Prologue - Despair Behind Closed Doors I:
GONG!
GONG!
GONG!
Stirring in his sleep, Kai could faintly hear the chimes of an antique grandfather clock.
"Ugh...five more minutes...please..."
GONG!
"Just let me sleep...a little more...please..."
GONG!
GONG!
"Ngh...why...? ...Fine..."
Kai's eyes struggled to open. He had never felt so heavy and tired in his whole life. Once he finally came to, he sat and blinked for a solid minute, letting his vision adjust to the dim lighting of the room around him.
"Where...where am I?" He looked down at the wooden countertop he was slumped over. Its polished surface had collected a thin layer of dust, and dotted with a few dots of drool. He was seated in a cushioned swivel chair. His beret lay to the side, next to an equally dusty cash register. Quickly brushing the dust off, Kai put it back on.
As Kai stood, his legs buckled beneath him. Had he not grab onto the counter for support, he would have fallen over. He gripped onto the counter, as if his life depended on it. Once he finally regained his composure, he stepped from behind the counter. Even through the dim light, provided by a single lightbulb, he could see everything in the room.
He stood in what seemed to be a pawn shop. Dozens of valuable objects surrounded him, placed in thick, glass containers for display. The walls were made of a faded mahogany, and the plush carpet beneath him showed signs of wear. It had definitely seen better days. Above him, a mounted ceiling fan spun at a slow, but mesmerizing speed. It was almost hypnotizing to watch.
"What am I doing here?" Kai asked no one but the voice in the back of his head. Of course, he didn't get an answer. He shuffled around a display case containing an old katana. He couldn't seem to remember how he ended up here, and trying to only rewarded him with no answers and a mild headache.
Even so, he did know one thing. He must have been trespassing.
"I should get going. I don't want to get into any trouble..."
Kai rounded another display case, and stopped dead in his tracks.
His heartbeat slowed, his blood running cold at the sight in front of was a body. A boy lay face-down on the floor, unmoving, with his limbs sprawled in all directions.
Kai stood, wide-eyed and still, as he looked at the sleeping body. Or, at least Kai hoped he was sleeping. His face turned pale as he gingerly stuck his foot out and nudged the boy's side.
"...urgh..." The boy groaned. Kai held his shaking hands to his chest, washed over with relief.
The boy yawned, stretching his arms out as he pulled himself off the floor. "Is the camera still rolling, guys?"
Kai squinted. "Camera?"
Come to think of it, the boy did seem very familiar.
"Hey, come on guys!" Now on his feet, the boy called for people that weren't there, his back turned to Kai. "Are you pulling some kind of prank on me? Well, you're not funny! Now come on out, so you can laugh it up!"
Kai knew he would regret it, but he still reached out and tapped the boy on the shoulder. He turned around almost instantly, making Kai jump.
"Aha! There you are, Shauna-" He started, but then came to a stop. "Wait a minute...you're not Shauna."
Kai blinked.
"Hm, yep! Definitely not Shauna O' Neil." The boy shook his head, then put out his hand. "Nice to meet you, however!"
Kai was hesitant to shake the boy's hand, but he still reached out. He found out he would regret it, because the moment contact was made his hand was shook so vigorously he was convinced it was going to pop off!
"Name's Kenji Yonezawa, Super High School Level Journalist! There's no inside scoop that can get past me!" Kenji boasted, hands on his hips.
Kenji Yonezawa
Super High School Level Journalist
Kenji stood at Kai's height, but was on the stocky side compared to Kai's leaner physique. He had a bright, peach-colored complexion, which radiated an overwhelming amount of positive energy and was dotted with dark freckles. His dark blue eyes glittered behind a pair of bulky square-framed glasses. He had two pointed, elfish ears which were partially hidden under a messy head of chocolate brain hair.
He wore a burgundy sweater vest, with a small breast pocket holding several, multicolored ink pens. Over that was a large, cream-colored jacket that dropped down to his ankles. He also wore a pair of dark blue slacks and steel-toed boots. A bright blue ink pen was tucked behind his left ear.
There was an awkwardly long pause between the two, once Kai had finished looking at Kenji from head to toe.
Kenji cleared his throat. "Uh, this is the part where you introduce yourself..."
"Ah...oh dear..." Kai bit his lip. He scratched his cheek, before noticing the small notepad in Kenji's right hand. Silently he gestured at it.
Kenji caught on quicker than expected. "Ah, not much of a talker? I totally get it!" Kenji grinned and passed him the notepad and an ink pen. Kai would chalk that victory up later as he worked on writing an introduction. Once he was finished, he returned it to Kenji.
"I am afraid I cannot speak to you, so I hope that this is enough. I am Kai Shiguro. It is a pleasure to meet you."
"Talent?" Kenji asked once he was finished reading.
Kai cocked his head. Was something like that important? He had definitely remembered being called the 'Super High School Level Mime Artist' by excited audience members in the past, but he was positive that he wasn't. He didn't consider himself good enough to have that title, not to mention he wasn't even scouted by Hope's Peak Academy to earn it, either.
Kai shook his head.
"You don't have a Super High School Level talent?" Kenji handed the notepad back. In turn, Kai wrote down a response and flipped the notepad over so Kenji could read it.
"People call me the Super High School Level Mime Artist, but I have never been personally scouted by Hope's Peak for that to be official."
"Hm..." Kenji scratched his chin. "Well, in that case, allow one of Hope's Peak's finest to do their job for them and give you that title right here and now! They can thank me later!"
Kai Shiguri
Super High School Level Mime Artist
Kai shrugged.
"That is fine, I suppose."
