April 11th: Monday
Time:?
Location: Shujin?
"Damn it!" Kyotaro cursed as he ran up the stairs of the dungeon, was he wrong for running away? No, of course not. If he didn't run then that means all of them were going to die… But, he still couldn't help but feel guilty.
"I am Thou…" Kyotaro's eyes widened at the sudden n voice that rang in his head, its call caused his head to surge with pain. The way it spoke somewhat resembled his own voice yet it seemed more nefarious in its tone. He stumbled through the dungeon with a drunken gait as he clenched his head with the voice continuing to speak, "Thou art I… Thou hast allowed fear and uncertainty control you, and so thou hast forgone morality in favor of thy self-interests."
"I… can't do anything." He attempted to weakly defend himself, but the voice continued in his chiding of the boy.
"Can't? Or won't?" His breath drew to a sharp inhale and his pupils constricted, the voice sighed with exasperation once again. "Fortunately, thine companion known as the trickster has awakened to his power. Yet thou, Wanderer, hast fallen behind in this game."
"W-wait… They're alive?" He felt a wave of relief hearing this– barring his lack of knowledge on what the voice meant by 'trickster awakening to power', this was amazing news! But the voice wouldn't let up in his scolding.
"Hmph… Such a weak action, waiting for another to solve the problems that you are faced with. Know this, if thou wishes to find thine true power– thou must be willing to face the chains of Hell."
"I… I don't understand! Just tell me, what the hell is going on–"
"Hey! Hey, weirdo!" A boyish voice called his attention. Kyotaro shook his head as the pain in his head began fading away, he attempted to listen to the voice in his head but nothing came back to him. "Hey, over here!"
With a hefty sigh, he turned his head to meet with the kid– It… It wasn't a kid or even human! What his eyes landed on was some sort of cat thing… "Look over here! You're not a guard of this castle are you?"
He slowly shook his head as his eyes lingered on the strange creature with his eyes sinking into their sockets.
"Good, get me outta here! The key's right over… Why are you staring at me?" The cat-like thing asked, noticing how Kyotaro's eyes were widened as he stared at him incredulously.
"What… the hell? A cat?"
"I am NOT a cat! Say that again and you'll regret it!" The cat had protested, stomping his little feet.
"I've lost my mind… First, the voice in my head– now this." Kyotaro breathed out, his eyes still wide and his fingers went limp. "I knew it was gonna happen someday but I didn't think it happen so‒"
"You aren't crazy, you idiot! Just let me out, I know where the exit is! I'll lead you to it!" This caught his attention, so if he freed this cat he was home free? But… he couldn't take it, he left those guys back there so he needed to make sure they were okay too.
He kneeled down to meet the cat's eye level, "I'll let you out if you help two other guys stuck here, they were in a prison cell on the floor below this one. One has frizzy black hair and the other is a bleach blonde. But you have to swear to me that you won't leave without these two."
"I never make a promise I can't keep!" The monster cat insisted. He didn't seem like he was lying based on his tone and the intensity in his boyish voice.
With that, he took the key off the wall and let the little thing out from its cell. The cat stretched its little limbs with a smile on its face. Not gonna lie, it was kinda cute if not strange with how cartoonish it looked. "Ah… Freedom tastes great!"
"You better not go back on your word, monster cat!" Kyotaro demanded and pointed a finger towards the little creature. To which it turned around and stomped his foot at the mention of that word.
"I am NOT a cat, my name is Morgana! And I'll find your friends– so what about you? You gonna make a break for it?" The creature known as Morgana asked of Kyotaro, the boy nodding at his question.
"Yeah, you think you can tell me the directions to this exit of yours?"
"Yeah, it's‒" Morgana was cut off when guards suddenly appeared, they made an attempt to grab the two. But the cat creature expertly hopped over their shoulders, landing behind the large group with a large smirk forming on his face.
