Hey there! Welcome! This chapter is a bit earlier since I have decided to update this alongside AO3 (Under BkZa555)
In which Ryoji is as chaotic as he comes, and Makoto doesn't want to deal with any shit right now.
Enjoy!
Chapter Two: Spring
March 3rd, 2017
"…Ow."
He really should have learnt by now, that breathing after being dead would hurt like a bitch.
Wait, that's not right.
Thinking hurts, so he decides to go with whatever and slowly sits up. Looking around, all he sees are cherry blossom trees, stretching from one end to the other. There seems to be no people around, and it sure as hell is a night time. The wind is warm, just like the last spring before he died in Aigis' arms.
That memory really stings.
"You okay, Makoto?"
He turns to the voice, and Ryoji is standing there beside him, arm outstretched in his direction. He wordlessly grabs his hand and lets the other pulls him up, only for him to be hit with sudden dizziness and loses his balance.
Ryoji catches him. "Nope, you aren't okay at all."
"I feel like I have to get used to everything besides breathing again," He groans. He feels really sick and tired to the bones. "I want to sleep."
"Not on the ground," Ryoji says. "You're gonna catch a cold."
"But I'm dead."
"You were dead. You're alive now," Ryoji counters quickly, follows by a jab to his waist, eliciting a yelp from Makoto. "See?"
"Don't tease me!" He hisses.
Ryoji just grins before he puts Makoto's arm around his shoulder and helps him walk. His legs feel like jelly, and he couldn't put his feet on the ground for two seconds before he stumbles. The other silently leads him towards the nearest food stall (which is half an hour away) and seats him at a table.
Makoto is about to ask him if he had money, only to see Ryoji pickpocketing two thousand yen off a woman's bag. He winces, but says nothing because he's too damn hungry and tired for anything else. He just kind of sit there with his head in his hands and bemoaning his (now alive) (he still can't wrap his head around it) existence.
He feels someone nearby and pries from between his fingers to see a high school student (he thinks) looking at him worriedly.
Upon seeing him, she asks, "Are you okay?"
I was dead until a few moments ago so "No," He replies, cutting off the whole first part, no matter how much he wants to say it. "I feel sick."
"Do you need to go to the hospital?"
"Not gonna help," He groans again. God, everything hurts and he wants to just forget it for a second. His head is throbbing and his stomach is growling. He then adds, "I'm going to be fine. Just need a nap. Or ten. I think?"
"…okay?" She says, unsure. Before he could say anything else, she sits down beside him. "Mind if I join you?"
But you already kinda did, he thinks, but refrains from actually saying it. He doesn't have enough care to give to anything right now. "'Course not."
"Thank you."
He lets the silence linger as he waits for Ryoji, who has now taken up chatting with another boy around their age. Black unkempt hair and a glass. He frowns. "I'm hungry."
"I'm sure we can share our food with you," The girl smiles. "Um…"
Makoto just sighs. "Yuuki Makoto."
"Oh! It's nice to meet you, Yuuki-san," She says happily. He couldn't help but smile a little. "My name is Yoshizawa Sumire. A pleasure."
He hums. Then he pauses and turns to look at her school uniform. "…Shujin?"
"Oh?" She mouths in surprise, but nods. "Yes, I'm a first year. Going to be second year the next semester. You?"
He pauses. Before he died, he was about to become a third year. Well, since he was dropped into the middle of Tokyo (he thinks), he might as well enroll there.
But wait, he needs money!
He groans again and nearly forgets he still haven't answered Yoshizawa's question. In a hurry, he replies, "Third year this semester. Have to transfer school to Shujin though since my… relative lives here."
Smooth, Makoto. Very smooth.
"Oh! That's kinda nice." She claps her hands together. He winces and she quickly apologizes. "Sorry! You don't like loud voices, do you?"
"I don't," He mutters.
Shortly after, Ryoji walks over to their seats with a frizzly-haired boy and sits beside him, two plates of yakisoba in hands. He silently pushes one over to Makoto as he speaks, "So this is your girlfriend? Aw, she's a beauty!"
