(?)
"Where am I!?"
I shouted in the sea of voices indistinguishable from my own due to the sheer volume. This… was neither my body, nor are the memories in my head mine. Who am I? Better yet, what am I? A hero who faced many trials and tribulations to attain great power, or a scrawny high schooler, who, was as intelligent as he was physically strong.
I don't know. And in all the panic that surrounded me, it doesn't look like I'll get any answers any time soon from these people.
Worming my way out, I was able to get out of the congested crowd. And it only took a short amount of time before my ears finally registered the information being exchanged.
"Poison gas has leaked! This area is dangerous! Please stay away from Shibuya Station! All lines, including private rails, are affected. Remain calm until the problem is solved. Police blockades are in effect throughout the Yamanote line, including overpasses." A man in fatigues instructed while also trying to calm the outraged masses who were, effectively stuck with me for the foreseeable future.
This place was a shit show, and with my current disability having not yet fully integrated the clueless blanks, I was a sitting duck. So, I left, walking away from the group of people and travelling off on my own.
But, I didn't know where to go. A portion of my mind is telling me to get checked up in the nearest hospital, while another beckoned for the call of adventure, dragging me to a seemingly random part of town.
In my indecisiveness, my body froze in the middle of the street. And soon enough, a group of three encountered my solid figure, cautiously approaching it with one of those brand new "COMP" devices in hand for whatever reason. The small team was composed of two boys and a girl who all look to be around my age give or take. The trio all felt distinct in their own weird way, though something felt off about one of them.
In the center stood a kid with straight blue hair, a weird headset that looked more like an antenna. Wearing a black t-shirt and bright red pants, his build was fairly slim, but his demeanor felt downright wrong.
The boy was far too calm compared to the other two. Even as I turned to face them, his expression didn't change unlike the rest of his party who looked unnerved by my presence. Something about having the number zero apparently, weird but alright.
"Hey Naoya!" A voice loudly called.
"Huh? You guys talking about me?" I asked them, tensing up if I ever needed to run away.
"Yes. Well, not really." The one in the comically large hat sheepishly replied
"So then, who are you? A friend of a friend?"
"Not exactly." He continued. "Kazuya here just thought you looked interesting. To be fair, it's not exactly everyday you find someone with white hair. Is that natural by the way because th-"
The girl, whose outfit was predominantly pink, abruptly stopped him in his tracks, interrupting the very meaningful conversation. "Come on now Atusro, you shouldn't ask a person who barely even knows you that personal of a question without even having introduced yourself to them."
Oddly enough, the first thing my eyes gravitated towards were her decently sized chest… it was either that or the brightness of her shirt.
The one who was interested in me, Kazuya, ignored the other two as he observed an invisible object above my head, before quietly nodding to himself. "You need something or are you just going to waste my time? There are places I need to be and things to work out." I demanded, still more concerned with who I was to begin with.
"Now that you mention it, not really. For me at least, you looked very similar to another person we were tracking down. Too similar now that I'm this up close. Oh right, the introductions thing. My name's Atsuro Kihara," He then pointed to the girl standing next to him and said. "this here is Yuzu Tanikawa. And lastly, is Kazuya Minegishi."
"Huh, the name's… ahh, Bell Cranel I suppose. Don't know much beyond that, my memories seem to have floated away just a few minutes ago. It feels as though I'm stuck in a dream I can never escape and I don't know when I'll get out either." Looking at their party, they all seemed to have become statues, closely listening in. "Crap, sorry about that, rambling must have startled you all. I really should be on my way if there's nothing more to add to the conversation. And as uncertain as it maybe, I'll give you lot a call if I come across someone who, as you said previously closely resembles me."
Atsuro spring to life, as he tugged lightly on my wrists. "Hey wait! Can't you at least give us your contact information before setting off like that? Even when the coms are down and we barely have any signal, you should at least give us something to go by instead of shooting in the dark."
"Contact… Information?" I uttered in a confused tone, stopping my legs before they could once again move.
"Yeah, like your cell number. You should, in any case, have that, right?"
I wordlessly hummed, then almost instinctually reaching into my left pocket and producing the same COMP device they were holding earlier. Taking interest in the sudden development, their group instructed me on how it worked, with me copying each of their "friend codes" and them doing the same with mine.
"Hm?" Kazuya noticed something out in the corner of his eye. "Your COMP. Where did you get it?"
"This? I don't even know myself. Only now was I notified to such item even existing on my person, oddly enough."
The look on their faces showed an immense amount of doubt, yet, they nodded along to my words.
"Alright, this is where we split paths, for real this time. Thanks for guiding me on how to use this thing, I just feel it'll be of great use in the future. Until we meet again." Waving them off, the goodbye was shaky for lack of a better term. They wanted me to stay, but future events wouldn't allow that. Especially for what was to come later down the line.
[A/N: Short stuff. I'll start writing the next chapter immediately. But now I have to rethink some stuff after finding out about the manga version of desu.]