"Shit! Let me go, damn it!" Kyotaro, however, was captured by the guards. He struggled to get out of their grasp as he was heaved over one of their shoulders, calling for Morgana to help him. Before the cat could make his way to him, five other guards blocked his path.
"Take him to the king!" The guards that blocked Morgana from saving Kyotaro demanded before their bodies' transmogrified into floating pumpkin heads with lanterns in their hands.
"Fine then… Come, show your might! Zorro!"
TAKE YOUR TIME
"Where the hell are we going?" Ryuji asked the spectacled teen as they made their way through the dungeon. After Kurusu pulled out that angel thing and killed those guards, they locked Kamoshida in their jail cell and made a break for it.
Whatever that was, they decided on talking about it after they got out of this place.
"I don't know if we keep going up the stairs there's bound to be an exit. Right?" Akira mused, he wasn't entirely sure about that but it seemed to make sense.
"Maybe, but where's Watanabe?" Ryuji asked as he scanned the floor they were on.
"I thought you hated him?"
"I don't want him dead!" He drew to a halt and stomped his foot, causing Akira to rub the back of his head. Ryuji calmed down and took a hefty sigh, "But I don't hate him either, I actually kinda feel bad for the guy. He's always smiling but I know it's fake, I think everyone at school knows it's fake but no one knows where to begin with him."
The blonde shook his head when he thought back to the guy's less admirable elements, "What does piss me off is that he's always looking to be the center of attention if even it means people get annoyed by him."
Akira rubbed the back of his neck as he thought about that Watanabe guy. He just couldn't figure that guy out, he got a basic idea of Ryuji. He was vulgar and a bit rough but he had a nice heart, based on the way he was willing to let him leave while he was in trouble. But with what little time he saw of Watanabe, he knew he was a bit of a prankster seeking attention but not much else.
So why did he feel an odd connection to him? Wait… that sounded weird, did he phrase that wrong?
"Hey, what the heck is that?" Ryuji took notice of something in the distance and pointed towards a large number of those pumpkin things that Akira fought being blown away in a burst of green wind. The two shared a look before running over to see what was happening.
It was some sort of cat monster thing that stood at two feet tall, currently hopping around with a cutlass waving around in his paw and behind him was a large burly body in black leather with thin legs, a large metallic mustache shaped into a 'W', and a rapier in his hand. The creature noticed the two by the bridge and hopped over to them with the large body disappearing, causing Ryuji to stumble backward and fall to the floor.
"So, you're Weirdo's friends? Frizzy hair and Blondie, just like he said…" The cat rubbed his chin with his paw as he examined the two of them.
"Weirdo? Do you mean Watanabe? Where is he?" Akira asked the monster cat, seemingly unfazed by the creature unlike Ryuji– who was currently stunned that such a thing was right in front of him.
"He was captured by the guards here, but he told me to help lead you out of here."
"Wait, what?!" Ryuji picked himself off the ground and yelled out. But before the creature could answer him, two more of those pumpkin heads darted towards them.
And as if by an instinctive defense, Akira's black clothes from before returned in a flash of blue flames. He subconsciously brought his hand to the white domino mask on his face and tore it off, calling forth the winged monster resembling a gentleman with a jack o lantern-like face. His 'guardian angel' of sorts had flown towards one of the pumpkin heads and sliced them across the neck with his heels using Cleave.
"Hm, not bad… But let me show you how a pro does it! Zorro! Garu!" The large burly figure appeared behind the cat and sliced the air in a 'Z' motion, calling forth a gust of green wind that destroyed the last remaining pumpkin.
"What the‒ You got one of those things too? You… weird monster cat?" Ryuji tilted his head, the cat creature stomping his foot at the mention of that word.
"I am not a cat! I am Morgana! How many times do I have to tell you, people?!"
"Right, about that… You were talking about Watanabe being kidnapped." Akira brought up the conversation they left off on but once again, the creature was interrupted. The frizzy-haired teenager's clothing returned to his Shujin uniform, catching the two in front of him off balance.
