Author's Notes: FF site is being stupid. Hopefully you're reading this from the website which means the issue is fixed, or you're reading on the app meaning it isn't. If it isn't, please spam the site with help requests so they can address the issue.
It's been a while. University classes suck. Not going to walk the stage. And life just in generally taking a shit on me. But you're not here to hear me gripe. Here's chapter 4. Hope it was worth the wait, cause I'm still not too happy with this chapter…but that may just me being extra critical of myself.
Chapter 4
Shujin Academy (?)
Akira knew something was just plain wrong with the setting, the red background not helping anything. But the most glaring flaw was the medieval castle that stood tall before them. He was pretty sure there was a school here where the castle was.
"Uhh, guys, am I the only one seeing this?" – Ryuji.
"No. Kurusu-san, please tell me it's just me and Ryuji…" – Ann
"Sorry, but I'm seeing it too."
For a good minute they all just stood there, gaping at the castle, until Ryuji finally said "Well, maybe we should check inside. Maybe someone can tell us what's going on."
And with that, he strutted on with his crutches, Ann following behind with Akira pulling up the rear.
Entering the main lobby just raise more questions though:
Statues in Gold of Kamoshida, a painting of a kingly looking Kamoshida, and busts of Kamoshida.
"Seriously, what kind of sick freak has this much of a hard-on for Kamoshida?" Ryuji asked, with all the tact of a rhino.
Ann gave him a light smack on the back of the head and a glare for that.
Before Akira could say anything in response though,
"Halt!"
Several giant suits of armor approached the group, bearing swords and shields.
"There's no free roaming in the castle of King Kamoshida! And Queen Ann?! What are you doing outside of King Kamoshida's view, members of the King's harem are to be in his quarters or in his presence at all times!"
Ryuji made to hobble between the knights and Ann, but was quickly shoved to the ground by one of the other surrounding knights, and Akira was shoved down as well, having been forced down from behind.
"Take them all to the prison cells! King Kamoshida will be with them shortly."
? Prison Cells?
Groggily waking up from his unconscious dreams, Akira found himself staring up at a rather peculiar sight. A brickwork ceiling? The last thing he remembered was being in castle and harassed by knights. Surely, he must've just fallen asleep on the train or something and was waking up to what might've been the tenth loop it made.
…
Sadly his hopes were dashed when he saw the figures of both Ryuji and Ann looking out through the cell walls.
"Alright guys, anyone wanna tell me where we are" Akira asked, hoping to get a good answer.
"Looks like a prison of some kind" Ryuji answered, as he shook the bars of the cell.
Akira bit back a sarcastic response, knowing it would do no good. But looking around he could tell that it was more than a prison. The shackles hung high on the wall and the telltale signs of blood spatter spoke of other things that probably happened in these cells.
The detail was honestly a bit scary, given that this was supposed to be a high school.
"Hey guys, I think someone's coming!" Ryuji said, a statement to the obvious from the clanging sounds that were coming closer.
What stood before them was some kind of horrific parody of the appearance of the Kamoshida Akira remembered meeting the other day. Mostly naked, save for a speedo, and his garish fur cape, and slippers(?).
But strangely enough, what stuck out most about him were his eyes. Those golden yellow eyes that seemed to hold something much darker than his physical appearance might imply.
"So, are these the intruders?" Kamoshida(?) asked.
"Yessir! They were caught in the main foyer sir!"
"Hmmm….Well, well, well. Sakamato-kun. I thought you had learned your lesson already. Guess I'll just be done with you hear and now," and his eyes shifted over to Ann "And as for you, maybe some time re-educating you will teach you what happens to those who deny me. After all, you didn't seem to learn from Shiho-chan now did you?"
If it weren't for the knights blocking her path, Ann would've reached out to slap Kamoshida, a twitch which did not go unnoticed.
"And the criminal as well? Well I guess ridding the school of you will be a nice favor as well. Guards! Start with Sakamato over here."