Yoshizawa blushes, and the frizzly-haired slaps his hand away in a friendly manner. "No, I told you my girlfriend's not here. This is my Kouhai, Mochizuki-san. Yoshizawa Sumire," The boy introduces her to Ryoji, and he was about to make a shameless advance on her when Makoto stops him with a glare.
"You're no fun, Makoto." Ryoji says. "Anyways, this is Yuuki Makoto, my best friend. And this is my new friend, Amamiya Ren!"
The boy in glasses nods slightly. "Pleasure."
"Same," He breathes. When the boy turns to speak with Yoshizawa, he pulls Ryoji in and fills him in quickly. Seeing the other pauses, he adds, "You not okay with the idea?"
"No, I think it's good. But really? Relative?"
"I have four seconds to think! Give me some credits!" He protests.
"I know, I know," Ryoji quickly pacifies him before he looks at Amamiya. "I think it's good idea, too. You might not be able to, but I can tell. That school's going to be the best place to investigate Erebus."
He looks at Ryoji questioningly. "How so?"
His pale eyes lock with sapphire ones, and in a serious tone, he answers. "Because he's a Wild Card. Same as you."
.
"He what!?"
"Shh!" Ryoji shuts him up with a kick to the shin. He yelps. The other two look at them for a moment before resuming talking with — are those phones? — devices in their hands. Once he was sure they weren't looking, he continues in a hushed tone. "Anyways, there it is. Your best bet, so we'd better work our asses off to get into that school."
"No parents. No relatives. Also, no current friends that know I'm alive," Makoto hisses, reaching down to rub his shin (that kick was brutal goddamnit). Not that he plans on contacting them and says hey guys! I'm alive or anything. He's better off dead to them. Their trials are over, but his? His has only just begun.
"Don't worry, we'll get that sorted," Ryoji says firmly. "Trust me."
And well, when he put it that way… "…Okay, fine."
After a short pause, the frizzly-haired says, "Hey, she says you're going to enroll into Shujin next semester?"
"Oh," He stumbles, and with a nod from Ryoji, he says. "Yeah. Me and him both."
"Welcome to Tokyo, I guess," He says with a shrug. "I got transferred last year. Stuff happened. And I get to stay because my parents got promoted to working overseas."
"Uh…" Makoto is unsure of what to actually say. "Congrats?"
"Thanks," He receives it with a smirk. "Since you're going to be my acquaintance soon, how about I show you around sometimes?"
"That'd be great," He groans and picks at the food before him the best he could. "Maybe after a time. I've got to get things sorted first."
"Sure," Amamiya replies, holding his phone (?) up. "Your numbers?"
Without a pause, he deadpans, "Lost to the fishes, I'm afraid. Have to buy a new one."
Ryoji tries to stifle his laughter at that. Makoto kicks his foot hard as he focuses on Amamiya, who mutters is that so before he attempts again. "Well, then you write mine down. Give me a call whenever you need it."
"Thanks," He murmurs, snatching a pen and a piece of paper from Ryoji (where the fuck do you find all of that? In that woman's bag?) (Goddamnit don't make pickpocketing a thing) and writing down his number. After he finishes, he stuffs the paper into his pockets. "If you're finished you can leave ahead. I think it's going to take a while until I stop feeling sick."
"Oh," The other says. "Okay. Get well soon, Yuuki. Give me a ring if you need anything."
And then they left
.
Makoto could feel himself literally dying. Wait, no, wrong choices of words.
He could feel himself falling asleep any seconds now.
That's better.
Ryoji looks after the frizzly-haired, noticing the cat popping out of the bag and looking at them, before he turns to Makoto. "You good?"
"Of fucking course not," He snarls, remembers himself, and just drops his head onto the table with a thud. "Sorry."
"Don't be," Ryoji assures him. "You're tired. Let's find some place to stay the night, and also a place to work. And wherever this Shujin is, and—"
"Ryoji," He chides. "One thing at a time, please. My head can't take this."
"Alright," He says and helps Makoto stand up. Slowly, they trudge along the roads and into the night.
"That man gives me weird vibes. Dunno why."