"Woah! Your clothes changed‒ Wait, a guy got kidnapped! Where is he?!" Ryuji shook his head to get his mind back on the subject of Watanabe being captured by Kamoshida's guards.
"Hmph, Weirdo said that he wanted me to get you guys out of here. That's what I'm about to do first." The creature known as Morgana insisted, keeping a confident stance as he told the two.
"Wha? We can't just leave him! He'll be killed!" Ryuji shot back as he stepped forward, sure he wasn't too fond of Watanabe but he wasn't gonna leave him here!
"That's right, we can get out of here later. First, we need to save Watanabe." Akira declared with a nod and a glint in his eye.
"Alright, fine." Morgana sighed, shaking his large head at the two's determination to save the scrawny kid. "Frizzy Hair, Blondie. Just follow me, I think I might know where they took your friend."
TAKE YOUR TIME
"Hrugh!" Kyotaro was thrown on the floor of the large room near the dual staircases without any sense of care, he turned to the guards behind him as he rubbed his bruises. "Jeez, couldn't have at least propped up some pillows first?"
"Still running that mouth of yours?" He felt a cold chill run down his spine hearing that distorted voice of Shujin's PE teacher, Kyotaro stiffly turned around to see the golden-eyed man who called himself king walk towards him with an evil smile.
"You see Watanabe… That's the reason why nobody wants to bother with you. You just keep running that mouth of yours and act like a jackass until the adults come in." He paused for a moment to see Kyotaro slowly retreat backward, laughing at his submissive state. "But you know, I never had a problem with you. After I read your file, I saw an opportunity. So what do you say… "
He knew where this was going, even this 'king' version of himself was planning on using him. "I'll let you go if you fill my pockets with cash."
Kyotaro's 1st year at Shujin
Time: Afternoon
Location: Shujin - PE Faculty Office
"Yo! You called me, teach?" A first-year Kyotaro stepped into Mr. Kamoshida's office, expecting the man to give a lecture after he superglued several 5 yen coins all over the school– people attempted to heave them all over campus. So he was ready to break out the apologies and cool it for a few days, but he wasn't expecting the man to give him such a large smile.
"Ah, Watanabe… Right? Please, have a seat." Mr. Kamoshida gestured to a fold-up chair at the other end of the room, Kyotaro raised a brow at this situation but he shrugged it off and took his seat. The burly PE teacher continued with that overly exaggerated smile, "So I heard of your little pranks, heh… You made quite the name for yourself."
"Yes." He bit his tongue from making any snarky comments, he was an adult so he needed to be a bit more careful with his words.
"Come on, you don't need to be so quiet. I'm not here to hurt you." Mr. Kamoshida laughed, but his smile faltered a bit as he looked at Kyotaro with an indistinguishable expression as he leaned his chin onto his fingers. "I guess you can say I'm here to give you a bit of guidance, I noticed how people aren't exactly fond of you here."
"Hm? What do you mean sir?"
"Well, I noticed how your fellow students talk ill of you constantly." He sighed as he rubbed the back of his head, "And I don't think that's quite fair, especially to someone like you."
"I… I don't mind it, they don't need to like me." Kyotaro scratched his cheek as he averted his gaze from Mr. Kamoshida.
"Really? I think you deserve a bit of companionship, after all… You're the only one with such a renowned uncle." That caused Kyotaro to reel back in surprise, he stiffly turned his head to Kamoshida who was still looking at him with that overly exaggerated smile.
"But I think I can help you out here, I'm a bit respected here in Shujin. And I think I'm able to get a few people to spend time with you and see you for who you really are." Kamoshida placed a hand on his shoulder, the boy looking at him incredulously. "But I'm gonna need a little help as well, you see I'm in charge of the Volleyball team and we're gonna need a bit more help keeping us afloat."
