When Subaru made it to Leblanc, he encountered a man and a woman who were about to leave as he reached the door. He proceeded to open it but stepped aside for them.
"Ah, thanks-how polite.'' The woman smiled while her husband nodded at him.
Sojiro looked curiously at the door, smiling when he saw Subaru ''Oh, good timing. Come on, grab a seat.''
The barista's lips twitched as he noted how Subaru's expression lit up at the taste of the curry. It was muted, which was no surprise. he knew the poor kid was hurting from all that happened. Subaru used to be bright and cheerful before all this went down. Now, he had yet to so much as smile, but it was good to see somethings that could bring him happiness.
"It's delicious...'' The curry raised nostalgic feelings for the boy. It reminded him of the curry Wakaba used to make in her place but it was also different.
"Right? It works amazingly well with the coffee.'' Sojiro chuckled to himself. ''Imagine my surprise when it turned out she liked my coffee so much that she actually made the recipe to go with it.''
"That sounds like her-helping when you don't even know you need it and coming through when it matters most.''
"I couldn't have said it better myself.'' The barista smiled. ''Gotta say, you're a lot better about drinking coffee than before.''
"You do realize the first time you gave me a cup was around the time Grandpa made me promise to try his coffee, right?''
Sojiro barked out a laugh ''Fair enough. I'd avoid drinking it too after that sludge...So anyway, you guys went to Shujin yesterday, right? What was that like?''
"It went okay, I guess.'' Subaru really didn't think much of the school but hey, at least he was able to get a chance even with his situation so he wasn't about to complain. ''I got a few warnings about keeping my head down but it could've been worse...''
Sojiro knew there was more to it and he decided to get the story from his grandparents later. Subaru carried on ''...it'll start soon. But they probably want things to settle down after that awful accident.''
"Yeah...'' The two glanced at the TV as a news report about the train crash from this afternoon played. One of the trains' drivers had suddenly passed away, leading to a terrible crash in the subway, many people had gotten hurt and others were left understandably terrified at the close call. Incidents like these had been taking place over the last two years, known as Mental Shutdowns and Psychotic Breakdowns. No one knew just what could be causing them or if there was any way to stop them...
"Uncle, I know the gist of what happened with you over the last two years but what about Futaba?'' Subaru wanted to know, missing the barista's hand twitch. ''It's just...I think Grandpa mentioned something about her being with relatives a few months ago. But you guys never brought it up...''
"Oh, ah-yeah, that's it.'' Sojiro said quickly. ''She's just been busy so we never got much time to talk, is all.''
Little did he realize, just like the man had seen through Subaru's attempt at deflection, Subaru had also noticed something off with that response.
The boy's gaze lowered, doubting the evasive response. Just because his grandparents and Sojiro held their faith in him doesn't mean everything would be okay. He really didn't want to think so but it was hard not to with recent circumstances-what if...Futaba believed the worst of him too?
It was on his way back that he encountered a pair of girls around his age, one had ash blond hair in pig tails while the other had black hair tied in a ponytail. The first's blue eyes widened as she almost bumped into Subaru while turning around the corner to the street, side stepping in a moment. ''Sorry about that.''
"It's okay...'' Subaru started.
"You really need to be careful. There's no need to rush.'' The black haired girl chided.
"Sorry, sorry-but can you blame me? I'm excited!'' The blond beamed.
The other girl sighed, her lips twitching ''Excited to get more crepes, you mean?''
"H-hey, you don't have to say it like that!'' She huffed. ''How long has it been since we hung out? We've both been getting busy after all, we've gotta make the most of this, Shiho!''
Shiho half-smiled ''I'll...give you that.''
"Ah, if this is about the crepe place, you'll want to go somewhere else.'' Subaru informed, surprising the pair. ''I passed a guy grumbling about cops-said something about being a hassle. It's only a guess but he was packing up a bunch of sweet stuff into a box and I saw a crepe painted on the side of his van.''
The blonde groaned ''Are you serious...?''
"People did say that crepe maker started moving around a bunch, Ann. We saw him in a couple of other areas in less than two months.'' Shiho reminded.
