"Try to sleep, Okay?"
"Oh", 'Oh…Oh!…Ohhhhhhh-', "Y-yep, Senpai." Akira said waving, with a big dumb grin on his face not noticing the weird look said Senpai is giving him.
…*Jingle Jingle* , Akira opened the door and entered the cafe, making the bells rang.
Akira walked up to his room upstairs with a happy smile on his face.
"Hey, the school called me today.", 'Oh, shit.' Akira turned to the voice of his supposed guardian, who's washing the dish without looking at him. "So, what's your excuse?"
"Umm, I got lost." Akira said not being to able to look at man's face.
"*Sigh* , Trying to give me grief on your first day. Didn't I tell you not to get in any trouble?"
"…." As Akira didn't say anything, the man continued talking.
"You know you're not here on a trip." The man said looking at him. "One mistake and your whole life's over."
"…I know. I'm sorry for troubling you." Akira said looking down.
"*Sigh* , Don't let it happen again next time." Sojiro said as he took the dishes to the shelf.
"…Thank you for warning me." Akira continued walking to his supposed room, climbing the stairs.
'Right, I forgot that I'm still in hell.' Akira looked at the empty space which he has to call home.
'But, now…now, I can help. With this power I can finally help people.' Akira thought to himself, gripping his hand. Even now that creepy laugh from his persona, Arsene is echoing through his head. Through his brain. That may sounds like a bad thing but no. To him, it serves as a reminder that he has power now. He has means now. He has strength now. To him, it serves as a reminder that he can stop hiding now.
"Yes, no more hidi-Bahbahbah…Wait a minute." Akira thought back to that time.
"Stop hiding, Trickster."
"Huh?"
x-x
After changing his clothes, Akira walked to sit on his poor excuse of a bed. 'Was it Arsene? No. Now that I think about it, Senpai was the one who said that to me.'
Akira opened his phone and looked at the weird eyeball thing. "Trickster? What's that?" He's been hearing that a lot. First from that weird midget goblin and Arsene and…'Arisato-Senpai'.
"Some kind of code word?" That in itself is not strange, of course. 'But why did Senpai said the same thing as the two most weird things he had ever seen?' And he also got really weird when he saw this thing on his phone and there's also what Ryuji said to him.
"Don't tell me, did Senpai really know what's going to happen?" Akira said out loud in surprise.
….
"Ahahaha, That can't be." Akira laughed out loud. "Hahhaha…hahhh…Maybe." His smile faltered. 'I really don't know what to think about. It's not like I *BAAM!* Huh!?" Akira looked around in puzzle before running downstairs.
"Sa-sakura-san, What happened?!"
"Hmm?" The man seemed fine, albeit now looking at him weirdly. "What?"
"I-I just heard a really loud noise."
"Really? I didn't hear anything." Sojiro said tilting his head.
"I-is that so?" 'Strange', "Wel-well then, Uh, sor-sorry for shouting." Saying that, Akira walked back up. 'Strange. I'm sure that was pretty loud.'
"Hey, wait."
"Huh?"
"Now that you're here, can you help me wash the dishes?" Sojiro asked with a sly smile.
"Huh? Didn't you finish it all moments ago?"
"As you can see, I'm still not finished."
"O-oh, is that so? Ummm, Of course, I can help you!" Akira said walking back down.
"Great. There's an apron here."
"Uh, T-thanks."
"Try not to break anything."
"O-Of course. You have nothing to worry about." Akira said in a serious voice as he wore the apron with the man looking at him with a smile.
'I think?'
x-x
…*Ding Dong*
'Phewww.' Akira sighed as the bell rang. 'Damn it, I can't believe I'm wishing for the teacher to stay.'
"Hey, do you guys hear about that?", 'There we go.' As soon as a teacher leaves, everyone started talking about him behind his back. 'It's so cruel.' They are literally talking behind his back. 'You do know I can hear them all.' Is that how you treat a supposed psychopath? Talk about him where he can hear them?, *Sigh* , 'Well, at least I can leave because it's lunch break.' Akira stood up from his chair.
"Yeah, I heard about that.", "Me, too.", "Wait, I don't know, what happened?"
"Get this, the transfer student have already attacked someone." Akira sat back down.
….
'What?'
"You're kidding!?", 'Yeah, he's kidding! I didn't attack anyone. Look at my arms! Do they look like something that can attack someone!?'
"Yeah, it's true. The guy came to school with bandages on his head.", "It's so scary.", "Oh my god, what if he attacks me suddenly?"