"I… I'm not allowed to get into my uncle's profits until I'm 18, I'm sorry." At the mention of money, Kyotaro felt a pit forming in his stomach. He made an attempt to get up and walk out the door but Kamoshida kept him in his seat.
"Well, that actually isn't entirely true Watanabe-Kun." Kamoshida laughed, the boy starting to see the cracks in this facade of his. "You have the final say in terms of what you do with those shares you got from your uncle's will, so I'm just asking you to put a bit of those book royalties to Shujin's volleyball team as a sponsor. Just get a lawyer and it'll all be an easy task."
Kamoshida leaned in with a sly grin as he spoke in a voice slightly above a breath. "So I'm here to make a deal with you, you serve as the Volleyball team's sponsor and I make Shujin for you here a dream."
Damn it… He couldn't give the bastard the money. Kamoshida was always trying to get it out of him in the most unsubtle ways. Every time he would walk into the hallways, that muscle-bound mop head would be there. Every time someone talked bad about him, he would be there.
But it was easier to ignore him on school grounds, but now it was a matter of life and death. The only way he was getting out of here was if he said yes. Very well then, just let him hear what he wants to hear.
"Alright, I'll take the deal! Just let me go‒"
He was cut off when he heard the sounds of a metallic body falling to the ground behind him, he sharply turned his head to see that Sakamoto tackled one of the guards behind him. The blonde called out, "Watanabe! Let's go!"
"Come! Arsene!" Kurusu's voice called out in a loud growl, where a large pyre of black and red flames erupted from under one of the guards. Kyotaro's head turned to see the frizzy-haired teen in a black tailcoat and a white domino mask on his face.
"What the hell?!" His mouth gaped at the odd sight, the scene getting odder when that cat creature showed himself in front of Kurusu. "Moragahna? What are you doing here?!"
"It's Morgana! And your friends wanted to save you, so I had to tag along." The creature shook its large bulb-like head with a sigh.
"T-thanks… Wait, no. Get out of here!" Kyotaro demanded of the three, catching them off-guard with the intensity of his voice. He turned to the king of this castle, "M-Mr. Kamoshida, I'll give you the money! Just let us go!"
"Us? No, no kid…" The king gritted his teeth as he slowly stepped forward with a large number of guards arriving behind him. He raised his fist that shook with its tight grip. "I'm not going to allow useless trash barge into my palace and escape! Guards, kill them!"
"Wait! Please, just let us go‒"
"SHUT THE HELL UP!" He gave Kyotaro a backhanded slap, knocking him to the ground. He spat out as he faced the other three intruders. "The only reason I haven't killed you is because of your bank account, you're just an annoying pest that no one gives two shits about. So you better just fill my pockets and leave! Now, kill them!"
Damn it… He couldn't get him to stop, they were outnumbered. He could get away right now, but he couldn't…
He couldn't leave them to die…
So what the hell was he supposed to do?!
"Give in…" The voice spoke once again, Kyotaro raised himself off the ground as he continued. "Allow yourself to do what thine heart desires, let no one chain thou down. STRIKE BACK AGAINST THINE OPPRESSOR! NO MATTER HELL THAT AWAITS!"
Strike back, huh?
Yes… Strike back, it was the only thing left to do.
If he didn't then they would all die, so he just had to let go…
He ran over to the pink-underwear wearing bastard who was too focused on the three that were surrounded by his guards, Kyotaro tightened his right fist and punched the so-called king in his jaw.
While he wasn't exceptionally strong, Kamoshida staggered back in surprise at the newly formed bruise on his chin. He looked over to the pest of a piggy bank that punched him, to see him with a large smile that reached his ears in an evil manner.
"Hm, A smile of intensity! Yet I can't feel my true powers, strange but I can not allow this act of rebellion to go unrewarded!" The voice rang in a sinister voice, Kyotaro's head jerked in pain at the migraine forming in his brain but his Cheshire smile was still on his face. "I will give thou what little I have, but know this is merely the beginning. Find my true power, find my name, and then we can truly forge our contract!"
