Day: April 11th: Monday
Time: After Lunch
Location: Shujin Academy - Room 2-E
"So why were you late, Watanabe-Kun?"
"Diarrhea…"
"Okay, just… just take your seat." Ms. Chouno's eyes drifted to the side at Kyotaro's excuse. Ah the good old classic way of getting out of trouble, make the conversation awkward enough so that no one wants to talk about it. His homeroom teacher quickly added before he made his way to his desk, "And take better care of yourself next time… "
He simply shrugged at his teacher's advice and took his seat in the front of the row furthest from the right, he examined his classmates' reactions towards his late arrival. That is… they had no reaction. Kyotaro noticed how the most he got from them were a few split-second glances before turning away, but he did get a few interesting things out of them from their loud whispers.
"Did you hear about the new transfer student?"
"The one who was arrested for assault, right?"
"I heard he carries around a knife and smokes."
"I think I heard something about him being a part of the Yakuza…"
"Ugh… Why would they let someone like that here in Shujin?"
Well, to be fair… Shujin wasn't too far off from 'prisoner'. So it was kinda fitting for them to take in such a student. Hm, wait… he never saw Kurusu around Shujin before. And he wasn't one to forget a face, really? He was this transfer student with a criminal record? That guy looked as innocent as they came, maybe another transfer student was here in Shujin?…
"Psst… Psst…" Kyotaro turned his head to see Sakamoto in the seat behind him, trying to covertly get his attention. He quietly told him. "Meet me on the rooftops, I wanna talk about… y' know what."
Kyotaro shrugged and slightly bobbed his head since it was probably in his best interest to discuss that whole thing with Sakamoto. A creepier version of Kamoshida, a castle, and that weird cat thing calling himself Morgana. It seemed all too odd to even be real…
He looked over to the students on the other side of the room once they saw him and Sakamoto whispering to each other, small murmurs trying to analyze what their relationship was based on this little interaction. Mostly surprised at the two of them somewhat getting along after Kyotaro's prank on the ex-track member.
"What's up with them? I thought they hated each other's guts?"
"Eh, it was more Sakamoto wanting to kill Watanabe and him trying to run away whenever they met face to face but yeah. It's still surprising."
"The brute and the jackass, not a good combination for us if they are getting along…"
What pleasing nicknames… Though Sakamoto wasn't as appreciative of their pet names based on the look he gave the mouthy students.
"Alright class, it's time to begin! The volleyball rally will begin in two days so prepare yourselves for that." Ms. Chouno clapped her hands together to gather her students' attention, involuntarily easing up the tension in the room coming from the bleach blonde.
Volleyball, huh? Then that meant that the whole school was gonna watch Kamoshida flash around his authority like a whore. Yay…
TAKE YOUR TIME
"Hey, Sakamoto…"
"Dude, just call me Ryuji‒ I don't care about formalities much, alright Kyotaro?"
"Got it, Ryuji… Are you still mad about the locker prank? Because I swear that wasn't meant for you."
"Just forget about it, now let me ask you a question… How the hell did ya sneak away when we got outta that castle?"
"I just walked away…"
"Seriously? That it?"
"Yeah, I'm surprised nobody noticed me entering school…"
The two were making idle chatter as they waited for Akira to arrive on the rooftop of the school, Ryuji leaned back onto his chair and placed a foot onto the table. He swayed his head nonchalantly as he waited for time to pass by while Kyotaro was busy looking at his phone, the blonde looked over to see his brow shoot up in surprise.
"What's wrong?" Ryuji asked, leaning in to examine the contents of what was on his screen that he showed him. What he saw was an odd app logo in red and the symbol of an eye with a star for an iris. The blonde looked at him incredulously, "So… you want me to see this weird app of yours?"
"No, that's not it. It just randomly showed up on my P.A.D." Kyotaro shook his head, he chewed his bottom lip as he looked over his phone. "You think it's a virus?"
"Hm…" Ryuji took a closer examination at the strange app, his eyes popping nearly popping out of his head at the familiar logo. "I think Akira has this app! Yeah, he said that this app was‒"
"Yo…" Speak of the devil and he will appear. Akira lazily greeted as he walked out of the door to the roof. Ryuji leaned back onto his chair while Kyotaro slouched his back and intertwined his fingers together as the transfer walked over to them. He rubbed the back of his neck and asked, "Any reason you called me up here?"
"Yeah, I wanna talk to both of you about what happened…" Ryuji's brows creased as he thought back to that castle, and that son of a bitch Kamoshida… But he turned to Akira before moving the discussion to that. "You're in Kawakami's homeroom right? I bet she already told you stuff like 'don't get involved with him' right?"