'I should probably go.' Akira stood up again and walked towards the door. *Slides* , 'Man, isn't this suck?' Then his face broke into a smile. 'The good thing is I still have…my acquaintances that can at least pass off as friends.' Akira bragged to himself.
x-x
After some times…
'The bad thing is I don't know where to find them.' Akira looked around the place holding a bread. He was hoping he could find either Ryuji or Minato. But he found neither. 'And honestly, both of them are really hard to miss, so it's kinda weird I don't see either of them in the cafeteria.'
He walked here pretty fast, mostly not to hear anything, so it's not possible that they already got their snacks. 'I was hoping to ask Senpai about 'Trickster' thing.' Akira stood there for a minute or two. 'I wonder which class he's in. Should I ask someone?'
"Excuse me?"
'Would they even take me seriously?'
"Um, excuse me? You're holding the door."
"Huh?" Akira turned around as he heard a girl's voice and indeed, a black haired girl with pony tail. "Ummm, Can-can I help?"
"Just moving out of the way would be fine."
"Hm?", 'Hm?', "What?", 'What?'
"You're blocking the entrance." The girl said looking at him weirdly. Akira looked around him and he really was blocking the door.
"Oh, OH! I'm so sorry. I didn't really notice." Akira said stepping aside. "And I apologize. And-And I hope it didn't inconvenience you in anyway. And, uhhhh, I hope my actions didn't offend you somehow. An-and-and I, uhhhh, I-"
"It's okay. You don't have to apologize this much." The girl said laughing a soft laugh. "By the way, are you the transfer student?"
"Ack.", 'Gck.', "Ahhhhh, No." Akira said putting on his best believable smile. "No. Pfft. Why would you think I'm the transfer student? Ahahaha, I'm not the trans-Yeah, I'm the transfer student." But, sadly he best smile couldn't even make himself believe.
"Ahahha," To his surprise the girl just let out a soft laugh. "You don't have to worry about anything. I'm not really scare of you."
"Oh."
"I mean, I don't really believe in rumors. My friend has suffered a lot because of rumors like those." The girl said with a sad smile. "But, then again, the rumors about my other friend are so true that I even think it kinda sells him low." The girl said with a bright smile.
"Oh."
"Then again, I just think he's my friend. Because lately I feel like he's been avoiding me." The girl smile turned sad again.
"Oh."
"Which is ironic, because I was trying to avoid him, but when he starts avoiding me, I feel bad…and sad."
"Oh."
….
'What?' Akira looked at the weird girl, weirdly. 'I'm not sure what to say. Who's in the wrong here?', "Maybe uhhh, Maybe, he's just busy."
"…Maybe.", 'Clearly that didn't work. I should probably help her to take her mind off. After all, she's the third or fourth if I count Kawakami-sensei to talk to me like a genuine human being.'
"Ahhh, Ahem, Miss?" The girl looked up to him. "Um, I'm looking for someone. I'm not sure if you know him or not. He's a third year." Akira started describing Minato's features. "He has this really weird blue hair. It kinda covers his whole face. And he's…Uhh.", Turns out his Senpai's hair was so weird that he failed to take notice of other things. "Uhhhhh."
"Oh, are you talking about Arisato-Senpai?"
"Yeah!" But the girl seemed to know him. 'Well, he's kinda hard to miss, so of course, a lot of people would know him.', "Yes, I'm talking about him. You know him? Do you know his class?"
"Yeah, I know him!" The girl said with a bright smile…which then faltered. "…well, at least, I think I know him."
….
'Crap. It was him!?'
x-x
"If he's not in cafeteria, he's probably here, sleeping." The girl, who's been introduced as Shiho Suzui, said.
"I see." Akira looked around the place. It's not different form his class. Everything's the same. Except for some upperclassman that seemed to be cleaning the hallway.
"Uh, well then…." Akira said walking towards the door. *Slides* , "Suzui-san, are you gonna come?"
"Nooo." Shiho said with a sheepish smile. "I don't want to bother hi-Oh my god, SENPAI!" Shiho dashed past him towards the boy who seemed to be wiping the board with lazy eyes.
"Huh!?", 'Are those bandages?', "Arisato-senpai!" Akira also ran to Minato who had just heard him.
"Hm, Kurus-"
"Senpai! What happened!?" Shiho practically shouted.
"O-oh, Suzui." Minato awkwardly said back.