A small surge of blue flames had circled around him and scorched his skin, eventually transforming his clothes with stains of red and black cloth forming like mold as it grew to his neck. Taking the form of an outfit similar to that of a ringmaster with a garnet red tailcoat with a white collar, white fingerless gloves, sleek light gray pants with small white stripes running down the legs, and short black leather boots that were cut slightly above the calf.
A small spark of flame ignited onto his face then dissipated to reveal a smooth white domino mask with small gray curved trails at the corners of the frame that ran down the side of his jaw and stopped at his ears. While wearing it, his eyes changed from his normal dark brown to a milky white film with no irises to be seen and his pupil becoming a pair of light gray spots in a sea of white. In his hands was a dark gray machete that he flicked about in amusement as he gave Kamoshida a crazed stare.
"No way! His clothes changed too?!" Ryuji exclaimed in disbelief at Watanabe's sudden change much like Akira
"Ngh… Kill them! Don't let them go!" Kamoshida turned around and ordered his guards before walking out of the scene, leaving them to Kyotaro, Akira, and Morgana.
"So, you ready to take them down?" Akira stepped up to stand beside Kyotaro with a smirk, the ringmaster dressed boy giving a confident nod as he faced the guards before him, their bodies convulsing before revealing the form of those pumpkin heads and fairies in one-piece suits.
"Let's go!" He charged with his machete in hand, slashing away at the pixie and causing it to burst into a mess of red and black.
"Arsene! Cut them down!" He pulled off his mask, calling forth his black-winged guardian. The creature dive kicked with Cleave and into the other pixie, slicing it in half before it burst like the previous one.
"Hmph… Not bad, but let me throw my hat into the ring!" Not being one to be outdone, Morgana called forth his own guardian. Commanding him to call forth a Garu that killed a Pyro Jack before moving onto another.
There was one enemy left, and Kyotaro wanted to see what his guardian had to offer. However, unlike Akira, his mask did not leave his face while his creature arose in a spiral of blue fire. The creature that showed itself was strange, to say the least, it was a lanky figure that looked to be over eight feet tall as it floated behind. It had no face and its body looked to be cloaked in a veil of black fire with chains bounding its thin arms to its chest.
"Go! Persona!" He pointed towards the last enemy and commanded his guardian, the figure of black mirrored the stance of his legs and lunged forward head-first. Striking Pyro Jack but not killing it, so he raised his machete and ran the monster through in the head. Ending the battle there.
The red-coated boy turned around to the others in the room with satisfaction, he rubbed his nose and smirked, "Not… Bad‒Ngh!"
Kyotaro felt his chest grow heavy and his head began to feel dizzy, he slowly wandered over to the three in his dazed state where Akira stopped him from falling on his face by supporting him by the shoulders.
"Uh, sorry man… I don't swing that way." The frizzy hair boy quipped with a shrug.
Before Kyotaro could attempt a wittier response, both of their clothes disappeared. Wait, no… Their strange clotheswere returned to their Shujin uniforms in a flash of blue light, yeah that sounded less lewd and more accurate.
The prankster asked in disbelief, "What… just happened?"
"Dude, I've been asking that same question since we got here… " Ryuji sighed in exasperation before he turned to the monster cat. "But hey! Monamona!"
"It's Morgana!"
"Whatever, where's that exit out of here?"
TAKE YOUR TIME
"We're here!" Morgana announced once they arrived at the end of a corridor in the castle, Ryuji gave a relieved sigh as he went over to the door to the right.
"Finally! We're saved‒" He tried pulling the door open, he then tried pushing it, he tried jiggling the knob open‒ WHY WON'T IT OPEN?!
Ryuji turned around to growl at the cat, "It's not openin'. D'you trick us you jerk?!"
