her, you're responsible for your own actions around here boy, never forget that."
Sojiro finally voiced his presence with a sigh as he finally finished up the stack of paperwork the principle had plopped down in front of him. "If you two are done giving the rundown, are we good to get going? I've got a shop to attend too."
Principal Kobayakawa nodded. "Of course, of course. But do keep an eye on him Sakura-San. You make sure he doesn't cause trouble out there, and we'll make sure he doesn't cause any in here."
Sojiro gave a curt nod, clearly starting to get a bit tired of the principle's long winded speeches, and gave a short "Of course." As a response. But before the two turned to leave, Kawakimi interjected.
"Oh, and be sure to come by the faculty office when you get to school tomorrow. That way I can show you too your classroom."
She gave Bruno's eyes another glance, and along with the same hollow and almost empty look, there was something else. An almost inquisitiveness that made it look as if he was almost studying her. Trying to figure out her mood, her personality, and even if having such a troublesome student was the main reason for her obvious lack of enthusiasm.
She couldn't even tell if it was something specifically about her that he found so curious, or if this was just one of the boy's general habits, but either way she couldn't help but find it a bit unnerving.
As the two turned their backs to the school staff and began to take their leave, Kawakimi let out a sigh.
This was going to be a strange year.
"You're taking the train starting tomorrow."
For probably the first time since he met the man, Bruno found himself in total agreement with his guardian. Ever since they'd left the school, traffic had been absolute hell, with the two being stuck bumper-to-bumper for at least the past forty-five minutes. Honestly Bruno was beginning to think the fastest way they were going to get back to Leblanc was to just get out of the car and start walking.
Sojiro had been taking it especially hard. While Bruno had been content to let his frustration and resentment silently bubble, his guardian had taken to letting out expletives and grumbling to himself ("Where the hell are these people even going!?") every couple minutes. And they only seemed to get more elaborate and vulgar the longer they sat there.
Eventually though, the middle-aged man let out a sigh of defeat and resigned himself to just sit back and hope things eventually started going faster than 'One mile every two hours'. A kind of awkward silence overtook the inside of the car, and after a few minutes Sojiro decided to break the ice.
"So… What'd you think of the school? Think you'll make it through an entire year there?"
Bruno shrugged. "The principle seemed to have it out for me the moment I walked in, and the teacher seemed like she'd rather be doing almost anything else. If all the staff are anything like those two, it'll be difficult, but I'm sure I can manage."
Thoughts of his father, and the promise he'd made flashed through Bruno's mind. 'I have to manage…'
Sojiro huffed "Honestly, that's about what I expected. The principle wasn't kidding when he said you were a charity case. With a record like yours, you shouldn't expect anyone to be sympathetic at this point…"
Bruno felt another eyebrow twitch as he pushed down yet more anger at the older man's insults.
"…But despite what anyone says to you, you better keep a clear head got it? You have an outburst at school and it'll look bad for the both of us. And I've already gotten enough trouble on my plate just by taking you in."
Bruno felt a sliver of the anger and resentment he'd been stuffing deep down into his core slip out, and a bitter sentence wormed it's way out of his mouth.
"If I'm such a bother to you, then why the hell did you decide to shelter me in the first place? Not enough excitement in your life?"
Sojiro shot him a stern glare and pointed an accusatory finger at the teen.
"See! That right there is what I'm talking about. You might be able to just barely get away with that attitude around me, but back there? Say something like that and they'll throw you out without a second thought!"
Bruno flinched at the finger in his face and fought back to urge to fire back with his own response. Not wanting this already miserable car ride to descend into a shouting match, and realizing on some level that the older man was right.
Sojiro ran a hand down the back of his neck, calming himself down as he spoke. "As for the why, well…"
He paused a second, as if he was choosing his words very carefully. "…No real special reason, I was asked to do it, and said yes. The fact that they were offering a nice chunk of change didn't hurt. I have certain… expenses that I have to take care of after all."
Another awkward silence descended over the car, neither of its occupants wanting to continue the conversation in fear of another potential shouting match breaking out. So, after a few minutes, Sojiro turned to the last bastion of all bored car owners: turning on the radio.
"…In other news, a devastating accident occurred at Shibuya Station this afternoon after a subway derailment killed seventeen people and injured at least fifty more. Authorities say the damage to the station won't be repaired until tomorrow morning at the very earliest…"
Bruno narrowed his eyes as the newscaster moved onto other subjects. 'Another accident? Seems like ever since I've gotten here, I've been hearing about them non-stop…' He couldn't point to any one reason, but something in his gut told him that some kind of foul play had to be going on in this city.
A small "Huh…" came from Sojiro. "…Well, that explains the traffic."
'9:30am: Woke up.
10:15: Arrived at Shujin Academy for a meeting…'
Bruno sat atop his makeshift bed; the rest of his day having passed by without much else interesting happening. The only things of note were him finally getting the rest of his stuff unpacked, (most of which consisted of just some clothes, hygiene essentials, and his prized Miles Davis records.) along with Sojiro forgetting to flip Leblanc's sign from 'Open' to 'Closed' after he'd left. Causing the man to call him on the café's hilariously outdated rotary phone and ask him to do it in his stead.
After he'd finished writing the synopsis of his day in the journal Sojiro had given him, and that he was apparently supposed to write in everyday per his probation requirements, Bruno set the diary down, laid back onto his mattress and checked his phone one last time.
'I wonder if…' His wonders were confirmed before he could finish his thought, as his notifications let him know he had one unread message from his father.
'Hey son, just texting to check up on you. How's your new place? Is the city treating you well? I know you must be busy right now with the… probation business so, just get back to me when you can. I love you.'