"You were fine just yesterday. What happened? Did you hit yourself? *Gasp* Did someone hit you on your way home!?" Shiho said in a very worried voice.
"No. Nobody hit me. You don't have to worry. It was just a headache." Minato said not looking at the girl but to him, as if to ask 'What are you doing here?'.
"But it looks worse than a headache."
"That's because it's worse than a headache. Anyway, Kurusu, what are you doing here?" Minato asked him although he haven't said anything.
"Huh? Uhhhh….", 'Wait, what am I doing here?', "Ummm, I want t-to ask yo-you something."
"That couldn't wait until school's over?"
"Ummmmm…"
"Senpai, are you sure you should be coming to school? And are you bleeding?" Shiho asked, fussing around him.
"Okay, Suzui, calm down." Minato said pushing back the girl, who's trying see the back of his head. "I'm fine. I'm not in pain or anything. You are worrying about nothing. I just got into some minor accid-", "You were in an accident!?", "An accident my own, yes. With no one's fault."
"O-okay."
"Yes, So, you can calm down, okay?"
"O-okay." Suzui said awkwardly finally noticing Minato's hand on her shoulder.
….
'Wow, I feel like a third wheel here.', "So, Kurusu?", 'And Why are you talking to the third wheel!?', "What is the thing you want to tal-", "Arisato-san, a word?" As a black haired girl comes along and you could see all the blood draining from Minato's face.
"*Gulp*…Yes?" Although Minato said that, The girl ignored him.
"Good afternoon, Suzui-san.", "Y-you too. S-senpai." Shiho said weirdly. And the new girl turned around to look at Minato before pulling his hand back forcefully from Shiho's shoulder and glaring at him. 'She looks scary.'
"Ahem, and you are the transfer student, I presume?", 'Oh my god, she knows me!'
"Ahh-I-Ahhh."
"I don't know what you come here for but I will try to help after I…After…" The girl turned back to Minato again, who seemed to be trying to play dumb.
"Arisat-", "Yes." But as the girl said that Minato suddenly said like a soldier…then he made a sour face before saying, "I mean, what?"
"Did you finish your job?" Although the girl was shorter than him, that made her no less scary.
"Actually, I've just finished. So, uhh." Minato put down the duster. "That means I can go now. I have something to discuss with Kurusu." Minato said back.
"Oh, and may I ask what could you possibly have to discuss with a transfer student who just came yesterday?"
"Immmm, No, you may not. So, Bye." Minato said walking past both the girl and Suzui who's staring at them with a puzzled face.
"No, wait, Arisato. I didn't give you my permission to go." The girl said back stopping Minato.
"I don't need your permission to go." *Turn*
"You actually do. I am the class monitor." *Turn*
"Yes, but the class is not in session." *Turn*
"True, But, I'm still the student council president." *Turn*
"Nice try. Student council can't ground students. They need a teacher's permission." *Turn*
….
Akira and Shiho watched the two.
'It's like I'm watching a gun fight, and poor Suzui is stuck in the middle.'
….
"So, you want a teacher's permission?" The red eyed girl said with a smug smile as Minato turned to look at her. "Chuuno-sensei?"
"Yeah, you have my blessing." The teacher in a purple suit said without even bothering with looking up or stopped eating pretzels.
"What? What did I do?" Minato asked back fully turning around. 'Okay, now Suzui-san know how it feels like to be a third wheel.' The girl just kept on turning her head watching the two.
"I will tell you exactly what you did." The short girl said glaring at Minato. "We used the last period to clean the classroom and change the vases, dust the lockers, mop the floor and now we're also cleaning the hallway."
"…Why are you stating the obvious?"
"AND while we were doing all of that, you spent the last 30 minutes wiping this 7-feet board!" The girl slammed her hand on the…little dirty board.
….
Shiho and him looked at the culprit who's still trying to play dumb.
"…Again, why are you stating the obvious?"
"You have to stop lazing around, Arisato."
"Okay, you can't just assume that I'm lazing around. I'm hurt." Minato said holding his chest. "And I'm hurt." Minato said pointing his head.
"Assuming that's a valid reason for taking too long, which is not, who knows? You could be faking it."
"The bandages aren't enough?"
"Suzui-san has bandages on both her arms. That doesn't mean she's hurt.", 'Hm?', Akira looked at the girl who seemed to be in shock. 'Oh, right. She has bandages.…Did I just walk with her without really noticing? Wow, I'm really a ditz.'