She sighed ''Yeah-I thought it would've been perfect since we were here but so much for that.'' Ann smiled at Subaru. ''Thanks, it would've sucked to go the whole way and find nothing.''
"Oh, it's no big deal.'' The boy hesitated as he glanced at Shiho. ''Don't take this the wrong way but are you all right?'' Shiho blinked. ''You just seem...well, drained.''
Shiho stuttered at this while Ann gave her a look ''See, I'm not the only one saying it. She's been working so hard but she refuses to hear me out. We wanted to hang out for a change of pace. It didn't have to be today but she insisted.''
"Well, I just, um...'' Shiho avoided their gazes, seeming uneasy.
Subaru held back a wince ''Sorry, I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable...''
She shook her head, giving him a small smile ''I appreciate the concern, it's just...been a busy time.''
Ann could also tell that the boy was genuinely worried. It was a surprise, coming from a stranger. ''Yeah, thanks...oh, how about we just go and have an early lunch?''
Shiho began to smile as she agreed. She turned to ask Subaru only to be distracted when the boy made to leave. Ann's next words proved that she was thinking along the same lines ''Ah, crap-I was going to ask him too...''
As he headed to the balcony, Subaru idly noted Itsuki working on an odd device. The shape was curvy, sort of like a half circle. Closer inspection made it him wonder if it was a keyboard...since when did they look like that though?
He took a seat at the balcony, looking at the view. It was really something-now this was his new home. He'd never thought he would find himself under probation but he'd just have to deal. One of the things he couldn't wrap his head around was that drunk man-his name was kept anonymous and no one would say a word about it. Subaru couldn't remember and even the police wouldn't tell his grandparents anything. Everyone simply tuned out the fact that he couldn't have enough power to assault the man and simply let the man do what he wanted. Subaru just didn't get it. Who was he to have so much power over things?
Thinking of that night hurt but...he hadn't been wrong, he hadn't been wrong to help that woman. He didn't want to believe that and his grandparents assured him of the same. Sojiro was of the opinion that he simply had the bad luck to run into a terrible person. Given how petty the man was to pull all this over a simple accident, Subaru was inclined to agree. Now, maybe...he could just keep his head down and get through the year. He didn't want to be anymore of a burden to them than he already was...
The boy was distracted by his phone buzzing, discovering that he had a new email. It didn't take him long to recognize the sender, quickly opening it. The message was a supportive one, expressing relief to know Subaru was all right, as well as apologizing for being so busy with work that he couldn't visit but he would try when possible. Over all, the message made it clear that the sender had his back in all this.
Subaru's lips twitched, touched by vote of confidence ''Aki-nii...'' He proceeded to send a reply to thank the man, glad to know he could count on him.
The boy started, feeling something shift in the air. He looked around in mild surprise as everything suddenly grew silent. It was then that he realized that even the cars he could see came to a complete stop. Heck, he couldn't open the door and even Itsuki seemed frozen-what was going on?
A burst of blue fire came into existence before him, making the boy recoil in shock. He thought he saw his own reflection in the flames for a moment before they grew bigger, until they were almost twice his size. A figure with gleaming eyes looked down at him for a few moments but the fire grew in intensity before he could discern its features. Before he even knew it, the blaze disappeared and everything seemed to go back to normal.
Subaru had to remind himself to breathe, placing a hand over his racing heart. What in the world was that?!
The following morning...
With it being his first day of school, Itsuki offered to drive Subaru and they left early for a headstart. They first stopped at the Blue Butterfly clinic in Yongen-Jaya as Itsuki wanted a word with the doctor here.
"She's one of Sojiro's regulars.'' Itsuki informed his grandson. ''We came by a couple of times and she's damn good at her job...''
"And I keep telling you...'' A young woman with dark blue hair and grey eyes joined them. ''...you're exaggerating. You were better off going to a general hospital.''
"You say that but you did more than fine in our books, Takemi-chan.'' The man returned.
"Wait, were you guys sick or something?'' Subaru frowned.
"Oh, nah-we just figured it was better to be safe so we got examinations.'' Itsuki assured.