Bruno felt the beginnings of tears creep into the corners of his eyes as he finished reading his father's text. Paolo was almost comically incompetent when it came to smartphones, so to see that he'd left something like this gave Bruno's heart a lift it so desperately needed in this trying time.
He was about to message back that he was fine and actually enjoying his stay so far, (not exactly the truth but he saw no reason to worry the man) when he saw something out of the corner of his eye, and felt a plunging feeling in his stomach.
That damned red eye was staring right at him. Again. Bruno gave the infernal app a scowl.
'I swear if I have to delete this thing one more time, I'm taking this damned phone to a repair shop or something.'
After deleting the app for hopefully the final time, Bruno sent his father a message, double checked the alarm on his phone, and let sleep overtake him.
Silently hoping that history didn't repeat itself twice. And that when he awoke next, it wouldn't be to the sight of a creepy old man, and a padded cell.
April 11th, 2016
Thankfully, Bruno's sleep was actually peaceful for once. No nightmares to experience, no memories to relive, just a peaceful, restoring eight hours of nothing. Which honestly was what he needed right now when the past few days had each felt like a marathon.
After a surprisingly delicious breakfast of Sojiro's homemade curry, the teenager set out for his first day at his new school. And after a rocky ride from the Yongen-Jaya station (if he thought the crosswalk's crowds were intimidating, the almost sardine-can like subway was a whole new flavor of anxiety inducing.), he finally arrived in Shibuya station.
As opposed to his first time at the station, when it had been relatively empty and relaxed (as relaxed as a major station in a big city could be), this time Shibuya was in an absolute uproar. With news reports, exhausted station attendants, and anxious train-goers all buzzing about yesterday's accident and all the fallout it had brought.
Had Bruno not had the route he was meant to take on his phone, along with some directions from a helpful ticket-taker, he probably would've gotten lost multiple times on his way to the Ginza Line. And he really didn't need that kind of unlucky omen on his first day.
After stepping off another packed-to-the-brim subway car and onto the Aoyama-Itchome platform, Bruno breathed a sigh of relief. He was definitely going to need to get used to all the hustle and crowds of the big city, along with learning how to get around without the help of a maps app, but at the very least he wouldn't be late on his first day.
He'd even started to hope that maybe, just maybe, today wouldn't be so bad…
…Until he stepped out of the subway and heard the crackling of thunder overhead.
'Well, I guess my luck was starting to get a bit too good to be true after all.' Bruno thought with a mirthless chuckle as he remembered his umbrella he'd left sitting in the corner of the attic.
After internally berating himself for being so careless, Bruno quickly sought shelter underneath the overhang of what looked to be a high-end clothing shop of some kind. All the Italian teen could do from there was just sit back and hope the storm cleared out soon, otherwise he'd probably have to spend his first couple of classes soaked and shivering.
After a minute, he decided to check his phone to see when the weather would let up, but when he unlocked it he instead saw something that nearly made him pop a vein.
The App was back, and now it'd nearly taken up two-thirds of his screen. Staring right into his soul with it's dark red-black eye. He was about to scream out a very unflattering mixture of Italian and Japanese curse words at the device before deleting it once again with extreme prejudice, when someone decided to join him underneath the overhang.
"Room for two?" Came a woman's voice from beside him.
The voice snapped Bruno out of his frustrations and back to reality.
"Oh, uh of course, feel free." He half-mumbled, slightly embarrassed at his near public freakout.
The woman was a student, judging by the backpack at least, and was wearing a red/black jacket with the hood up, along with red leggings and short matching boots. She shook off some of the rain drops from her sleeves as she moved to pull back her hood. Platinum blond hair spilled free from her jacket as two long pigtails made their way down her shoulders. That combined with her shining turquoise eyes gave her an almost angelic look, and left Bruno with the impression that her family wasn't exactly native to Japan.
He must've been staring a bit too intently, as the woman gave him a strange look before saying, "You alright? Do I have something on my face or…?"
Bruno snapped out of his stare, again a little embarrassed by his impoliteness before responding "Oh no, nothing like that it's just… I haven't really seen any other foreigners since I've moved here, and you don't really strike me as a typical Japanese native."
The woman let out a small chuckle "Well I guess that makes two of us, huh."
Bruno responded with a chuckle of his own. "I suppose it does."
A comfortable silence lapsed between them as they both waited out the rain, before a grey car pulled up on the curb beside them and rolled down its windows.
As it descended the window revealed a messy haired man in his mid-to-late twenties, wearing a blue tracksuit and a friendly, yet oddly unnerving, smile.
"Good morning." He greeted the stranger beside him, seemingly leaving Bruno out of the equation.
"You need a ride? You wait out here any longer you'll probably be late to school."
Bruno raised an eyebrow at that. 'Give a ride? Does he know this girl, or is he just some weirdo? And what does he mean she'll be late, the school's only a block or two away.'
Something about this situation just didn't sit right with him…
"Um, sure, thank you." The woman beside him said quietly. As she made her way to the car, Bruno found himself a bit disappointed. This was the first conversation since he'd left Morioh where the other person hadn't treated him like a rabid, yet muzzled, dog. It was a shame it'd ended so quickly.
"How about you kid, do you wanna ride too?" Turning his attention towards Bruno now, the man's words and smile gave off a friendly, inviting even, demeanor. But his steely glare gave his away his true intention. This question was nothing more than a formality, and the only answer he would accept would be a polite "No thank you."
'Works for me, this whole thing's starting to set off alarm bells In my head.'
"Oh, no I'm good. I'll just wait a couple more minutes and then be on my way." Bruno said with an air of fake politeness.