….
'Why did senpai stop talking?' Akira turned to look at Minato who's looking at Suzui with some kind of indiscernible face.
"…She's really hurt though.", "Um!?" As Minato said in a monotone voice, the girl tried to look away.
"What? No." The red eyed girl said but she looked at Shiho carefully. "Suzui-san, can you show me your arm?"
"Um, no-it's f-" The black haired girl grabbed the arm. "Um!?" She then turned to the girl with wide eyes. "Suzui-san, what happe-…Is that a bruise on your face?"
"N-no. It's uhh…" Suzui moved away while trying to cover her forehead with her hair. "It-it just…Umm, it-i-"
"Suzui-san, are you getting bullied?"
"N-no. I'm not. It's ju-It's just from my practice."
"Practice?" The teacher from before came up to them. "Is Kamoshida-sensei being too strict with you kids?", Akira tensed up as he heard the name. 'Kamoshida!?' Akira looked at Minato who was quiet from the moment this started.
"Being strict is one thing. But he shouldn't train them this hard." The girl said turning to the teacher.
"Niijima-san, that's true but Kamoshida-sensei can get pretty passionate about this. He must really want these kids to win the nationals."
"I understand his feelings but this is taking too far. No medal is worth enough to get hurt over. Don't worry, Suzui-san, I will talk to him about this."
"No, Don't!" Shiho suddenly shouted. All three of them stared at her in surprise except for the one who looked away. "It-It's okay. It's not Kamoshida-sensei's fault. We were just not improving much, so he has no choice but to train us hard."
"But, Suzui-san-"
"No, It's really fine. It's working. We are getting better and better. So, I don't think we need to change anything." Shiho said, interrupting the girl.
….
'…I feel like I don't belong here.'
"An-anyway, thank you for the concern but I'm fine." Shiho said looking down on the floor. "Umm, I was just taking Kurusu-kun here. I don't really have any plans here, so, Umm." Shiho slowly walked towards the door. "Oh, se-senpai, please try to get some rest. Wo-wounds on your head can really make you dizzy."
"…."
Shiho stood there for a moment. "T-then, ex-excuse me." *Slides*
….
The atmosphere was making nearly impossible to breath. Nobody uttered a single word.
….
'Someone, please say something. This is getting too awkward.'
Then someone unlikely broke the first word.
"Kurusu, talk whatever you want after school."
"Huh?"
Minato didn't say anything more and walked towards the door. But he didn't open it, he just stood there holding the handle.
"Arisato…"
"Um, Niijima-san, I will try to help next time but I'm getting hungry so…" *Slides* Just saying that he left,…leaving the three of them.
….
'Wait, why did you guys leave me alone here?' Akira looked back at the two behind him. They weere still staring at the door. 'I hope I can snea-'
"Oh, Kurusu-kun?"
"Yes! Yes! Ma'am! Can I help you!? Ma'am! Please let me help you, Ma'am!"
"Oh…" The teacher was too surprised to say back anything. 'Damn it, I freaked out!' The girl was looking at him with an eyebrow raised.
"Oh, No. We don't really need help. I just want to tell you to not trouble Kawakami so much."
"Um?-I mean, of course."
"Yeah, I don't really mind but my ears really mind. I am not ready for another of her complaining. I have enough with Usami saying to me about Arisato-san having hemorrhoids."
"Huh? *Blink, Blink* , Senpai has hemo-"
"No. No, he doesn't."
x-x
…*Mutter, Mutter*
"Yo", "Hm?" Akira stopped walking and turned towards the voice. "Sakamoto-san?"
"Yep." Ryuji said back leaning on the wall of the gate. "I was starting to think you guys ditched me."
"N-no. I thought we were gonna meet up in the rooftop so, uhhh, I just got back from there."
"Ohhh, right." Ryuji said back scratching his head. "I didn't specify the meeting place, huh.…So did you see Arisato there?"
"No, he wasn't there."
"Huhhh."
"What do you think? Should we go look for him?"
"No" Ryuji got up from leaning. "He still hasn't left the school, so we should probably just wait here."
"*Sigh* , True." Akira said as he walked to the side of Ryuji.
"Hey, Kurusu, Something weird happened to me today." Ryuji said whispering to him.
"Well, yeah. I see nothing but weird things today."
"What?"
"Not important. What happened?"
"Um?" Ryuji took out his phone. "I just check my phone this morning and this'' Ryuji said showing his phone to him.