Takemi raised an eye, giving the teen a once-over ''...Wait, you found the kid?'' The two looked at her. ''I heard about the situation from Boss. So why did he disappear all those weeks?''
Itsuki scowled ''We don't know-Subaru can't remember and we're still trying to find out but we can't find anyone who'd give us an answer.''
"So this kid who's supposed to be on probation suddenly goes missing and no one even thinks to question it?'' The doctor asked incredulously.
He scoffed ''Yeah, his probation officer is trying to help us figure this out. But it's no good. What a brilliant system we've got there, huh?''
"No kidding...'' Takemi shook her head. ''...anyway, what do you want today?''
" +Your tips turned out pretty handy before so I thought maybe you could examine the kiddo and give us any advice.'' Itsuki admitted.
She hummed ''Well, since you're here...go ahead and lie down on that bed, kid.''
Subaru waited as she performed the examination, writing a few notes before going to talk to Itsuki. Takemi walked back in after a few minutes ''Well, it was a little strange but your grandpa just cleared things up for me...so you're feeling okay now?'' Subaru confirmed. ''You were actually recovering from a coma over the last two years just before this mess went down, huh?'' A nod. ''And you were born with a bad heart...which seems to explain this.'' She glanced at the medicine bottle near his jacket.
"Oh, I'm used to keeping that close.'' He admitted, putting the jacket on before pocketing the bottle.
"Good, that's for the best.'' Takemi idly wondered how the hell anyone believed the kid could assault a grown man, he seemed frail enough as it were. His circumstances at the time made the claim even more suspicious as he needed time and effort to recover and build back his strength. Deciding not to voice the question, she carried on. ''Well, Namikaze-san was right...I can think of a few things that could help. There's some medicine you should look into taking. I only have one of those right now but I'd rather not repeat myself so let's just talk things over with him.''
Subaru nodded, following her ''Thank you...''
"Ah, I'm just doing what I asked to-I never thought people would come to me for this sort of thing again...'' Takemi trailed off, the boy wondered what she meant by that.
As they made to leave, Takemi glanced at Subaru going down the stairs. ''You know for all he said...he's not okay, is he?''
"No, he isn't.'' Itsuki confirmed sadly. ''Not by a long shot.''
It wasn't too long before Itsuki dropped him off, wishing him good luck. Judging by the state of things, it looked like had made it in good time.
As he looked around the classrooms, Subaru was startled by a girl rushing by. She perked up, hurrying to him before dropping some papers in his arms. ''Oh, can you drop those at the student council office for me? Thanks!''
"Hey, wait...'' Subaru sighed as the girl hurried away. Good grief, what was that about?
Shaking his head, the boy decided he might as well get it over with. Fortunately, the office was easy to spot on the next floor. Subaru approached the room, pausing when he found a brunette girl with mahogany red eyes near the door. She paused, proceeding to open the door ''Can I help you?''
Subaru explained what happened before, giving her the papers. The girl sighed in annoyance ''Oh, honestly...She's become so irresponsible...'' Shaking her head, she looked back at Subaru. ''...thank you for this. I'm sorry you had to go through the trouble.''
"It's all right. I didn't really mind...that was just completely random. Ah, can you help me with something?'' Subaru asked.
"Of course, what is it?''
"Can you tell me where class 2-A is? I've only been here once but I've just seen the hall leading to the principal's office.'' Subaru admitted.
The girl nodded in understanding before giving him the directions ''You're the transfer student then...You're certainly early, Namikaze-san.''
Subaru tilted his head a little ''Well, I didn't want to be late on my first day.''
She gave a small smile ''That's good. The prinicpal mentioned you to me earlier. I'm the student council president, Nijima Makoto. If you need help with school, don't hesitate to ask.''
"Thanks."
The class' homeroom teacher, Kawakami Sadayo, arrived shortly. She was surprised to find Subaru near the class but figured he simply didn't know where to go, which was understandable.
A surprise came just after she introduced him to the class. Whispers broke out in moments, telling them one thing. The news about his record had spread out.
But how? Wasn't the school supposed to keep this under wraps?