The man gave him a satisfied nod before the girl opened the car door and hopped in. As the passenger window began to roll back up however, Bruno noticed the girl's eyes cast downwards and begin to stare into nothingness. Something about that look seemed familiar, and after a second it clicked in Bruno's mind. It was the same look his father had been wearing the night his parents had told him about their divorce, and again the day that lawyer had came to their house. A mix of quiet resignation and despair rolled into one.
Suddenly he regretted not saying yes to the strange man's offer, at least then he could've gone with them and… and…
'And what?' he berated himself. 'Do something stupid that'll probably make things worse for the both of you? No, like it or not there's nothing you can do for that woman even if there is some sort of foul play going on. The only thing you should do is keep your head down, and focus on surviving one day at a time.'
Internally he cursed himself for beginning to sound like Sojiro, and he cursed himself for being right.
While he was in the midst of his internal argument he didn't even notice that the rain had started to let up a bit, while also not noticing that a new student had walked in front of him as the grey car began drifting out of view.
"Again huh?" The new figure let out with a snort. "Goddamned pervy excuse for a teacher…"
He grumbled a bit more afterwards, but the beginning of the boy's sentence what really called Bruno's focus back to the outside world.
"Pervy teacher? Wait, do you mean the guy in the grey car?" The Italian questioned, not noticing the red-black app record his sentence. It's first action that wasn't pretty much just staring at him.
The other teen whirled around, apparently not even realizing that someone else had been here the whole time, and gave Bruno a chance to get a decent look at his fellow student.
He was a punkish looking boy, with an athletic build and short blonde hair, (though unlike the girl's, his was obviously dyed if his eyebrows were any indication) and his outfit looked to be a heavily modified Shujin Academy uniform. The blazer and pants seemed to be the only things unchanged, as the rest of the outfit consisted of a yellow tee-shirt with a hollow red star outline over a black circle in the center. As well as white hi-top sneakers and a matching white belt.
"How long have you been standing there? What, you gonna rat me out to Kamoshida?" The boy questioned him with an accusatory look, only compounding Bruno's confusion.
"I have no idea who that is." The Italian responded honestly, causing the blonde man to raise an eyebrow in disbelief.
"You serious? You just saw him. Guy in the grey car? Was here two seconds ago? Ringing any bells?"
Bruno's eyes widened a little as his mind put the puzzle pieces together, and his bad feeling from earlier only continued to get worse and worse. 'Hmm, my first thought was that he might've been a relative, or family friend of hers. But this just makes that ride offer all the more unusual…'
The blonde teen continued; a spite filled edge bleeding into his voice "Guy thinks that just because he's the coach of a half-decent volleyball team that means he can strut around the school, actin' like he owns the place… I mean who the hell does he think he is, king of the fuckin' castle? I swear…"
The boy, clearly just talking to himself at this point, descended into another fit of vulgar grumbling before finally remembering that there was another person right next to him.
"Hold on a sec', you go to Shujin right?" After a nod from Bruno, a confused expression appeared on the boy's face. "Wait, then how the hell do you not know who Kamoshida is? Guy's basically inescapable around here."
"I'm actually a transfer student, this is my first day of school since I moved to Tokyo." Bruno explained, causing a small smile to form on his fellow student's face.
"No shit? Damn, no wonder I haven't seen you around before. Definitely would've remembered a dude with that kinda hairstyle." He put his hands up in mock surrender as Bruno's eyes narrowed at that last remark. "Not that I'm knockin it or anything, you pull off the bob-cut pretty well actually."
The blonde chuckled awkwardly while Bruno just gave a small shake of his head, deciding to just take the compliment while checking his phone again for the time.
"Well, it was nice talking, but we should probably get going before we end up late for class." The other teen's eyes widened for a second.
"Shit, you're right. This is starting to cut it a bit close…" He turned and gestured Bruno to follow.
"C'mon, I know a place we can cut through that'll get us there quicker."
Bruno was skeptical about following a total stranger down a likely deserted side street or back alley, but decided that after their conversation, this guy seemed harmless enough.
'And besides…' Bruno thought to himself 'If I do need to defend myself, there's always that…'
As the two started moving away from the clothing store's entrance, they suddenly both felt a wave of nausea and light-headedness overtake them; leaving a dull thudding headache in it's wake. And then just as soon as it'd come, it was gone, and the two boys were no worse for wear than they'd been seconds ago.
After a second they both shrugged it off, not wanting to waste time and run the risk of being late even more, and continued on their way. Bruno began to put his phone away, when he realized something strange.
The app was gone again, and no matter how hard he looked he couldn't find a single trace of it anywhere on his phone.
'Strange, did I delete it already?' He questioned himself with a frown before shaking his head. 'No, that can't be right. I was interrupted by the blonde woman before I even got the chance to. At least that's how I remember it going…'
Bruno let out a small chuckle 'Who knows, maybe it finally got the memo and just deleted itself for me?'
Shrugging it all off as him just overthinking things, Bruno followed his classmate into the mouth of a fairly cramped and dank looking back alley. While at the same time he couldn't completely squash the notion that something strange was going on. And that from here on out, things were only going to get stranger still.
"Ah! Dammit, I forgot how filthy this place could get…" His classmate cursed as he stepped into an ankle-deep pothole filled with muddy rainwater. Bruno followed a fair distance behind him, taking care to avoid the deeper puddles so as to not repeat his cohort's mistakes. As he stepped through a smaller one however, he heard something that made him do a double take. The sound of his foot splashing through the small body of water seemed to happen in slow motion. And even after he noticed it he could still make out the faint sound of individual drops of water splashing against the pavement.
At the same time, it felt as if he'd crossed a boundary of some kind. Like Caeser crossing the Rubicon, he felt as if he had just gone past a point of no return, although in this case he didn't even know that there'd been a Rubicon to cross in the first place.