He went to return the notepad, but Kenji quickly held up a hand to decline. "You can keep a hold on it for a while. After all, if we're going to stick around..."
"Wait, since when were we staying together?"
"...it would only make sense for you to keep it. How else are you going to communicate without it?"
"Wait, since when was I going to keep talking to you?"
"Besides, I could always just pick up another notebook. Either that or I could use my hand to write on. Nothing's stopping me from getting all of the juicy details about Hope's Peak Shopping Center!" The journalist pumped a fist in the air, raising his pen high as if he was brandishing a sword of legends.
"Oh, dear..."
Kai wanted to leave. It wasn't that Kenji was a bad person, but his enthusiasm was seriously overwhelming, and he would feel much better if he was much, much farther away from him.
He slowly turned around to leave Kenji to ramble about...whatever it was he was talking about. He wasn't really paying attention to know. He was halfway to the door when Kenji's voice piped up behind him.
"Oh, yeah! Best to get out of this dingy pawn shop so we can get this show on the road!"
"What? What do you mean by 'we?' I am leaving this place. Alone. I do not even know why I was here to begin with, and-"
Kai stopped once he grabbed the doorknob. It didn't budge.
"What?"
He turned the knob again. Nothing.
He turned it in the opposite direction. Still nothing.
"Huh, this is odd." Kenji ushered Kai aside and tried it himself. "Ah, no worries. I've been in situations like this, so naturally I've got the perfect solution." He took a few dozen steps back and started to stretch his legs.
Kai raised a brow. "Wait, what are you going to do?"
Kenji looked over at Kai, and as if he had read the mime's mind, flashed a thumbs up. "Sometimes, when life closes a door on you and locks it, you just gotta kick it down!"
Kai's eyes widened. He would scream if he spoke. "Are you insane?! That is blatant property damage!"
"Alright, on the count of three..." Kenji finished limbering up and entered a runner's stance. "One...two..."
DING DONG!
DING DONG!
A soft, digital bell chimed somewhere in the store. Kai found it odd, it was much unlike the deafening gong of the grandfather clock. Wait, that wasn't the most pressing issue right now...
Kai looked over at Kenji, who had miraculously not counted three and was no longer trying to charge through the door. He was approaching the opposite wall. He silently appreciated that Kenji didn't end up doing something stupid.
"Hey, Kai. Come take a look at this..." He said, standing in front of a large monitor mounted on the wall.
"Was...was that always there?" Kai thought to himself as he walked over to Kenji. Of all things in the shop, the monitor was definitely out of place. It hadn't even the smallest traces of dust, implying that it was brand new.
"It just sort of...turned itself on..." Kenji stared at the screen, which was now filled with static. Very faintly a silhouette could be seen in the static haze, though it didn't appear to be human. Neither Kai nor Kenji knew for sure.
But then the shape started speaking.
"Ahem! Ahem! Testing, testing! Helloooooo, is this thing on?"
The voice was high pitched, almost cartoonishly so. Kai and Kenji looked at each other.
"Uh, hello? I asked you two idiots a question: can you hear me or not?!" The voice grunted.
Kenji turned back to the monitor. "Hey, who are you calling an idiot?!"
"Good, good! You two CAN hear me! Ah, glad to see the sound equipment is working properly. That would have been un-BEAR-able!" The disembodied voice ignored Kenji completely to laugh at its own terrible joke.
"What is going on..."
"Hey, what's the big idea here?" Kenji asked. "How come this shop is locked up? Why can't we leave?"
"Oh, don't you two worry about that! We just needed some time to get a few things in working order. We can't have our two protagonists walking around like they own the place, now can we?"
"Protagonists? What?" Kai was having a hard time understanding the voice's choice of words. What was it talking about?
Kenji, on the other hand, didn't pay any mind to that. "Well, you better get to work on letting us out. Trust me, pal, I've got my stomping boots on and I'm not afraid to introduce them to that door back there! Nothing's stopping me from getting my story on Hope's Peak Shopping Center published, not even you!"
"Woah, woah woah! Hold your horses there for a minute, mister! I will not tolerate any property damage on MY watch!" The voice barked. "You're definitely the reason modern journalism gets such a bad rep, am I right?"
Kenji grit his teeth. "You've got no clue who you're talking with, you hear me?"
"Oh, believe me, Kenji Yonezawa, I know very well who I'm talking to. You better be lucky that we've got all necessary preparations finished."
An audible click came from behind the two boys.
"Alright! Now we're talking!" Kenji pumped his fists.
"Now wait just a minute, you. Listen to me, and listen well. You'd best get off that high horse of yours, kid. If you EVER come at me again with that attitude again, I'll cut your Atua-damn tongue out." Even if Kai couldn't see it, he could tell the silhouette was seething with restrained anger. "I did not have everything set up to have entitled brat like you try and break it all down. You got that?!"
Before Kenji could answer, the monitor shut off, the static fading from the screen.
Kai stood in silence, taking a moment to try and process what had just happened. "Setting things up? What does that mean, and what does that have to do with us being here? And who was that? Something is definitely not right here..."
"Jeez, what the Hell is his problem?" Kenji sighed, rolling his eyes.
Kai looked at him with the most baffled expression possible. "HIS problem?"
"Okay, okay, I guess I got a little extreme there, but death threats? Totally unnecessary. Whatever, it's all done and over with." Kenji shook his head and marched to the door. "Are you coming or not?"
Kai regrettably nodded.
"Great, let's get moving." Kenji smiled and gestured for him to follow.
Kai silently obliged, but as the two made their way towards the door, he couldn't help but think that things were not right. He was afraid, not just because something was amiss, but because he was certain Kenji wasn't aware just how wrong things felt...