"She said you're trouble." Akira rubbed the back of his neck and awkwardly averted Sakamoto's gaze, he gave a quick glance to Watanabe before averting his gaze as well. "I also overheard some stories about you as well, most of them were… unpleasant."
"Heh, better than I thought it would be!" Kyotaro snapped his fingers and gave a wide smile, causing the probationer to crack a smile while Ryuji let out an amused exhale from his nose.
"I guess we're all in the same boat. I heard you got a criminal record," Ryuji turned in his seat and leaned forward as he looked at Akira square in the eyes. "Everyone won't shut up about it, no wonder you were gutsy…"
"Yeah, about that…" Kyotaro leaned in forward with wide eyes filled with great interest as he asked of the transfer student. "So what are you in for? Theft? Murder? Or were you framed by the Yakuza in order to keep suspicious off their backs after you discovered‒"
A swift smack to the back of his head got him to stop running his mouth. The blonde who smacked him sighed, "Shuddup, Kyotaro…"
"Fine…" He huffed with an exaggerated cross of his arms before getting serious, he looked over to Akira with an uncharacteristically tense gaze. "So you got any idea what happened back there? The castle, that cat Morgana, and those things that came out of us… It felt too surreal to be true, but it is! Me and Ryuji have been bouncing a few ideas but we still don't have much of an understanding."
"To be honest?" Akira took a lock of his curled hair and began twiddling between his fingertips. "No clue either, except maybe those things we had… Persona, that's what they're called and I think mine said that it was… me."
"Da' hell are you on about?" Kyotaro asked with his head tilting to the side. Akira only shook his head at his question and sighed.
"Got no other idea beyond that, did yours speak as well?" The prankster confirmed Akira's question with a nod and scratched the left side of his face.
"Mhm, but it was pretty vague about what it said. Something about not having its true power or something, I dunno." He shrugged before continuing, "I got distracted when we were killing those monsters back at the castle."
"Yeah, and about that." Ryuji joined in the conversation, finally being able to get to a topic he could actually talk about. He looked over to Akira and gave him a grateful smile. "I want to thank you for savin' my ass back in that cell. I mean, maybe it was all just some sort of dream but you still save me back there so thanks…"
"And, I want to say sorry about bailing on you guys…" Kyotaro rubbed the back of his head as he averted his eyes to the ground. "If it wasn't for Kurusu… I‒ I'm sorry."
"I understand," Kyotaro's eyes widened at Akira's tone, it was as if the fact that he abandoned them when they were about to die didn't matter and was just a trivial mistake. "We were in a bad situation."
"Yeah…" Ryuji nodded his head and rubbed the back of his neck as he sighed, "Besides, I'm the one who told you guys to run. Honestly, I was trying to sound cool and shit but I was effin' scared."
Kyotaro gave both of them a smile of appreciation, he felt a weight being lifted off of him for their lack of scorn towards his action back at the castle.
The bleach blonde of the group looked over to Akira with brows furrowed in thought, "That Kamoshida there… You prolly don't know about it but there are some rumors going around about him."
"Right, that 'king' of the castle." Akira rubbed his chin while Ryuji scoffed at the mention of him being a king.
"Yeah, the ripped mophead. That asshole who was all full of himself at the castle. No one says anything against him cause he's some medalist who took the volleyball team to nationals. The way Kamoshida was king of that castle felt crazy real 'cause of that…" He paused for a moment, eyes glancing between the two on the roof with him. "...I wonder if we can go back to that castle again…"
"Hell. No." Kyotaro jumped into the conversation with a tense voice, he pounded his fist into an open hand like a mallet. "If we can do that, that doesn't mean we should. Remember how we almost died, and besides… How are we gonna get back there?"
"Good point," Ryuji sighed, but it seemed like he knew something that he didn't. As did Akira based on how the two shared uneven glances. The bleach blonde scoffed before he could rack his brain further, "Ugh! Forget it, it was all a dream. It has to be!"
"That we all shared?" Akira raised his brow with a sly smirk causing Ryuji to flinch back.
"Is this like some spiritual bond between us?" Kyotaro joined in on ribbing Ryuji, laying his arm around his neck and onto his shoulder as he leaned against him. "Are we destined to each other like some blood-pact? Or perhaps we were once comrades in a past life and now fate has reunited us once more?"
"Shuddup, Watanabe! You know what I mean!" Ryuji sat up from his chair with a huff. "Let's just try to ignore what happened and go about business as usual. And hey, I think we all might get along. With us being 'troublemakers' and all… But if I see a bug in my locker again."