He turned and stared at where he'd just come from, not finding anything out of the ordinary. The low pressure against his skull had returned from the clothing shop, although this time it was much more dull and muted. As his head lightly pulsed, and his anxieties and confusion continued to grow and grow, he suddenly felt a hand clasp onto his shoulder.
Swiftly he wretched his shoulder away from whatever had grasped it, while he reached into his bag for the knife he'd stuffed away for protection. In one fluid motion he unsheathed the knife from his bag while turning towards his attacker, sharp tip poised to cut right through whatever was behind him, only to find the shocked and frightened face of his classmate staring back at him.
"Yo! Dude! Easy! Put that thing away, it's just me!" The blonde boy shouted at him as he backed away with his hands in the air, causing Bruno to stop dead in his tracks before letting out a breath he hadn't known he'd been holding.
"Sorry about that, just a bit jumpy I guess…" Bruno said with a sheepish look on his face.
His classmate was flabbergasted "Jumpy!? Dude, you almost fuckin' stabbed me in the face! Do you always carry that thing around with you?"
Bruno looked down at the blade, his own face shining back in the polished steel. It looked nearly identical to the slim kitchen knife he'd used to take the lives of the men who'd have seen his father dead all those years ago…
"Pretty much." Bruno said after a pause, stuffing the knife back into its sheath hidden inside the bag. "Though, I promise I'm usually never this reckless with it. Something about this alley just seemed off for a second, freaked me out is all."
His classmate huffed. "Then let's get going I guess." He said as he started walking towards the other side of the alley with his hands in his pockets.
"Sooner we leave, the less chance I have of needing stitc-"
As he exited the mouth of the alley, his sentence stopped dead in it's tracks as the boy stood frozen. Staring off at something in disbelief. Bruno was about to question him on it, when he saw it too.
There, where Shujin academy should've been, stood an honest to God medieval, European-style castle. It's massive size dominating their view, and its towering spires reaching towards the now indigo sky like massive stone fingers grasping for the heavens.
The two boys were speechless, unable to come up with a response to the impossible building that stood before them, almost radiating a malicious yet beckoning dark energy.
Bruno stood like this for a minute, almost gaping at the sight, before the man next to him broke the silence, and snapped them from their stillness.
"What the fuck."
"I'm hallucinating, I gotta be. I'm in the middle of one of those 'mental shutdown' things all the first years won't shut up about and this is my brain tellin' me to snap the hell out of it." In the span of about ten seconds, the blonde teen had gone from deathly quiet to full on panicking like flipping a switch.
He turned towards Bruno and spoke in the most serious tone the boy had used in all the Italian's short time of knowing him. "You need to punch me in the face right fuckin now."
This sentence was so stupid that it caused Bruno to finally take his eyes off the malevolent superstructure that had appeared before them and instead stare at his peer in disbelief. "Excuse me?"
The teen shot back with a life-or-death urgency in his voice. "Didn't you hear me!? I said you gotta punch me in the face right now! My brains in like free-fall right now dude, I need to snap out of it!"
Bruno could at least agree on that last part, but the sheer ridiculousness of the boy's request made him massage the bridge of his nose and let out an annoyed groan.
"If this is all just a hallucination you're experiencing, then why can I see it too?" he asked in an incredulous tone.
This made the blonde haired teen pause, and perplexment grew upon his face for a moment before realization washed it all away.
"I got it." He said resolutely, staring at Bruno with newfound determination. "We gotta punch each other in the face, or else we're both screwed."
The disappointment Bruno felt toward his classmate almost made him consider giving him what he wanted, but ultimately, he decided against it. Letting out a sigh, he attempted to steer things in the right direction.
"We're not doing that, nobody is getting punched in the face." He said concretely. "What we are going to do, is back away very slowly from… whatever this thing is, take a couple walks around the block, and then hopefully by the time we get back the school will be back to normal."
Judging by the look on his face, his classmate was a little skeptical of his idea, but ultimately it seemed that Bruno's plan had calmed him down enough that his "simultaneous punches" plan no longer seemed like a good idea.
The two shared an understanding nod before turning their attention back to the unsettling fortress. But as they prepared to back away slowly, as if the building were some sort of predator that would pounce on them at any sudden movements, something odd happened.
Instead of taking a step backwards, their feet instead brought both of them forwards, closer and closer in a slow shuffle towards the ominous castle. Neither really knowing why, and neither voicing it either.
"M-Maybe we should just, y'know, pop out heads in. See if anyone is in there, or needs help or something." The blonde muttered out. Bruno shook his head, trying and failing to remain unshaken.
"N-No, we can't. Too dangerous. We have no idea what's even in there." He tried to sound convincing, but even he knew it was hollow. "We, we need to stick to the plan."
The other boy risked a glance in his direction. "If you're so stuck on this plan of yours, then why the hell are you going forward?"
Bruno didn't meet his glance, continuing to stare forward while his breathing got quicker and shallower. "I don't know…"
Despite his best attempts, nothing Bruno did could make him deviate from his apparent crash coarse with the castle gates, and whatever hidden oddities might lay within them. After about a minute of more futile resistance, Bruno came to a sudden realization. And after a moment's thought, mustered all the confidence he had left and took a decisive step forward towards the shadowy structure.
'If I'm ending up in that place one way or the other, better to do it on my own terms rather than be dragged in like a fish on a line.' He thought to himself as he kept putting one foot in front of the other.
At first his blonde companion had been dumbfounded by the Italian's actions, but soon joined him. Admittedly more out of a desire to not be left behind rather than facing whatever laid inside that castle head on. And after passing over an honest-to-god draw bridge, (Bruno didn't even want to think about what might be inside that moat) the two teens soon found themselves walking past the iron gate, and into the belly of the beast.