"No way." Akira said as he realized what Ryuji's trying to say.
"Yeah, It wasn't there yesterday. And No matter how much I deleted it, it just popped back." The weird eyeball thing that's on his phone was now also on Ryuji's phone.
"It's so creepy." Ryuji said looking at his own phone. "More creepy with what happened yesterday."
"You think it got into your phone after we got out from that castle?"
"Maybe but I didn't check at that time." Ryuji said still looking at his phone. "I hope it doesn't break my phone because I can't afford an-"
"Sakamoto, How the hell did you get this?"
"Waarrrrggghhhh!" Ryuji made a weird noise and jumped to his side. "What The Hell!"
"Why are you always freaking out when you see me?" The culprit, Minato said like he wasn't any to blame.
"H-hello again, Senpai." Minato nodded back as Akira said that.
"Don't Scare Me Like That Again, Arisato! Damn, I think I'm gonna have a heart attack being near this guy." Ryuji said holding his chest.
"Okay, back to the matter at hand, not your imaginary disease," Minato said rolling his eyes. "My question of how that got into your phone."
"I don't know. It's not like I'm watching my phone every time." Ryuji said back. "Oh and Do you also have it on your phone, Arisato?"
"Me?"
"Yeah, if Senpai also have it, we can definitely say that, that castle is the key." Akira said also taking out his phone.
Minato didn't say anything for some time.
….
"Dude…You having a stroke?"
"No, having a stroke is the opposite of being standing still. But, yeah, I also got that app on my phone." Minato said back also taking out his phone and showing the app.
"Ahh, so the castle is really the source." Akira said checking Minato's phone.
"But, Man, you don't have anything on your phone." Ryuji said taking Minato's phone from his hand. "Wow, I didn't think I will ever see a phone without 'talk me',"
"Talk what?"
"Talk me! It's a chatting app." Akira answered, showing the said app on his phone.
"Mann, you have a lot of songs." Ryuji said still checking Minato's phone.
"Sakamoto-san, it's rude to check on other peop-…wait, I never heard of those songs before."
"Me neither. *Scrolls* No, wait, I know this one." Ryuji said thinking back. "If I remember right, It's from my middle school years. And this one too."
"Okay, enough. Give that back." Minato said trying to take his phone back but Ryuji dodged him.
"Dude, these are pretty hardcore rock songs. I didn't take you the type to be into that." Ryuji said with a silly smile.
"I'm not into that. I listened to them because it was necessary." Minato said back collecting himself, giving the stink eye towards the boy who's checking his phone like a child.
"Necessary? I don't get it."
"You will get it when you get older." Minato answered back Akira's question. "Or when you start seeing things or become crazy with hearing voices in your head."
"*Blink, Blink* ", Akira and Ryuji looked at each other. 'Maybe Sakamoto-san's looking at me because it's strange but I was looking because it hit far too close for my comfort.' Akira thought back to his last three days on Tokyo.
….
'Does that mean I'm becoming crazy?'
"Okay, we've wasted enough time." Minato said with a sigh. "Kurusu, do you know how to get back there?"
"Oh, Uhhhhh, Actually, yeah." Akira opened the app. "There's something about Kamoshida under history list. I'm not sure, I think we just touch that and…and, uhhh, again, I'm not sure."
"Oh yeah, I also found that under my history list." Ryuji said nodding. "What about your phone though, I will just chec-"
"No, wait. Don't!" Minato took back his phone from Ryuji's hand faster than they could blink.
"Huh?", "What?"
"Yep, it was on my history list too." Minato said as he pocketed his phone.
Akira and Ryuji looked to each other again. 'Okay, this time we're on the same wavelength.'
"Umm, that's fair." Ryuji said looking at Minato. "Okay, Let's just forget about this for a moment. We are doing this." Ryuji said nodding to himself. "So, do we all touch at the same time?"
"I think only one is needed." Akira said back. "Remember, only I got my phone out when we first met."
"Yeah, that's true."
"I see." Minato said nodding. "So, we should go to somewhere disc-", "Destination confirmed. Beginning Navigation.", "Kurusu, Don't just touch that. Check your suu-"
x-x
"-unding first."
….
"No way, this really worked!" Ryuji shouted in surprise.
"*Sigh* , Kurusu." Minato shakes his head in annoyance. "Don't be so hasty next time. What if others ge-…" Minato stopped talking.
"Huh? What's wrong, senpai?" Akira asked back with a tilt of his head.