Morgana says as he pops out of the bag. Ren shifts to accommodate the not-cat better, but says nothing. Yoshizawa looks back at the boy as he's hoisted up by Mochizuki worriedly, and Ren's eyes follow.
He frowns. "He looks more than just a little sick."
"Maybe we should've called an ambulance…" She says, and when they get out of sight, adds, "Too late now, though."
"Well, there's that. And I've already told the others but you and, uh… him," Ren makes a wild gesture to indicated the dead but not dead man named something that starts with a big fat A. "Futaba is looking into it right now, but we both agree that my… extended stay is due to an external manipulation."
"You mean… someone set you to stay here?" She asks.
Ren taps away at his phone. "Mom and Dad have never had this big a promotion before. Moving provinces? Sure. But moving countries in their fields of works is just ridiculous, not to mention the raises," He pushes his glasses up and looks down at his chat between his families. Their salaries got raised by one digit. "It's weird."
"Hmm… maybe it has something to do with the fact that the MetaNav is not gone?"
He thinks so, too, as he eyes the creepy red eye that stares right back into his soul. It's as if it's saying touch me if you dare. This time, he knows better.
"Maybe," He finally says.
When he's about to put his phone away, there's a ping. He looks at the name, and then the text.
Well, shit. "Well, shit."
"What is it, Senpai?" Yoshizawa asks. All he does is show her the message.
Someone clears my criminal records and sends ten million yen my way. We need to talk.
Sent by Crow.
"Welp," Morgana says, scrunching his nose. "This suck."
"You can say that again," He groans and types back to Akechi in a hurry.
Got it. Tomorrow at Leblanc? I'll bring the rest.
I'm not free. A few days after would be preferable.
I cannot trace the sender, either, so I'll be using Oracle's help.
My parents also got a one more zero salary raises.
Someone's trying to keep us in Tokyo.
Figures.
Then 6th, 10 am sharp. Will bring some other things there too.
Ren pauses, same as Morgana and Yoshizawa. They stare at his screen for a long, long time.
Bring what things exactly?
You'll see.
"I hate Akechi," Ren says bluntly.
"Me too."
When they manage to secure themselves a room, Makoto slumps onto the bed and immediately passes out.
He wakes up a few hours later to Ryoji bringing in—
"What are you doing?"
"Oh!" The boy drops the wallet that is definitely not his. Makoto scrutinizes him for a long time until he finally relents and just keeps rummaging through bags after bags. "They aren't going to miss these, I'm sure. I mean, they're yakuzas to begin with, so who cares?"
"Really?" He groans into the pillow, too tired to get up. "Our income is going to come from this?"
"Hey, we're in a pinch. We need immediate money," Ryoji protests, picking money bills off wallets after wallets. "Besides, we need IDs. And since we're high schoolers, phones. Smart phones, to be exact."
He blinks. "Like the things those two were using?"
"Exactly. Trust me, Makoto, you're going to have a field day with what's been going on these past seven years," Ryoji says as he tidies up, putting the wallets inside a trash bag, ties it up, and sets it in a corner. He walks over and sits on the bed. "Feel any better?"
"A bit," He admits. He still feels constant pain and his head still feels like someone is splitting it open. But he could think clearer, at least. "So how are we going to get IDs and all that?"
"I can make people not see me," Ryoji says, as if that explains everything. After a pause, he adds while pointing at himself. "I'm also a Persona. Don't ask me how it works, I sometimes can choose not to be seen by people. Exceptions are Persona users, though, so that'd be a whoops if it happens."
"Don't make it sounds like not a big deal," Makoto mutters. "And you're going to what? Change the national registry or something?"
"Yep."
A pause.
"Seriously?"
"Yep!" He responds, more enthusiastic this time. "I can do that just fine. I mean, if they can't see me then I can just swoop in and click. Done!"
"Please tell me you're joking." Makoto is exasperated now.
And Ryoji just grins back at him. "Nope, I am not."
"Shoot me now."
"No can do, you don't have an Evoker right now."
He just glares at Ryoji before rolling onto his back and regretting it instantly. Goddamnit, the whole room spins. He groans and closes his eyes, hands over eyelids just to keep himself from puking. Ryoji mouths a not so apologetic sorry and hands him a bottle of water.