A whistle cut through the tension as the two made their entrance. "Damn, this place is nicer than I expected, thought it'd be bricks and torture chambers all the way through…"
Bruno scoffed at his classmate's sudden aloof attitude while he took a closer look at the absolutely massive great hall the two found themselves in.
It was mostly a very stereotypical, though lovingly crafted, late medieval style room. With ornate crystal chandeliers and golden candelabras illuminating a checkerboard floor, and gold inlaid marble pillars stretching up past the second floor and high into the ceiling, stringing about sheets of velvet between each other.
Speaking of the ceiling, Bruno could barely see it. It must've stretched at least four stories tall. And he could only guess, but by the look of it the room seemed to match it in width as well.
"Guess it's bigger on the inside…" Bruno muttered aloud. Yet another mystery about this strange building that he could only barely wrap his head around. The last thing of note he spotted was a rather large painting displayed on the wall at the opposite end of the room, with a double staircase leading up to it, before taipering off into the second-floor balconies. It seemed to depict a man with messy brown hair in some kind sort of plate armor, striking a pose as if he were a knight charging into glorious battle.
'Hold on, do I recognize this guy?…' But before Bruno could continue his train of thought, the elaborate foyer disappeared for a moment, revealing the comparatively cramped, simple main hall of Shujin academy to the two boys before fading back into its previous form.
"Holy shit!" his companion exclaimed, "I knew it, this really is our school! I wonder if…"
He pulled out his phone, but his hopeful expression soon turned sour. "Damn, no service. Guess that was too good to be true, huh…"
Bruno gave a half-hearted shrug as a response, but he was still too busy reeling from the knowledge that this place occupied the same space as the school, and all the implications that came with it.
'Does this mean that we're in kind of… alternate mirror dimension or something?' He wanted to shake his head and dismiss the idea as absurd, but honestly he wasn't seeing very many alternatives…
Suddenly a loud, metallic clanking rang out through the great hall, echoing and bouncing off the hard walls and marble floors, making it hard to discern where exactly the noise was coming from. Bruno's eyes scanned his surroundings, looking for the source of the metal shuffling, until he saw what looked to be a sentient suit of armor come mechanically waltzing right up to them.
It wore simple, yet well made, plate armor split into overlapping segments covering its whole body. It also had a seperate distinctive helmet, with a sharp looking spike sticking straight up from it's scalp, and an iron mask covering it's face crafted with a stoic, yet unsettling visage. Most alarmingly however, was the very real, very sharp looking longsword it wielded, along with an accompanying and sturdy metal kite shield.
Bruno stood nearly frozen; his eyes locked with the inky darkness that lay behind the mask, looking for any sign of aggression or sudden movement incase he needed to run for it. The only movements he made, was the very careful, very deliberate reaching into his bag. And ever so slowly, he grabbed hold of his knife in its sheath and, as subtly as he could, transferred it into his back pocket. Just in case.
His classmate's approach was… Less deliberate.
"This's a prank, right? I mean it has to be, this is the school right? That's probably just one of the volleyball kids dressed up to scare us on our first day back… right?"
The blonde teen got less and less confident in his explanation as it went on, and all his remaining confidence was shattered when another, seemingly identical suit of armor appeared next to its brother and began giving the two teens the same soulless inky stare.
Bruno took that as his cue to run, and shot the blonde a look that told him to do the same. As the two turned to make their escape though, they found only more suits of armor behind them. Ready to stop their escape in its tracks.
'Dammit!' Bruno thought with clenched teeth. 'I was so focused on the initial suit that I didn't even notice that the metal sounds hadn't stopped! That must've been these guys cutting off our escape!'
As the two stopped dead in their tracks, the suits of armor took that as their cue to pounce! The initial one bashing it's shield into the blonde teen's back, causing him to spit out drops of blood and spittle as he was pushed hard to the floor. While the two that'd flanked them grabbed one each of Bruno's arms, twisting them into a painful hold before he even had a chance to reach for his knife.
"Take these intruders to the dungeon, I'm sure our liege will want to have some fun with them." Came the distorted voice of one of the guards, and the last thing Bruno saw before he collapsed into unconsciousness, was the pommel of a sword as it swung right into his temple.
"Hey, hey dude, you alive?"
These words woke Bruno from the most uncomfortable sleep of his life. As he opened his eyes and sat up from the sorry excuse of a bed he'd been resting on, he felt a throbbing headache rattle his skull.
"You alright? Took a pretty bad hit back there, lucky it wasn't a concussion." His classmate's voice was laced with concern and worry, but Bruno just tried to shake off the pain and responded:
"I'm fine, don't worry about me, how're you holding up? I saw you spit up blood after that first blow, did he break anything?
The boy hadn't been expecting his own question to be turned back onto him, so he just clumsily nodded and said. "That? Oh yeah, I'm cool. Just bit my cheek a bit is all. Hurt like a bitch, but nothing vital."
Bruno nodded and let relief wash over him 'At least we're both alright…' he took a closer look at the cell they'd been stuffed in and sighed. 'Physically speaking anyway.'
The room they were in now was a far cry from the lavish, ballroom sized foyer they'd been greeted with upon entering. It was a veritable dungeon, with iron bars, musty grey brick walls decorated with unsettling shackles and chains, and a few rotting barrels sitting in the far corners. Bruno had to admit, despite how gaudy it was, he definitely preferred the foyer.