The guards moved towards Ryuji, their heavy armor clanging and giving them an advantage against Ryuji, who was already lopsided from a missing crutch apparently. They shoved him to the ground, though Ryuji fought hard and tried to get to his feet.
"Look how pathetic you are Sakamato! A cripple trying his best to stand tall!"
"SHUT THE FUCK UP YOU BASTARD!" Ryuji yelled as he tried in vain to stand up from the ground.
Kamoshida took lifted his leg and kicked Ryuji back down and laughed all the while, "Look at you! Just scum beneath my feet. Not even worth the time to squash myself!"
Removing his foot from Ryuji, he stepped back, "Go ahead, Execute him!"
Ann made an attempt to reach out and protect Ryuji, but was instead grabbed by Kamoshida, his grip surprisingly stronger than she would've thought, "Oh no you don't Takamaki-chan! I have plans for you after these executions!"
Her eyes went wide in fear of the implication behind those words, and the hungry look in his eyes.
All the while, Akira was held up against a wall, being prevented from doing much else than watch the terrible acts that were about to befall these two people that he barely knew.
But as he watched on, a sudden jolt passed through his head.
The odds are indeed stacked against you, your chances of winning are still very slim, but if my voice is reaching you, then there may yet be hope for you…
'What was that!' Akira thought as he swore, he saw a faint image of that same butterfly…
What's the matter? Are you simply going to watch?
Some sort of voice was speaking to him, it's soft tone, belying a sinister power…
Are you forsaking them to save yourself? Death awaits the young man if you do nothing, and an even worst fate awaits the young woman. Was your previous decision a mistake then?
A mistake?! When he threw himself out there to help the woman in danger. The same woman who turned her back on him! Did he make a mistake? Should he beg forgiveness?
'You did what was RIGHT Akira. I never want to hear you apologizing for that.' The words of his father resonated within him. Striking a chord that brought a firmness to his chest.
'NO! IT WAS NOT!'
Very well. I have heeded your resolve.
Suddenly a pulsing pain shot through his entire body, forcing Akira to double over as he gripped his head as though it were about to explode.
Vow to me. I am thou, thou art I. Thou who art willing to perform all sacrilegious acts for thine own justice! Call upon my name, and release thy rage! Show the strength of thy will to ascertain all on thine own, though thy be chained…to HELL ITSELF!
"STOP!"
Akira didn't even realize he had yelled that until he realized everyone was staring at him now, except for Ryuji, who was still on the floor, gasping for air, having been released from the execution grip of one of the guards.
"Fine you criminal, you want to go first? I'll oblige you! Gaurds, execute him first!" Kamoshida ordered.
The guards moved to close in on Akira, the two previously holding him back, backing off to give the executioners room…
But a sudden gust of wind came from seemingly nowhere, throwing everyone into disarray.
As it all calmed down though, they all saw that Akira stood there as if nothing happened, but with one glaring change.
On his face, where his glasses would normally be, now there sat a mask of some sort.
He didn't know why, but for some reason, he felt like the mask was somehow suffocating him, like he needed it off. His hands grabbed at the edges of the mask and made to pull and met resistance…resistance against his skin! But he knew he still needed it off! It had to come off and so with all his might he pulled it off, the searing pain of flesh coming off with it was nothing compared to the relief he felt upon it coming off, though you couldn't tell based on the yell of pain he still emitted.
He turned to look at Kamoshida, who had a worried look in his eyes as he stared at Akira, his face now covered in blood…
But that quickly changed.
Suddenly, the blood pooled around Akira's eyes burst into flames, and spread all around him, engulfing him in a wild inferno of blue flames. As the flames burned, a sinister laughter could be heard, and the sound of rattling chains followed it as well. The flames towered from Akira as though he were its base, and formed into some kind of tall, thin, masculine figure, with a large almost caricature and evil like smile, with long and thin eyes, forming a sinister image.