Subaru tried not to let the feelings of discomfort show at the wary and fearful glances his classmates kept throwing his way. There was talk about him being a violent, scary criminal and how dangerous he was...
What was the point of even coming here? He figured the news might get out but definitely not so soon.
Kawakami directed him to sit behind one Takamaki Ann, who he was surprised to learn was the blonde girl from yesterday. She appeared just as taken aback to see him, giving him a small nod as he took his seat. For some reason, the class seemed to give Ann some odd looks and whisper about her as well. But why?
He had no time think about it as Kawakami called for the class to begin.
Given the principal's reception yesterday, Subaru suspected that the teachers wouldn't take his presence here well but wasn't this irrresponsible? Just when he thought he could get a fresh start...this was no different from how things were in his former home...
Subaru found a quiet area by the stairs at lunch time where he proceeded to eat. At least, he tried...he didn't have much of an appetite but he had promised Yuri to make more of an effort when she gave him the bento earlier.
Rumors seemed to spread fast in this school, he could guess how long it would take for the word about him to get out. It just wasn't fair...
Subaru exhaled, knowing there wasn't much he could do about that now. Truth be told there was something else weighing on his mind. He tried pushing that strange instance from yesterday off but it so odd. Last night, he had a dream-finding himself in a cell, leading to a blue room. There was a man with a long nose sitting at a desk accompanied by a girl in a blue and black dress. What had he said back then...?
'Welcome to the Velvet Room, Trickster.'
Just what on earth did that mean? And why did they seem to be expecting him?
He shook his head, putting the bento away before rising to his feet. It just made no sense...
"Sakamoto, when are you going to get rid of the hair dye already?!''
"Yeah, yeah-I'll get on it...''
A teacher huffed as a boy with blond hair and brown eyes walked past him, rolling his eyes. The boy frowned as he noticed Subaru nearby ''What do you want?''
The former never got to respond as the teacher shook his head ''Honestly-as rude as ever...guess we can't expect much else from you. Hey, new kid, you should avoid dealing with Sakamoto if you want to stay out of trouble.''
The boy in question glared while Subaru looked on in confusion but the man was already leaving.
"...I'm not one to judge. I know what it's like being the subject of rumors.'' Subaru said after a moment, leaving the blond surprised. It was true, he didn't know the boy and he may be trouble but he had no intention of counting on rumors and hearsay to determine that.
"Oh...ah, thanks?'' The latter seemed stumped, clearly not expecting that.
Laughter resounded as a man with messy black hair walked down the hall opposite theirs, followed by a few people. They seemed to be praising him for something but the boys couldn't catch all the conversation from their position.
Ryuji scowled ''He doesn't need his ego stroked even more...''
"Who is he?'' Subaru inquired.
"You really are new if you don't know that bastard.'' The boy shook his head. ''A little advice-just try avoid dealing with Kamoshida as much as possible. It may not be much coming from me but this asshole is definitely nothing but trouble.''
The day passed without much incident and the students headed off as classes were over. Kamoshida approached Ann, who held back a grimace and kept an unreadable face as he tried to chat with her, giving short responses.
Subaru overheard a few of the nearby students talk about how the two's relationship, that apparently Ann was Kamoshida's woman. A couple of girls even seemed to envy her.
He just didn't get it, didn't they see how uncomfortable she was? Was he missing something here?
Shaking the thought off, Subaru knew it didn't have anything to do with him. Ignoring a few students' wary glances at him, the boy headed to the school's entrance.
Ann, who was nearby, stopped when she saw him. ''Oh, hey! I wondered where you got off too yesterday. To think you'd wind up going here too...''
"Yeah, I didn't expect to see you there either.'' He admitted. ''Was your friend okay? Sorry if I came across as nosy or anything...''
Ann shook her head with a smile ''No, it was really nice of you! I changed our plans a bit after yesterday's mess but she looked better this morning.''
"That's good. So I've gotta ask-are rumors really that big of a deal around here?''
The girl couldn't help but snort ''You don't know the half of it. It's a real pain, I swear the students live for this stuff. You get used to it.''