Now that he was up, his cellmate's focus shifted as he stood up from his bedside and began pacing around the far side of the room. "Fuckin' assholes think they can just lock us up in here and throw way the key…" He entered another one of his vulgar muttering fits before winding up and kicking at one of the bars with all his might. "HEY! I KNOW YOU ASSHOLES CAN HEAR US SO LET US OUT BEFORE-" Bruno was about to tell him to knock it off, and that all the racket was starting to give him a migraine, when suddenly they heard a blood curdling scream coming from what they could only assume was one of the other cells.
After it ended both teens leapt across the room and latched onto the bars, trying desperately to catch a glimpse of whatever, or whoever made that noise, when suddenly it rang out again. Though this time, whoever was making it sounded like they were choking and gurgling on something. What exactly, the two could only guess.
"Shit. Shitshitshitshit…" Bruno's cell mate began to breakdown. "That-That could be us next dude! What're we gonna, shit what're we gonna do!"
His panicking was interrupted when Bruno grabbed both his shoulders, looked him dead in the eyes, and spoke.
"We're getting out of here, that's what we're gonna do. Alright?" The other teen nodded, at least a little reassured by the Italian's words, before Bruno let go of his shoulders and spoke again.
"Good, now let's try and see if there's a way out. Place looks dingy enough, who knows? Maybe there's a few loose bricks in one of the walls or something…"
The two spent the next few minutes desperately looking for any method of escape, ranging from hiding in barrels (too obvious), to finding a chink in the wall (not a scratch), to trying to bend the bars with the chains lining their walls (too rusted and fragile). After it seemed they'd exhausted all their options, the two heard someone begin to approach, and both felt their stomachs plummet to the ground.
A trio of those armored guards shuffled down the dim hallway, and towards their cell. Their movements were stiff, and robotic, as if each one was nothing more than a puppet on a string. The group stopped as they reached the bars, and the one that'd taken point spoke.
"Prisoners…" Its voice sounded like multiple people speaking all at once, equally made up of gravely lows and shrill highs. But they also sounded very muffled, like they were all speaking through a tin can.
'Actually, judging by the armor that might not be too far from the truth…' Bruno thought with a ghost of a smile, despite their situation.
Said smile immediately evaporated as the soldier continued. "…You are both charged with trespassing on our great King's domain. Since you are both first time offenders, the court thought it best to be merciful, and decided upon a swift beheading instead of the usual torture and trial by fire. Your gratitude is appriciated, but not necessary."
Both of them just stared at the suit, hoping against hope that what they'd just heard was a mistake, a trick of the ear, but deep down they both knew it wasn't.
The blonde teen was the first to respond, his voice growing angrier as he spoke. "W-What?! That can't be right. That's bullshit! You can't just kill us for something stupid like that!"
A new, yet oddly familiar voice interrupted. "Oh but we can, and I assure you we will…"
The small group of guards parted, making way for the new figure to walk up to the cell. There, wearing a red and pink heart covered furred cloak, a crown, and not much else, was Kamoshida. Or at least, someone that looked and sounded near identical to the man.
"…After all, if I let punks like you disrespect me like this, then what kind of a king would I be eh?
Bruno narrowed his eyes 'I knew that painting looked familiar! But when could he have even gotten here? And why the hell is he almost naked?'
His cellmate seemed even more shocked than he was. "Wait, Kamoshida?! What the hell are you doing in a place like this?"
The King just chuckled, a malicious smile painting his face. "You know, when the guards first told me we had a break in on our hands, I was honestly a little disappointed when they told me one of the criminals was you Sakamoto. What, didn't learn your lesson last time you disobeyed me?"
The boy, now known to Bruno as Sakamoto, flinched at the teacher's statement before clenching his teeth and letting out an angry grunt. The King ignored him for the time being however, as he instead focused his attention to the Italian instead. "And you even roped this poor gullible student into this little hair-brained scheme of yours…" The teacher clicked his tongue in mock disappointment. "…What? Too cowardly to face me on your own?"
Bruno interrupted The King before he could continue his mocking. "I'll have you know, I decided to come here of my own accord. Sakamoto here had nothing to do with it." His gaze narrowed into a scowl as he stared down the pompous royal. "Though if I'd have know that I'd be seeing you of all people here, I never would've stepped foot into this gaudy excuse for a castle."
Kamoshida just stared at the teen, apparently dumbfounded that someone had the nerve to insult him of all people, before bursting into laughter and wiping a tear away from his eye. "Ah man, you know, I was actually going to let you live. At least for a little while," He pointed to Sakamoto as he said "I was just gonna have my fun with this punk and then leave you for another day, but that mouth of yours just earned you an express ticket to hell, boy."
With that, the three suits of armor all burst into the tiny jail cell, driving the boys into the very back corners of the room. The one with the sword seemed to focus on Bruno, while the other two armed with spears surrounded Sakamoto. But before they could grab hold of him, the athletic teen instead charged straight into one of the suits, shoulder checking it's shield and sending it sprawling onto the ground.
"C'mon," Sakamoto said looking Bruno dead in the eyes "We're gettin' outta here aren't we?" Bruno would've given his comrade a small smile at the boy's courage, if the guard with the sword hadn't shifted it's focus from him, to Sakamoto.
Rearing around with surprising speed, the tin soldier delivered a swift yet powerful kick to the boy's sternum. Knocking the wind out of him and sending him sprawling down onto the floor. Not hesitating to defend his classmate, Bruno pulled the knife from his back pocket, and lunged at the swordsman. Hoping to find some kind of chink in it's armor. Evidently he did, as he stabbed the blade in between two of the armored bands, and let the knife sink down all the way to the hilt.
Unfortunately this didn't even seem to phase the guard, as instead of reacting like a regular human would to being stabbed, the armor clad soldier instead didn't even flinch and just proceeded to elbow Bruno right in his nose. Sending the teen crashing against the wall just behind him.