And finally, the flames began to extinguish from the floor, rising up, revealing Akira, no dressed in a long black jacket of some sort, with red gloves, and standing behind him, was the tall figure, wearing some kind of Victorian-esque suit, mostly in red and black, but the smile and eyes were almost exactly as they were before, but at its eyes, extended horns, as they were some kind of sinister eyebrows. It's limbs, long, the legs coming to the ground where they had an almost razor-sharp appearance to them, its arms having a long reach, and seeming long fingers as well, tipped in black.
"ARSENE!" Akira yelled, and with that the figure stretched its arms out, unfurling a pair of black feathered wings, creating another strong gust of wind that knocked over the guards AND Kamoshida.
Akira didn't know how, but he instinctually knew what do next, "Arsene, Eiha!"
The large figure, now dubbed Arsene, seemed to shake, as though emitting a soundless chuckle, before raising both of its long arms and clenching its fist tight. Following these motions, a dark red energy pooled around the guards and engulfed all of them. The last sound they made was a desperate sound of pain as they were seemingly crushed by the energy.
Another mystery Akira found was that he was now holding a knife of some sort. He didn't question it though, as he now had a target ripe for using it on in front him. The very man who was about to do horrible things to them…this caricature of the man, Kamoshida.
He had a smile on his face as well as he approached the prone Kamoshida, both Ryuji and Ann calling out to him, but their cries fell on deaf ears as he played with the knife, preparing to make his first slash at the man who had toyed with them. He needed this. This vengeance. The thought of it brought a soothing sensation to him that he had not felt in... well, ever.
"HEY! BUDDY! YOU'RE FRIENDS SAID STOP IT ALREADY!" and out of nowhere a large metal bead of some sort, hit Akira right in his knife wielding hand, causing him to drop it. He looked to where the shot came from, just outside the cell, and had to do a double-take.
Some sort of chibi-anthropomorphic cat-thing wearing a cute thief's bandana mask, brandishing a slingshot?
"C'mon! We need to get going, there'll be a whole platoon's worth of guards coming down here with all this commotion!"
Ann had hoisted Ryuji to his feet and one crutch, dragging him out of the cell, both of them giving the cat-thing a bug eyed look. Akira, meanwhile, left the cell and shut it behind him, Kamoshida, having cowered before him, not daring to move against him.
"C'mon! I know a way out of here!" The cat said.
The path was long and tense as they rounded corners carefully, doing everything they could to avoid any more encounters. Finally they came to a room where they found a broken vent that lead outside the castle.
However before they could all leave, they turned to their 'savior' who was grooming himself it seemed.
Ryuji, being ever so tactful was the first to speak "So, what the fuck are you? Some kind of cat-thing?"
Said cat-thing hissed at Ryuji and stated "I AM NOT A CAT! I'm a human…I've just lost my human form…somehow."
Ryuji scoffed at that. "You don't seem so sure yourself."
The cat-thing then said "LOOK I KNOW I'M HUMAN! But…something happened. I can FEEL it. Something's…missing. And I'm sure that it's my human form."
Ryuji opened his mouth again, but this time, Ann slapped her hand over his mouth and said "Well we appreciate your help all the same uh….what's your name?"
"Oh yes, my apologies, a gentleman should always introduce himself, especially to a lady such as yourself. I am Morgana, thief extraordinaire."
Akira quirked his brow at that. "So, what were you doing in there anyways?"
The now named Morgana turned to him and said with a huff "I was looking for hints as to where my human form might have gone. However, I think I hit a bust with this place. I even got caught and had to work for a whole week to get myself out of the cell."
Akira smirked "Not so great if you not only got caught, but took a whole week to break out?"
"GRR! Don't doubt my prowess! I still managed to glean a few things about this guy…"
Suddenly Morgana looked very pensive, as though he didn't want to say something.
"What good is knowing what that thing is doing here in this place…What even is this place!?" Akira asked, getting frustrated.
"Well, this is what I call a 'Palace'. It is the manifestation of a person's twisted desires. This is a place of warped cognition. It's the way the person in the 'real world' sees this place. I'm willing to bet this 'Kamoshida' is a jerk in the real world who probably gets away with anything."
Akira didn't know how to approach that especially when both Ann and Ryuji looked away at that.