"Huh-well, I've been thinking it over. They can talk all they want, we can't change that. I definitely don't intend to believe in any of that without proof.'' Subaru added, giving her another look before leaving.
Ann's eyes widened, no doubt he knew the talk about her, given how their classmates went off earlier. Her lips twitched as she caught on to what he wasn't saying-he was giving her a chance regardless of others' opinions. The blonde felt a rush of gratitude towards him-the only person who had done that for her was Shiho.
The new transfer student was definitely interesting...
Subaru happened to spot Ryuji walking away from school, grumbling something to himself. The boy stopped, spotting Subaru ''Hey...uh, did you mean what you said back there?''
It took Subaru moments to recall their exchange at lunch time ''Oh. Yeah, I hate being the subject of rumors. Just believing that stuff is hardly any different than the people who started this talk-at least to me. Why should I treat you like them when I know it's wrong?''
"Gotcha. Hey, that's cool!'' Ryuji nodded. ''So I heard a few things, Namikaze. You're that transfer student who's got everyone so spooked?''
Subaru confirmed ''You're...Sakamoto Ryuji, wasn't it?''
"Yup. But man who would've thought...I pictured you a hell of a lot more scary when I heard. Rumors really are a load of crap.'' Ryuji mused.
Just looking at the other boy made him wonder about that record of his. Besides, some of the other crimes...people even said he smuggled ivory for crying out. Talk about ridiculous. Most importantly, he had been treating Ryuji with more decency than anyone in school for a long time.
"Volley ball seems to be a big deal for this school.'' Subaru remarked idly.
Ryuji scoffed ''Yeah, all because of that prick Kamoshida. They all want him to bring the school's team to the Olympics, I'll bet. He won a gold medal there and the school just sucks up to him, it makes me sick.''
The former frowned ''Well, I don't know the guy but...I saw some people who turned out to be from the volley ball team just before lunch ended. Normally, one would think they'd be glad to have such a mentor but...they all looked miserable.''
"There's a damn good reason for that, I'll bet.'' Ryuji spat. ''Kamoshida must've ruined it for them. Wouldn't be the first time...that bastard's like a damn king at a castle and everyone's just letting him do whatever the hell he wants!''
Subaru wondered why the boy seemed to resent Kamoshida so much but suddenly pain erupted in his skull, making him wince. Ryuji seemed to have the same issue, shaking his head as he groaned.
The air seemed to shift around them, gaining a distinct purple tint. Everything grew dark and for some reason, there was no one around besides them.
"The hell...? Where's everyone?'' Ryuji blinked twice, looking around. His eyes widened then ''Whoa! What the...?!''
Subaru followed his line of sight, stiffening in surprise and confusion. Shujin had completely disappeared only to be replaced by a castle.
Well, let's stop here.
I didn't think I'd get the chance to prepare this but here we are. You guys know what's coming next.
I wanted to basically lay the groundwork for now and show more about Subaru. He's still hurting a lot from the arrest and all that followed (the weeks he forgot are equally as bad) so he's trying to find his way. He may not be related to Sojiro, Futaba or Wakaba but they see each other as family. From what Futaba mentioned in canon, her mom has been making her curry for a long time. So here, she and Subaru are familiar with her cooking.
He and Futaba have been like siblings for a long time. Futaba knows about the arrest and she never believed that he was a criminal-in fact, she's downright pissed off with the people who abandoned him. Subaru's just gotten used to expecting the worst out of people given his recent experiences. Sojiro's vague response is an issue-he's gotten used to keeping details low about her, even with his friends trying to help. He just didn't really think about. He doesn't know the problem yet but he will soon and he'll be all for fixing things between them.
Subaru's Aki-nii is actually the other member of the family who's still got his back, I'm planning on introducing him into the story later down the line. He wasn't even in the country when the arrest went down but he'll be coming back eventually. Subaru has issues trusting people but he has no intention believing stuff about them without seeing proof for himself. It's a matter of being fair to him, really.
I don't know when I'll have time to prepare the next chapter but it would hopefully be soon.
Welp, thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed it. Till next time!