'Figures…' he thought as blood started dripping from both nostrils. His knife still buried deep into the guard's side, although there was no blood to be seen. Just faint wisps of shadow spilling out and mingling with the open air. '…Should've guessed those guys weren't human, that honestly barely cracks the top five in terms of weird shit I've seen today…'
Kamoshida stood by the entrance, just watching the show and by the looks of it enjoying every moment. He even broke into a mock applause when Bruno tried stabbing the guard. "Well would you look at that. The valiant hero going to such lengths to save his friend. How touching." His applause was punctuated by a low, rumbling laugh as Sakamoto finally regained his breathe.
"He ain't my friend, I've known this guy for like an hour at most." Sakamoto gave Bruno another dead-on look as he said his next sentence. "That means he doesn't owe me shit, and should really just make a fucking run for it."
Bruno stared back at him, conflicted between taking the boys advice and abandoning him, or to try in vain to save him and ultimately share his fate. Unfortunately, his hesitation decided for him as the sword guard soon had the point of its blade pressed up against his throat. Something Kamoshida apparently found hilarious.
"Oh man!" He said after a fit of laughter. "After all that bravado and bluster about leaving you behind, he just stands there like an idiot! You can't even sacrifice yourself properly! How big of a failure can one guy be?"
Sakamoto looked like he was on the verge of tears as the other two soldiers grabbed his arms and lifted the boy to his feet. While The King finally walked away from the entrance and got up into the blonde boy's face. "Well don't worry, I'll do you a small kindness and kill you first. That way at least you don't have to spend your final minutes staring at a corpse, knowing that full well that they're dead because of you."
After that final taunt, Kamoshida began laying into Sakamoto. Pummeling the boy with blows to the head, body and shoulders as Bruno could only watch.
"stop…"
Another blow to the ribs.
"Stop."
A right hook to the jaw, followed by a straight left to his forehead.
"I SAID STOP YOU BASTARD!"
After one last backhand that sent his comrade tumbling to the floor, Kamoshida turned towards Bruno with an annoyed scowl on his face.
"Are you really that arrogant, or just fucking stupid?" He strode over to Bruno and stuck his face inches away from the boy's. "Don't you get that you don't get to tell me what I can and can't do? I'm. The. King. Got it!?"
He punctuated that last part with a kick to the chest, that sent Bruno flying backwards, and caused the back of his skull to impact the brick wall. Nearly knocking him into unconsciousness. "Hold him there." Kamoshida ordered the two spearmen as he made his way back over to the blonde teen.
"Now," The King continued. "I think I've had my fun beating on this one." He said looking down at the battered, barely conscious form of Sakamoto. A sick smile spread across his face. "Let's just put him out of his misery already. I'm nothing if not merciful, after all."
Bruno struggled with all his might against the soldiers, but it was no use. Combined they were more than strong enough to pin the much smaller teen to the wall. Leaving him helpless as he watched the third guard's sword rear up for a killing blow, and Kamoshida's face twist into an unnatural grin.
Time seemed to slow to a crawl for the boy, as he stopped his struggling and finally resigned himself to his inevitable death.
'So this is how it ends, huh? After all that work, after all that struggle, I couldn't even save a single person, let alone myself.' Bruno thought to himself bitterly.
Just then, he heard a low rumbling chuckle echo all around him. At first, he thought it might've come from the king as he reveled in the joy that came with his unquestioned power. But then he realized that the king hadn't opened his mouth since he'd ordered Sakamoto's execution.
Another deep chuckle shook him to his core, and an ethereal voice followed in it's wake.
"Seems you're in a bit of a tight spot, ain't ya boy?"
If this were any other day, Bruno probably would've been concerned about the strange, unnaturally deep voice that he'd began hearing in his head. But honestly after all the shit he'd been through today, he was just kinda over it at this point.
'I guess you could say that, though honestly for the past five years it's felt like my life has been nothing but a never-ending sequence of increasingly tight spots. Each having me claw my way out just for the chance at a better life, for me and everyone else around me, only to somehow end up in a worse place then I started…'
Despite The Presence not having a physical form, Bruno swore he could feel whatever was talking to him cock its head. "Oh? And why, pray tell, do you think that is? What's causing all these 'tight spots' to just keep on squeezing like there's no tomorrow? Which, at this rate, there really might not be."
Bruno sighed internally, looking back all throughout his life.
'It's because…'
He saw his dad staring at him and the two corpses that now littered his hospital room, his face twisted into a mix of disbelief and despair. "Bruno, what did you do?"
'It's because…'
He saw the rich, bald, drunken bastard's bloodied form slowly getting smaller as he was dragged over towards the police cruiser. The woman he'd almost abused standing just a couple yards away, not meeting the boy's eyes. "Damn brat! I'll sue!"
'It's because…'
His vision returned to the present, seeing the dazed and beaten form of Sakamoto laying prone on the ground, a sword of death slowly descending upon his head as he looked at Bruno with tears in his eyes. "…He doesn't owe me shit, and should really just make a fucking run for it!"
"Because I'm fucking useless!" Bruno finally choked out, tears streaming down his face as he could do nothing but watch as his fellow student was horribly executed in front of him, with his own death surely coming soon after.
The Presence was silent for a moment, before finally it's low rumble returned.
"I disagree."
Those two words snapped Bruno out of his self-imposed despair and caused him to perk up in confusion. Eager to hear how someone could possibly say he was anything but a total disappointment.
"You're a righteous, selfless, resourceful kid. And most importantly, you're just the right amount of crazy. I know that you'd give up your arm, hell give up your life if it meant that it'd save someone else's, and the best part is you wouldn't even hesitate for a moment. The only thing you're really lacking, the only reason you've failed so far, is that you don't have the tools to really make your mark on the world, to change it for the better."