"Well you're not wrong. But I've only been here for going on two days now."
"Uhhh…." Morgana hesitated, his ears twitching…
'SO CUTE!' came Akira's thoughts…he had a soft spot for cats…even one like this that was some kind of chibi caricature of a cat.
"Was there someone named Shiho who…something might've happened to lately?"
Ann gulped, and nodded her head in confirmation.
"Well before I broke out, he brought this girl to one of the cells first as what he called 'a hostage'. Then when he didn't get what he wanted, he came back to her and…"
Morgana didn't really want to finish that. But then again, it didn't take much imagination to figure out what happened.
"Look, that's just proof that this world and the real world are connected! Now the three of you need to go already!"
"But what about you?!" Akira asked.
"Don't worry about me, besides, I need to gather some information. If you come back here, just wait out there. I'll be checking this area every so often."
Akira and the rest nodded and just as he was about to help Ann and Ryuji climb up to the vent, his outfit, shifted back to his uniform.
"Aw...I was just getting to like the jacket."
"C'mon dude, we need to get out of here already!"
As they left through the vent, Morgana hummed in thoughtfulness.
"Having a team could make everything much easier, especially that frizzy haired boy. He was amazingly quick on using his persona."
As he turned to go further into the castle, he heard a distinct whisper "…Trickster…guide…salvation…ruin".
"What! I-i-i-i-is someone there?!"
Being met with silence only scared him that much more. However, he took a deep breath and carried on, desperate for information…now if only knew what it was, he needed.
Shujin Academy
"HOLY CRAP" Ryuji said as he gasped for air in the alley.
"Did all that just really happen?" Ann asked as she too panted for air.
But of the three of them, Akira seemed the most winded. He was kneeling on the ground, trying to catch his breath, as though he had just been put through a workout more intense than anything he'd ever done before.
"Hey! Man, are you ok!?" Ryuji nearly shouted at him, possibly ruining any sense of stealth they may have had, now arriving to school extremely late.
"Grrr, dammit Ryuji, could you try and be a bit quieter!" Ann snapped at him.
Unfortunately for them, Ryuji's yell had already attracted some unwanted attention, from one of the school's teachers apparently.
"Hey, you three! What are you doing here so late in the day!? Are you skipping out or arriving late!?"
A teacher of some sort approached them with a glare in his eyes, and a scowl on his face.
Ann, thinking quick jumped up and replied "Oh, Ushimaru-sensei, sorry, but we were being harassed by some thugs on our way here. Akira-kun here helped us get away from them."
"Oh really?! This punk transfer student I've been hearing about. Well Kurusu-san? Is it true did you really stick your neck out for these two? Hey! I'm talking to you!"
As the teacher reached down to grab Akira, he suddenly began to violently convulse in a fit of coughing.
"HEY! WE NEED TO GET HIM TO THE NURSE'S OFFICE! HE MAY HAVE TAKEN SOME SERIOUS HITS!" Ryuji shouted.
Ryuji did his best to lift Akira, while holding himself up as well, noting that he had left behind one of his crutches in the other world.
Thankfully, the teacher saw fit to at least help as well, though as he lifted him he did start spouting off "C'mon, we'll get you to the nurse's office, and maybe then, get some answers out of you."
Akira was barely cognizant, but as heard that all he could feel was a churning anger in his stomach. Here he was, in pain, and all the teacher cared about was getting answers.
Big Bang Burger
Yu had been to Big Bang Burger a few times, it growing to be an international chain, and sometimes, the need for fast food being a constant. It helped that being such, meant it was constantly crowded or at least held enough people, to act as a public shield of sorts to keep Adachi from doing anything.
Having placed and order, and waiting for it to come to the table, he and Adachi began their little talk.
"Well Adachi-san, what in the hell are you doing here?"
"Please, show some respect little punk. You happen to be talking to a security chief for one of the local politicians here."
Yu snorted at that. "Please Adachi, you could be the Prime Minister for all I care, and as far as I'm concerned, you're still scum of the Earth. So cut the pretenses with me."