"Got it! Jeez, I thought we moved past that!" Kyotaro raised his arms up in defeat and began breaking out the apologies. "I'm sorry for the 100th time that I filled your locker with fake roaches and that I filled the track team's shoes with bean paste that one time."
"THAT WAS YOU?!"
"O-Oh jeez! I didn't- uh… Hahahaha! Funny story huh? Right, Ryuji?"
Day: April 11th: Monday
Time: Afternoon
Location: Aoyama-Itchome Station
"So, you live in Yongen-Jaya too?" Akira asked the boy an inch shorter than him as they waited for the train‒ Kyotaro was currently rubbing his right bicep after Ryuji slugged him one after the revelation of his prank. And damn did it look like it hurt, Ryuji was a bit brawnier than the prankster so he had that over him‒ and once his knuckles made contact, Akira could have sworn he heard a pop from his arm.
"Yeah, I'll be sure to drop by for some sugar every now and then." Kyotaro weakly quipped before the train showed up in front of them. They two of them stepped into the train and took their seats amongst a large number of passengers and continued their conversation. "So you transferred here because of 'you know what'?"
"Yeah," Akira gave a short nod of appreciation for Kyotaro keeping the whole probation thing a secret in public. "My parents sent me here to live with a friend of theirs, he's the owner of Cafe Leblanc‒ if you heard of that."
"Oh yeah, Sakura-san…" Kyotaro voiced the man's name, his aunt was a frequent customer of his. The guy seemed cool enough based on the few interactions he had with him. "I've been there a few times, cool dude for an old guy."
"Hm, yeah…" Akira's eyes drifted to the side, leaving a pregnant pause between them before suddenly speaking up. "And hey, how about we trade numbers? Y'know since I get the feeling we'll be spending more time together."
"Yeah, I'm flattered but I don't swing that way…" Kyotaro said with a smirk as he leaned back in his seat, but he wasn't expecting Akira's lips to curl as well.
"Nice try, but you copied my joke."
"Wha‒ No, I didn't!"
"I believe I said that first when you fell into my arms…" The frizzy-haired teen rubbed his chin as he made sure to put an emphasis on those last couple of words.
"Whatever! Just gimme your phone!" Kyotaro demanded with a huff, Akira complying with a short titter as he passed the shorter teen his phone. He punched in the number and gave it back with a nonchalant face before giving a short quip. "Just don't call around 8 or 9 pm, that's the rule."
"Sure, whatever." Akira laughed, the two looked over to see the train's recent arrival and the doors opening up with people flooding out and into it.
"You know…" Kyotaro began as the two of them got on the train, he sat beside Akira on the train where he leaned back in his seat in a laid-back manner‒ looking towards him with a small smile. "You don't seem like what the rumors are making you out to be."
"Mhm, thanks." Akira nodded with a grin, "You don't seem that bad either, despite being this so-called jackass of Shujin."
"Hey, I wear that title with pride!" Kyotaro puffed up his chest and pounded a fist against it in an exaggerated manner.
Heh, it was nice to know that a few people at Shujin didn't hate his guts.
I am thou, Thou art I
Thou hast established a new vow
It shall become the wings of rebellion
That breaketh thy chains of captivity
With the birth of the Jester Persona,
I have obtained the winds of blessing that shall lead to freedom and a new power
"Something wrong?" Kyotaro asked, noticing how Akira's eyes glanced back and forth on the train. The frizzy-haired boy looked to be searching for something but didn't know what.
He quickly brought himself back to reality and gave Kyotaro an uneven nod of his head, "Y-yeah… I was just spacing out there."
What the hell was that…?
April 11th: Monday
Time: Evening
Location: Watanabe Residence
"Hey, Aunt Ayaka… I'm home." Kyotaro weakly said as he slowly trod into his house, he feigned a smile that faltered under the pressure as he saw his aunt give him a cold stare from her seat.
"Funny, you're quite late…" She said as she nonchalantly took a sip from her coffee cup from her chair near the kitchen counter. Ayaka opened her eyes to reveal a cold glare, "I guess that makes it twice today?"
"Okay… Let me explain, I had a bad case of‒"
"Don't bother lying to me, I know you. I raised you to lie…" She said with a hand slapping against her chest to exaggerate her point. "And ignoring the implications of that, I know when you're lying to me. So either tell the truth or I burn your sketchbooks…"
Crap! Those had years worth of work! He couldn't lose those, though it was most likely she was exaggerating to intimidate him… But he wasn't going to take that chance! But he couldn't tell the truth! Wait, she did teach him a little skill that was a part of lying. Half-truths! Alright, here goes…
"I met two guys on my way to school, we got into a bit of trouble that's a bit hard to explain. Long story short, we were stuck for a while until someone helped us out. We weren't doing anything wrong, we were just at the wrong place at the wrong time." Kyotaro silently gulped, it was vague but it was the truth.