Bruno was now enraptured by the mysterious Presence's speech, almost completely oblivious to the outside world and the still hopeless situation that surrounded him.
"I can give them to you, you know. All you need to do first, is answer One. Simple. Question."
Bruno waited with baited breath, for what he was sure would end up being the most important question of his entire life. And he could feel The Presence smile in anticipation.
"Don't you just wanna cut loose those chains of yours, and raise some hell?"
Bruno answered without hesitation: "More than anything in my entire life."
And The Presence's grin grew wider still. "Fantastic answer, my boy."
All in a flash, Bruno felt his chest tighten, and his breathing grow labored.
"All too long, pricks like this have done nothing but push, and push, and push. Well I say we aught to do a little pushing of our own."
He felt his heart stop, then start, then stop again as his body seemingly was on the verge of tearing itself apart.
"These assholes think they're untouchable? Well then we hit 'em where they least expect it! Show 'em that nobody's above Justice! Not him, not that rich bald bastard, not even the law itself!"
His bloody nose felt like it was clogging up his throat, and he started to feel like all his breathing was being done through a single plastic straw.
"I am thou, thou art I, and I think I can speak for the both of us when I say it's about time we stop holding back, and just go absolutely crazy."
Suddenly all the pain stopped, and Bruno was left with a clarity unlike he'd ever experienced. He wasn't sure if this was part of the "tools" The Presence had mentioned, but he didn't really care. All he knew was that someone was dangerously close to death, and he needed to stop it.
"Oi, dumbass in the red speedo, this is over." Bruno said with newfound resolve. The knight's blade stopped dead in it's tracks as Kamoshida turned to look at him, disbelief showing on his face.
"I'm sorry, I must've heard you wrong. What did you say?" He asked with barely concealed rage at how casually he'd just been insulted.
"No you heard right, I'm just giving you fair warning that you're little torture game has come to an end. I'm making sure of it." Bruno stared headlong into the pervert's golden eyes, his gaze never wavering for a second. The King almost looked ready to pop a vein at the gal of this insect to make threats in its position, and he signaled his knights to form up on him.
"Since your so eager to die, it would seem…" Kamoshida said while all three knights pushed their weapons directly into his face. "…Why don't we just have you go first then."
Bruno stood unphased by the threat, having faith in the mysterious voice that'd restored his confidence in himself. And as all three of the guard's weapons were thrust straight at the boy's head, ready to plunge into his flesh and skin him alive, a sudden heavy gust of wind ripped it's way through the dungeon. Blowing everyone besides Bruno back a few inches, and stopping the guards dead in their tracks.
Sakamoto, who up till this point had barely even been conscious, looked on in bewilderment as to why the hell he wasn't dead, and just what had happened while he was out of it. Also bewildered was Bruno, who suddenly felt the presence of a mask draped over his face. It was extremely uncomfortable, and almost unbearably itchy, like insects burrowing under his skin. But beside that, something deep within him told him to just reach up, and rip it off like a band-aid.
As he did, Kamoshida's knights readied for a second attack, and he heard The Presence's voice in his head one last time as his fingers brushed what felt like a venetian half mask one would find at Mardi Gras.
"Well kid, I've given you all I could. As for the rest, well… Now it's up to you to Take It."
He ripped off the mask all in one clean motion, and after that, felt the worst pain he'd ever experienced in his entire life. First all the skin around his eyebrows, including his eyelids, was peeled off along with the mask. Then his entire body was wreathed in an icy-hot blue flame that felt like it was burning away his skin while also freezing him to the bone.
While this happened, the rest of the room could only watch in confusion, and horror as Bruno appeared more like a demon wreathed in flame than a man at this stage.
Suddenly, the flames moved off his body and into the air, revealing the teen to be dressed not in a Shujin Academy uniform as he had been a second ago, but instead a dark blue two piece suit with black spoon like designs permeating its surface. It was also decorated with large golden zippers at the shoulder and pectoral muscles, completing the new look with a laced top undershirt, which appeared visible thanks to the suit's sizable open chest.
But that was far from the most interesting development the boy had gotten. Behind him, the blue flame that'd previously covered his body, formed into its own separate humanoid shape. The "man" was just a hair taller and bulkier than Bruno, with a blue fullbody suit covering the majority of it's paper white skin, the only exceptions being it's chest and jaw. It also donned what looked to be white armor over it's bodysuit, sporting boots, shoulder pads, elbow pads, shinguards, and padded fingerless gauntlets studded with brass at the knuckles.
The upper half of its head was hidden beneath a spike adorned helmet, with interlocking zipper-teeth forming brass tear trails leading down it's face. A soul patch like stud rested on it's chin completing the look, along with the several large zippers placed on the chest, pelvis, boots, and gloves.
Overall, the figure standing behind Buccellati look strange, intimidating, and most of all: angry.
"Kamoshida…" Bruno rasped, his fingers tracing his temple, while his right eye peered through the gap between his pinky and ring finger, his left hand squarely placed on his right hip in a strange, almost contortionist like pose. He focused almost all his attention on the cowering king at his feet.
"…It seems your reign, is nearing a sudden end."
-To Be Continued-
AN: And there we go, that was the chapter. Gotta say, this chapter kicked my ass when I first started writing it, but honestly now that it's done I'm really happy with how it turned out. After a certain point I felt like I finally hit my groove when it comes to writing this story, and hopefully from this point chapters shouldn't take 9 months to get done.
Leave a review if you enjoyed, and hopefully I'll get another one of these out there by Christmas.