All the while Adachi was fiddling with his phone, taking the occasional sip from his fountain drink.
"Alright then," he began. "Let's start with the basics then. I know that you're here because you felt something a while back. A shift in the other world. It's not something you can explain, but you did. Well anyone attuned to that world felt it, and I just so happened to have been recruited by some such people."
Yu didn't let it show, but that worried him. The only other people he knew that had some inkling as to the nature of the other world were members of the Kirijo Group, and he knew they didn't meddle in political affairs unless they had to. Adachi being a chief of security for a politician meant someone up the political ladder was up to something with the other world.
"You're being awfully open about this information Adachi…"
Adachi offered a light chuckle in response. "Well you see, I can spill my guts to you hear and now, and you couldn't do a thing with that information."
"Oh really, and why's that? You know it would only take me a few calls in a few minutes to get some information out and your friends would be under heavy investigation within the hour."
"You're assuming I'd let you live beyond this burger, Narukami…"
The confident tone in Adachi's voice sent a shiver of fear up Yu's spine…
Suddenly, a few things were becoming painfully obvious. Such as the surrounding areas of the place having gone silent, and the other customers gone. Slowly, shutters were coming down to cover the windows and any sight into the building. Finally, there was also, the manager it seemed who was locking the doors to the customer entrance, and the other employees who had lined up at the front of the service counter by the cash registers, all of them with nervous and/or scared looks on their faces.
"You see Narukami, if I wanted to right now, I could kill you here and now."
He turned to the line of employees and the one manager and seemed to contemplate them.
"Which of you was the one that took this guy's order here?"
A young girl, who couldn't have been much older than the average teenage and muttered out "M-m-me, sir…"
"Ahh…sir…I like that. Come here girl…" he said, beckoning said young girl over to the table, on her way, she grabbed a tray with a burger and some fries on it. Shakily, she approached the table, setting down the tray.
"Y-y-y-you're order, sir…"
Adachi looked up at the girl with his sinister smile and said "Now don't worry little girl, just behave, and this'll be over soon." He took a look at Yu and with his smile still on his face he continued on, "Now then, what do you suppose would happen if I were to shoot you here and now Narukami?"
Yu merely stayed silent, guessing that it was a rhetorical question. He wouldn't deny though getting shaky as Adachi suddenly pulled out his gun, and lazily aimed it at his head, his elbow resting on the table, his trigger finger playing around near the trigger.
"Let start by telling you, the norm wouldn't happen. Little lady, tell me, if you were questioned by the police, what would you say happened here?" all the while his eyes never left Yu's.
Said girl, was still shaking like a leaf as she spoke, "I-I-I would s-s-say that, he threatened you, and you merely d-d-defended yourself, s-s-sir…"
Adachi seemed to contemplate that as he shut his eyes. He then put down the gun on the table and said "Decent, but not good enough. After all, he's unarmed, it wouldn't look good…so what we need is," and with a surge of force, he pulled out a knife from his person and stabbed it into the table, "is a weapon, like a knife that poses to do me harm…but that still isn't right…after all, I'm a chief of security, and as a former police officer, I should be able to hold my own…so what if I wasn't the target…", and his shifted to the girl still standing there.
Adachi got up from his seat, and walked around the girl, retrieving the knife he stuck in the table, and stood behind her, his left hand cupping her face by the chin, and his right hand, with the knife in it, holding the edge near her stomach area.
In a light whisper to the girl he said "Now hold still dear, or I might hurt you by accident," and as finished that statement, he made a disgusting lick along the sider of her face with his tongue. As he did this, he slowly worked the knife upwards, the edge cutting along her work uniform, exposing her skin, and her bra, before coming up to her neck, the point of the knife, teetering dangerously close to her throat.
"Instead, you sexually assaulted this poor thing here, and tried to have your way with her. And me, being the chivalrous man that I am, just happened upon this scene, and took you down as quickly as I could without putting myself in harm's way by using my gun. Isn't that right dear?"