"Don't jump to conclusions!" Morgana moved over to the room left of them, "Over here!"
The three ran over to where the cat was, by another wall with shelves of books and… a vent!
"How are we supposed to get out of this place from here? There aren't any windows!" Ryuji exclaimed. Before he could continue on with his rant, Kyotaro tapped his shoulder and pointed towards the vent above one of the shelves. "Oooh…"
"Hm, at least one of you guys is aware of your surroundings." Morgana sighed and shook his head, "You guys should be able to squeeze through it one at a time, just take off that ventilation mesh and you should be fine."
Ryuji and Kyotaro shared incredulous looks before getting up onto the shelf to reach the vent, the bleach blonde going first with Kyotaro following after him while Akira stayed behind for a bit to speak with the cat.
"So, you're not coming with?" Akira scratched the side of his head as he asked the cat.
"I still have work to do here. We're gonna have to go our separate ways for now." Morgana shrugged before gesturing for Akira to follow his companions.
"Thanks for your help," Akira said before escaping through the vent, leaving the cat to muse aloud by himself.
"Those three seem useful. Especially the frizzy hair one, if my judgment's correct." He reflected on his ability to wield his persona Arsene with quite the showcase of some skill, "Weirdo has a bit of talent as well, but his persona seems to be… missing a few things."
April 11th: Monday
Early Morning
Location: Aoyama-Itchome
"Did we make it?" Ryuji asked with his hands on his knees, the three of them were in public with several people around them and no castle in sight. So it was an immense mystery if they made it or not… Ooooh.
"You have returned to the real world. Welcome back." Akira pulled his phone out from his pocket to see where the voice came from. Is… this what that app did?
"Huh? Returned? Does that mean, we got away?" Ryuji asked through his breaths as he turned to Akira.
"Probably… Don't know exactly how though… " Akira took a lock of his curly hair and twirled it around his finger as he showed the blonde boy the strange app on his phone. "I think it might be this app on my phone, It just randomly showed up one day. Actually, I think it might have been the thing that got us to that castle… I think."
"Ya' think? Ugh… What about you, Wata‒ Wha? Where did he go?" The bleach blonde turned his head to see that the little twerp was, in fact, gone without a trace. "Did he just ditch us?! What's even going on?! That castle, Kamoshida, that cat, and you two pulling out those weird ghost things! The hell's going on?! "
"Hey, what's with all the yelling here?" Two officers walked over to the two Shujin students, looking to be quite belligerent based on the looks on their faces. The two police took notice of their uniforms which caused their expressions to become tenser. "Are you students of Shujin? So… Cutting class are we?"
"What? No!" Ryuji vehemently denied and leaned forward to the cops, not thinking about what he was going to say as he let out. "We were tryin' get to school, and we ended up at this weird castle!"
"A castle, huh? Alright, hand over the bag. I better not find any drugs in there." A reasonable response… Akira sighed at how Ryuji ran his mouth without any hindsight as to what could be interpreted from his words.
The officer on the left looked over to Akira, "Are you his friend?"
"Yeah, uh… My friend here got a little sick before school, y' know? I told him he should have stayed home and called for a check-up at the doctor's, but he insisted on going anyway and he must have taken too much medication!" Akira lied through his teeth with a laugh, it was either that or they kept going with the whole 'castle' story.
"He must be talking about that large building we passed by! But it looks like the effects are wearing off, so we'll just be going now! Come on Ryuji! Let's go!"
"H-Hey wait a minute!" Ryuji protested as Akira dragged him by the arm.
"Right… Make sure he gets there safe." The cops nodded as the two of them went on their way to Shujin, going through the alleyway once again.
Ryuji looked at Akira incredulously, "Why did' ya go and lie like that?"
"Would you honestly believe that we stumbled into a castle, were captured, then escaped with the help of a bipedal cat with a sword?"
"I… Yeah, ok. That's fair."