Makoto just keeps it in his hand, not daring to move much right now. Instead, he groans. "Why is my everything still hurts?"
"Well, maybe because you were dead for seven years?" Ryoji says flatly. Makoto throws the bottle at him, and the other just laughs. "Seriously, though, you were dead until a few, what, hours ago? Give yourself some credit for not throwing up, at least."
"I know," He moans. "It still sucks. Living is hard."
"You tell me," Ryoji agrees, picking up the bottle and putting it in his hand again. He just looks at the ceiling and contemplates everything for a moment.
While his friend is busy putting away the cash, he blurts out, "I'm glad you're here with me."
Ryoji doesn't answer right away. He just puts things back in order first before sitting on the bed again. When Makoto looks at him, he was smiling warmly.
He then whispers, "Me too, Makoto. Glad to be here."
He returns with a grin. But as his luck would have it, he just can't seem to open his eyes any further, so he just let them slide shut. He exhales slowly, and before he sleeps for the first times in years, he hears Ryoji says;
"Sweet dreams. You've earned it."
He fiddles with the phone in his hands, still getting used to fine motor control. All of his muscle memories are gone (go figures), but at least his instinct is sharp.
He doesn't look up when someone sits next to him and puts a can of cold soda on his knee. He takes it, puts the phone down, and uncaps the can. "So, just how much money did you steal—"
"—pick up, Makoto," Ryoji corrects him.
He ignores it, "Steal from people last night?"
Ryoji pouts a little, but relents and thinks for a few seconds. "I think around two hundred thousand ye— Bwaaah!"
Makoto spit takes into Ryoji's face, making the other boy jumps and falls flat on his back. Two hundred thousand, how is that a LITTLE — Makoto mentally slaps himself and counts his breathing as his friend climbs back up the bench. When Ryoji is properly seated, he says dryly, "You said you stole a little."
"Borrowed," He corrects Makoto again. "And they have tens of millions! They wouldn't miss a few hundred thousand."
"Riiiiiight," Makoto drags his voice as he wipes the soda off his chin and takes a sip. His throat's still parched, so he takes another. "So, we now have everything a normal human being should have. What next?"
"Shujin Academy," Ryoji proposes, leaning back and looking up at the clear blue sky. "I made ourselves some documents, so applying should be easy. What's not going to be is getting in, so, I have an idea."
Makoto doesn't quite get it, at first. But when he sees a paper saying tests at the top, he just blinks. And blinks.
And blinks.
"…You sure this is going to work?"
"I mean, I already snuck in and got myself a copy of the tests and the answers," He says with a small shrug. Ryoji then laughs at Makoto's dumbfounded face. "It'll be fine! We need to do this."
"…Yeah, you're right," He finally admits. And then, he shows Ryoji the phone. It's an app with a spooky red eye, labeled MetaNav. "This thing just comes into my phone. Deleted it. Didn't work."
"Probably something to do with all this mess, for sure," Ryoji surmises. He checks his phone as well. "Weirdly enough, I have one on mine too. Even though I'm a Persona."
"Might be because we share a soul," Makoto says nonchalantly.
"Well, that's true."
"Anyways," He yawns. His strength hasn't returned just yet, so being out for too long, or god forbid, even talking for too long tires him out too quickly. "I think I need a nap again. My head is heavy and I think I need a few gallons of coffee."
"You sure do, huh," Ryoji comments and helps Makoto up. "Let's recover first, then we'll do something about the next step later."
"M'kay," He mumbles, leaning his head on Ryoji's shoulder. "See you later."
"Alright. See you later, Makoto."
Yu isn't someone who's easily fazed.
But this shocks the shit out of him.
A few lines of text, a name. That's all it takes to shake him up, and the content? That's something he's hoped he would never have to see or heard again.
Senpai, they contacted me and said they needed our powers.
They said something about Personas and Shadows and a Metaverse.
We need to talk. All of us.
Kujikawa Rise.
Leave a review if you want to! I read everyone's, no worries, and sorry for not answering this time. I'll answer the next time!
Chao! See you next week!