"Alright… Fine, but don't be late for school again kiddo." She ruffled his hair and sighed as she made her way to the table where there were two plates of tonkatsu laid out.
The teen quickly moved over to the table and dug in as soon as his fingers touched his chopsticks. As he stuffed his face and forgone table manners, his aunt asked him a question as she twirled her utensils. "So these two guys you met, are they your friends?"
"I prefer posse," Kyotaro laughed as he tilted his chopsticks in a showy manner before answering honestly. "No, they aren't friends. Just some guys I ran into, one of them I accidentally pranked."
"Right…" Ayaka sighed at the mention of her nephew's pranks, god the number of phone calls they got. It was a surprise he didn't get suspended after he hung those skeletons around campus… Lucky for them, Shujin was resilient with even their most troublesome of students. "Don't do any more of those this year, got it?"
"I won't! I promise I don't do that anymore!" He raised his right hand as if he were swearing under oath. His aunt gave a stern nod and smiled.
"Good, I'm glad we got that out of the way…"
Kyotaro crashed onto his large bed, he pushed aside the stacks of notebooks in front of his drawer to pull out a thick book that readout 'No Longer Human'. A favorite of his, it wasn't an easy read with the subject matter but he couldn't stop coming back to it. He was introduced to the book by his uncle, who considered it to be the reason why he was an author in the first place. Funny how such a depressing book inspired an author known for his cheerful stories.
The boy looked down at another book that the one in his hands was previously on top of, 'Finding Paradise - Ryunosuke Tanizaki' it said. Still in its packaging even after all these years...
Well, no matter‒ back to the book in his hands. But before he could even turn the page, the sound of his phone ringing on top of his drawer demanded his attention. With a lofty sigh, he placed the novel down and picked up his P.A.D. However once his eyes landed on the one who was calling him, with a hard gulp‒ he answered in a shaky voice.
"H-Hey… Makoto, what's up?"
"I think you know, 'What is up'..." She spoke in a frigid tone as she laid down her judgment upon Kyotaro over the cell.
"Ok, before you say anything… I got real‒"
"Don't bother lying to me, I know when you do it." Crap! She knew too?!
"Alright, I'm sorry that I left you hanging‒ but it wasn't my fault! I ran into a bit of trouble and I was stuck. You don't need to worry about me, I'm fine…"
A long pause between them caused Kyotaro to be on edge. A quiet sigh from Makoto luckily broke the silence, "Is that so? Well, I hope that this is the last time it happens. I can't look after you all the time, y' know?"
"What are you, my mom?" Kyotaro gave an airy laugh, "When was it your responsibility to look after me?"
"Since you arrived at Shujin." Makoto snickered a bit causing Kyotaro to sigh.
"Whatever… Uh, Mako?" His mouth acted faster than his mind did, he wanted to ask her about Kamoshida and Akira-kun since she was the student council president– she must have known more about them. But it didn't feel right just to suddenly ask her that...
"Hm? Do you need something?"
"I… forget it. Bye, I'll talk to you later." With an awkward farewell, the two of them ended their call.
But Kyotaro thought it would be a good idea to give his newest contact a quick greeting.
[Kyo W.] Hey, is this Kurusu-san?
[Akira K.] What's up Watanabe-san?
[Kyo W.] Hey, you can call me Kyotaro. Or Kyo, whatever floats your boat
[Kyo W.] I don't care much about formalities so don't go fretting over that, anyways I need a little info on this app
[Akira K.] Same, you can just call me Akira. But what app are you talking about?
[Kyo W.] This weird app with this eye logo, Ryuji said you have it as well
[Kyo W.] So is it like some sort of virus or something? Because I don't remember downloading anything out of the norm
…
[Kyo W.] Akira-Kun? You there? You haven't responded in a while.
[Akira K.] Yeah, I just spaced out there
[Akira K.] But I'm pretty sure it's not a virus
[Kyo W.] Well, what does it do? Is it part of a new update for the P.A.D.?
[Akira K.] No, it's a little hard to explain over text but you can't delete it
[Kyo W.] That's bull (ノಠ益ಠ)ノ┻━┻
[Akira K.] I'll explain whatever I know tomorrow alright?
[Kyo W.] Whatever you say but what was with those persona things? And those costumes?