The girl was shaking terribly, tears running down her face, ruining some of the slight makeup that she had on, Adachi's hand having left her face, moved to one of her breasts, groping at it. "Y-y-yes, sir...T-T-that's what happened."
Yu noticed a stench, and saw that in between the girl's legs, a dark spot was forming in her pants. The poor thing was terrified, and he didn't blame her…This monster of man hadn't changed much it seemed. If anything, he seemed to have gotten worst.
"So you see Narukami, the point I'm making here is that YOU chose this place…And I still have all the power. Why I could kill this girl right here, and everyone here would corroborate my story that it was you who killed her…Isn't that right everyone?"
A resounding reply came from the everyone lined up "Yes Sir!"
Adachi's grin then turned manic as let go of the girl, who then collapsed to the floor, and approached Yu.
"As far as I'm concerned, you're still just a brat. And getting in my way will only lead you to ruin."
He then grabbed the tray set in front of Yu, and flipped it, spilling all its contents onto Yu, staining his clothes with condiments and grease.
"So, if I were you, I'd be incredibly careful about getting in my way. This joint isn't the only place I have pull in after all. Why with the right calls, I could even have you put down in broad daylight, and no one would bat an eye as to what happened. So think about that…kid."
Adachi then began walking towards the exit, where the manager hastily unlocked so he could leave.
As he stepped out, the manager looked out the doorway, seemingly tracking Adachi for a minute before closing the door. "He's gone!"
And with that, the girl who had collapsed onto the floor suddenly heaved and let out a sob, everything hitting her full force with no restraint.
Several of the girls behind the counter also retched, some ran to the back crying their eyes out, and some of the young men started gasping, as though they had been suffocated by an oppressive atmosphere.
Yu, however remained calm…on the outside.
Inside was a tempest of rage and anger. He could feel the power of his persona begging to be let loose. He yearned for a blade in his hand so that he could chase down Adachi and cut him down once and for all…
But that would do no good. Adachi, for all his pomp, was only a small fish in a rather big ocean of trouble he found himself wondering into. With a carefully summoned calm and finesse, he brushed off the food bits that were still on him, and used a napkin to dab off most of the mess on his shirt.
He then got up from the table himself, removed his jacket, and carefully laid it over the still crying woman.
"I'm very sorry for that ma'am. You most certainly did not deserve what that monster put you through."
She wouldn't meet his eyes, but the way she gripped onto his jacket, made him think she at least appreciated his gesture to help her cover herself.
The manager then came up to him, a rather gaudy looking shirt in his hands. "Here sir. It's an old promotional shirt, but it should be better at least than that mess Adachi-sama made of your shirt."
Yu accepted the shirt with grace, "Thank you, I appreciate it. Before I leave, here," he handed over a substantial amount of money "For the woman there, for the trouble and for a cab to get her home safely if you'd please?"
The man nodded "Of course sir, and thank you."
He went over to the girl and the floor and began to slowly coax her off the ground.
With no one seemingly looking, Yu quickly changed his shirts, and then left the establishment, a bad taste in his mouth for the place now.
As he stepped outside, he pulled out his phone and dialed Yosuke.
"WHAT THE HELL MAN!"
Yep, he should've expected that, especially how he just dropped the call when Adachi snuck up on him.
"We were worried sick man! Tell me that wasn't Adachi who ran into you!"
"Ok. It wasn't Adachi…"
"…Fuck you man…"
"You asked me to tell you…"
"Ughh…sometimes, you're worse than Teddie, y'know?"
"Well I think it's safe to say that Adachi's up to no good. Or at least whoever he's working for is. I just had a taste of their power here in Tokyo…It's bad man. We might be in over our heads here…"
Yosuke merely chuckled at that, giving some relief to Yu, "Please man, we were in over our heads during the abductions. This feels like barely a step up. At least we KNOW something more sinister is going on."
A silence fell over their conversation as Yu walked down the sidewalk, passing a great many people. "Tell everyone to move it Yosuke…I don't like this…and I get the feeling, as twisted as Adachi is, there's someone infinitely worse than him at the top of this."
"You got it partner. We'll be there soon." And with that, he hung up.
As Yu put up his phone into his pants pocket, he suddenly walked into someone, causing them to fall.
"Oh, I'm sorry, forgive me ma'am!" He stated, startled at the sudden incident. He noticed that she had dropped some cards…some Tarot cards? Three of them in fact.
He grabbed them, and upon turning them over, he felt a surge of dread over him…
The Fool, The Tower, Death.
He knew he was a 'Fool', given his understanding of the wild card power, and The Tower was a major catastrophe…Death…well that spoke for itself.
Before he could contemplate them further though, he offered his hand to the woman he knocked over.
She was a bit strange, dressed in a purple dress with a blouse of some sort. She looked a bit like a country girl from an old-fashioned village, with a bit more color than traditional, and her long flowing hair was certainly unique.
"Oh, no need to worry sir. I should apologize too. I was deep in thought about some readings I did the other day."
Yu offered her a smile and held out the cards he collected. "Well you dropped these, wouldn't want to perform a reading with an incomplete deck, right?"
"Oh thank you sir, you're right!" she said, taking the cards graciously. "Please, if you ever see my tarot booth, stop by, I'll give you a reading free of charge."
Yu simply smiled before walking off.
Had he paid attention, he would've noticed a sudden panicked look on the girl's face as she examined the cards he gave back to her.
'Impossible! Is he the other one?! What should I do?!'
Shujin High, Nurse's office
Having arrived at the nurse's office, Akira was treated for some bruising that he suspected came from the other world. Nevertheless, he could feel something else coming on…
He suddenly felt a pressure on his chest. Suddenly he became vastly aware of what had transpired. The other world, the encounter there, his adrenaline spike, and suddenly he was here, in the nurse's office, with a teacher scrutinizing him.
Flashes of the incident played out before him. Then came the voices, the shortness of breath…
"Hey, nurse, what's going on with him?!" Ryuji he thinks?
"Panic attack! Everyone clear out, you might be stressing him!"
"Now wait just a minute! He still needs…" the teacher?
"What he needs is space to breathe and relax, now get!"
The nurse then closed the curtain around his bed, and Akira suddenly felt his calm return to him…suddenly he could breathe again, which was great considering how suffocated he felt just a moment ago.
He then heard a soft voice from the other side of the curtain. "Are you calm now?"
"Yes…" Akira answered, though it came out a lot hoarser than he meant it to. Probably from the sudden dry mouth he felt.
"Ok, now I'm going to pull back the curtains and ask you some questions if that's alright."
"Ok", again, just as hoarse.
The curtains then pulled away to reveal a rather plain looking nurse, clipboard in hand.
"Ok, so to start, I heard you were in some kind of scuffle, is that correct?
That must've been what Ryuji and Ann told them. Best to play with it.
"Yes…"
"Ok then. DO you remember much of what happened?"
"No. It was all so sudden. One minute they were just talking, I think they wanted money, then I tried to get them to back off, but they threw a few punches at me, the next thing we knew, we were running."
She was jotting down some notes and then said "You're back pack is right by you're bed if you want to look to make sure everything's there."
Akira then remembered that he still hadn't taken his meds yet. He was intending on taking them just as he got to school…but then everything happened.
As he dug through the contents, two things disturbed him. One, the knife he found over there, was in the bag, and two, there was a small hole in the bottom his bag…small enough for the meds he had to slip through based on how they were missing.
"Uh...I think I lost some of my meds ma'am."
The nurse lifted her eyes up to him; a non-believing look in them. "What kind of meds were they?"
"…Anti-anxiety meds and some anti-depressants."
She gave him a curious look. One he did NOT like at all.
"Who was the prescribing doctor?"
"Dr. Tae Takemi I think her name was."
The nurse seemed to a do a quick search on her phone before dialing a number.