[Akira K.] Got no idea, but I'm sure we'll figure it out
[Kyo. W.] Aight, good night man. See you at school
[Akira K.] 'Night
TAKE YOUR TIME
"Huh?" Akira found himself awake on a hard surface, his wrists and ankles were bound by chains‒ he was in this place again.
The Velvet room with that crazy looking guy with the pencil nose and those two twins. He heaved himself up and sat from the edge of the board serving as a bed.
"...About time you come to." The twin with her snow-white hair tied into two buns, named Caroline, scoffed. "On your feet inmate!"
With a dazed head, Akira slowly moved from the bed and walked over to the bars. Where the master of this room, who calls himself Igor, looked over to his detained state with his Cheshire smile.
Justine, the twin with her white hair tied into a braided pony-tail, brought Akira's attention to her with her more delicate voice‒ though she had a bit of condescension ‒that contrasted her sister's piqued tone whenever she addressed him. "Our master wishes to speak with you. It's for your own sake that you take his word to heart."
"First off, let us celebrate our reunion. Oh…?" He widened his eyes a bit to show his shock, yet his large smile didn't falter. "You've awakened to your powers. And special ones at that. Your rehabilitation can finally begin."
"Right… Persona? That's what it was called right?" Akira rubbed the side of his head as he still held onto the bars. He asked the warden, "What are they?"
The odd man laughed, "There is no need to understand it all, for the time being. Just know that these powers are what you'll be training in. Personas are, in other words, a "mask"-an armor of the heart when confronting worldly matters."
"By the by… have you come to appreciate the Metaverse Navigator? Using it will allow you to come and go between reality and Palaces."
"Metaverse Navigator?" Akira repeated until his eyes widened in realization, "You mean that app on my phone?"
The strange man laughed into the back of his hand, "Yes, it was I who had that installed onto your device. I bestowed it onto you to train you as a thief."
He paused for a bit, his eyes were closed as he tilted his head down to his hands folded together. Igor spoke in what seemed like an amused tone that attempted to hide behind a composed aura. "And I see that you have forged a partnership of sorts, with one who shares the same power as you."
"Partnership? Do you mean Kyotaro?"
"Involving yourself with others is an important foundation for your recovery. You've done well. That said, I am not advising the formation of superficial relationships. It must not be of frivolity, but a ring of those, who would, by morals or faith, lend you their strength. In other words, they are bonds with those who have been robbed of their places to belong. The expansion of said ring will, in return, help you mature as well."
He paused for a bit, his smile could be seen twitching upwards for a second there until he was able to compose himself before he addressed the inmate. "However your first confidant, let's call them, is an interesting one. His powers are unique much like yours, soon you will see what I mean. I can not share any further explanation beyond that."
"What do you mean?" Akira furrowed his brows, this man's choice of delivering exposition whenever he wished was starting to get on his nerves.
"Personas are the strength of the heart…" Justine joined into the conversation, almost seeming to get the subject off Kyotaro's 'power'. "The stronger the bonds that surround you, the more power your Personas will gain. And the bonds you share with others will also grant them strength‒ a symbiotic relationship if you will."
"There are countless people in the city who have talents that a weakling like you doesn't." Caroline huffed with her hands on her waist. "You better rack that noggin of yours and get them on your side. We'll change that into power."
"Jeez, all Tsun‒ no Dere…" Akira sighed and shook his head.
"What was that, Inmate?!"
"N-nothing, ma'am." He blurted out in a quiet voice and flinched back seeing her raise her nightstick. Jeez' for a kid, she was scary…
"Well, now with that settled…" Igor crossed his leg over the other as he nodded towards his inmate. "I believe we have a deal then, allow us to forge a vow. And may the power I give you aid you in your rehabilitation."
Wow… It seems like Igor had some high expectations of him, better not let him down.
I am thou, Thou art I
Thou hast established a new vow
It shall become the wings of rebellion
That breaketh thy chains of captivity
With the birth of the Fool Persona,
I have obtained the winds of blessing that shall lead to freedom and a new power
That voice in his head… So that's what he meant by forging.
"Well, you will understand it all in due time…" Igor laughed in a muffled volume, "Continue devoting yourself to your rehabilitation."
"Now this conversation's over! Get lost, Inmate!" Caroline demanded of the frizzy-haired teen, causing him to flinch back in surprise‒ his eyes darted around the cell in confusion.
"Wait, I have so many more questions!‒"
He wasn't even able to finish his sentence before his vision began to darken and his body began to lose that same weight he had when he was in that room. He opened his eyes to see the dark wooden roof of Cafe LeBlanc over his head and that he was no longer in that prison outfit
As Akira sat himself up, his mind began thinking back to what Igor and those twins said. The word still ingrained into his mind.
Confidants…