"Yes hello, this is the nurse's office at Shujin Academy, is this Dr. Tae Takemi? Yes, we have a student here who claims to be a patient of yours and is missing some medication he says you prescribed him…Akira Kurusu…Yes that's what he claims it was…No, I'm sorry but I can't allow him to leave school grounds just to pick those up, either someone else can run the errand for him, or you can have them brought here…Ok…yes thanks. Well, you were telling the truth it seems."
He DESPISED the surprised tone in her voice at that. As though she had been expecting a lie of some sort.
"School policy states that I can't let you go get your medication, but your doctor has agreed to come here with some replacements. You can wait here till she gets here."
Akira certainly didn't like having to just sit here…but given what he just went through, the rest seemed like a godsend.
He allowed the grasp of sleep to take him from there…
One hour later
"You're his doctor?!" Ryuji?
"Close your mouth Ryuji, or flies will get in…" Ann? She didn't sound happy about something.
"Well maybe he wants me to give him an examination? We could start with a prostate check if you want?" Dr. Takemi? She sounded like she was enjoying herself…in a not so appropriate way maybe?
"EEP! Uhhh…No thank you! Shutting up!" He certainly wouldn't his breath given how Ryuji seemed to usually act.
"Good, now do any of you know if he's taken any meds today?"
Before anyone could answer, Akira, stretched up from his bed, "Hey, I'm awake now…No I haven't doctor."
He suddenly felt a weight on his legs, and found a plate of food dumped on him as well as two pills, and a bottle of water.
He looked up and saw his doctor giving him a stern look as she bent over and examined him.
Not wanting to get on her bad side, Akira quickly downed his meds with some water, and took to the food with gusto. It wasn't the curry he brought, but it was something at least.
"So does anyone want to tell me what REALLY happened that caused this young man to lose his meds? The meds I gave him JUST yesterday?!"
No one would meet her gaze…after all who would believe that they went to another world, where he suspected they got dropped and didn't make it back with them?
Akira almost didn't believe it himself.
"Don't give me that crap the nurse told me. I know how gangs behave and they certainly wouldn't have chased you the way you say they did. Something else happened."
Akira, tried his best to subtly look down at his phone, eyeing the strange app that was glowing on it. The one with the spooky eye icon.
Unfortunately, subtlety was not a strong suit of Akira's and the doctor saw it too. She swiped his phone from him and eyed the phone intently.
"What's this? Some kind of app? Maybe underworld ties? Did you try and sell my drugs kid?", a dangerous edge worked its way into her voice. "Cause if you did I swear…"
She accidentally pressed the icon, because the next thing they heard was "Beginning Navigation…"
And just like, that the world shifted around them, warping itself into some kind of twisted aberration…but strangely enough, the room seemed to…shift? The room took on a red hue similar to their time in the other world, but instead of turning into some kind of castle-like room, the room seemed to have trouble holding the image, and shifted back to the image of the nurse's office.
The doctor dropped the phone as she looked around, Ann and Ryuji doing the same.
Akira though…found himself strangely calm in all this…like he expected this to happen.
Looking down though, he saw that he was once again in that attire he changed into the last time he was here.
Finally, Dr. Takemi had the sense to speak her mind "What the fuck is going on?!"
Author's notes: Phewwwww…would you believe me if I said more than half of this was done in one sitting just out of the blue? Well I wouldn't believe me either, but that's what happened. I wish I could be more consistent in updating, but I can't. I've got the future that is looking for work in a field I haven't gotten experience in looming ahead of me, and that scares the living hell out of me. Wish me luck finding a career in accounting. I'll still be working on this, so hold on…it'll get going eventually.
PS: I don't know if the Arena games are canon, but in this fic, they aren't and neither is the dancing game. I haven't played either and can't keep my attention on the videos of playthroughs of them to use them. That being said, I'm going to try and find a way to work in Labrys somehow. Sho Minazuki will not appear though.
Also, if you happen to be an artist working for commission, or know of one, let me know (ESPECIALLY if they or you have experience in persona character drawings and design style). It's not for OCs but for…other purposes if that wasn't already clear by the end of this chapter.
Till next time…