"Oh, It's nothing.…Okay, Stay calm. It's just that your clothes ch-", "DUDE! Your Clothes! Look at Your Clothes!", "Damn it, Sakamoto."
"Hm?" Akira looks over himself. "Oh no. What hap- You know what? I look cool." Akira said back with a grin.
"This is no time to be thinking about cool or not."
"What, Sakamoto-san, You jealous?"
"No, I'm not jealous. Why would I be jealous? I'm not jealous!"
"Hey, stop making a commotion. You are going to make guards come outta here." The familiar feline voice from yesterday said from behind them.
"What…You!?" Ryuji, again shouting, pointing at Morgana.
"I came out to check out because the shadows start acting up. I should have expected that it would be you three idiots." Morgana said in annoyance.
"Hey…."
"Oh, sorry. Two idiots and a Nutcase!"
"…Okay, You are going to hell." Minato responded back.
"Forget about it. Why did you guys come back here? Didn't I say that this palace is dangerous for you guys?"
"Yeah, I know that. But, Uhhh." Ryuji said scratching his head. "Umm, this time I brought a gun." Ryuji said, casually taking a pistol from his bag.
"AHHH! Sakamoto-san, why did you have a gun?"
"Relax. It's just a toy gun."
"Is that another one of those lase-", "No, No, It's not." Minato shut Morgana fast.
"Wow, this looks almost like a real thing.…Not that I've ever seen a real thing though." Akira said, admiring the gun. "Where did you get it, Saka-" Before Akira could ask, A loud scream echoed throughout the whole place.
"Wh-what is that?" Ryuji said looking around. "It sounds like a man's voice."
"Huh, they must torturing the slaves again."
"Slaves!?" Akira asked with wide eyes.
"Yeah, it's a castle after all. Although this is going a little longer than normal." Morgana explained calmly.
"Wait, So who are those slaves!?" Ryuju asked back not so calmly.
"Oh, is that the guy we saw in the cell yesterday?", "Wha!?"
"Umm, I'm not sure. Maybe he might be there. I don't know. There's a lot."
"Why are they getting tortured?" Ryuji asked with angers behind his voice as screams don't stop.
"Most likely on Kamoshida's orders. It's nothing out of the ordinary; it's like that every day here." Morgana said as a matter of fact. "Besides, he's pissed a lot because you guys escaped yesterday."
"Damn it, That son Of A Bitch!" Ryuji said angrily walking towards the large door before Minato stopped him.
"Sakamoto, calm down."
"How can I calm down? You heard what the cat said. And the guy from yesterday is from our school! The others must be too."
"There's a high chance that it's true but remember what we said yesterday, they are not real."
"Damn it, Arisato!" Ryuji angrily slaps away Minato's hand. "I don't get your palace or congetive or shadows or anything at all! I see people getting hurt in front of me by that Bastard! I had to save them. I can't let that bastard destroy another's life!"
"*Sigh* , which part of 'not real' you don't understand?" Minato said back before turning. "Okay then, Kurusu?"
"Huh?" Minato called the weirdly dressed young man who's just standing behind them.
"What do you want to do?"
"Me?" Akira looked surprised as Minato asked him the question. "I…." Akira takes a moment to decide. "I agrees with Sakamoto-san, I also want to save them."
"…Fine.…So, Morgana do you know where those voices are coming from?"
"Uh?", "Wha?" His two juniors seemed surprised that it only took that much to change his mind. 'I only needed Kurusu's answer though.'
"What, You guys are really going? Well, I can guide you there, but Really? Out of all of you, only frizzy can fight." Morgana said squinting his eyes.
"Fight?", "He's talking about monsters from yesterday.", "Oh, damn. I forgot about those.", "How could you forget about…never mind."
"Don't worry. Morgana-san can fight too. So we can both protect you guys." Akira said with a smug grin.
"Why do I have to fight for you guys?"
"Do I need to threaten you again?", "Okay, fine!" Morgana shouted before…"Hm, Maybe I can use these guys."
"What did you just say?", "Nothing, Come on, let's go!" Morgana said as he walked over to the place where they escaped from yesterday.
"What? We're not gonna enter from the this door?"
"Are you an idiot? Oh wait, you are an idiot. No, we're not gonna go in from the front door!"
"Yeah, Sakamoto-san. Of course we are not go in from the front door. That's like asking to be caught." Akira said walking past Ryuji who's looking at him weirdly.
"Vents again. I like that.", "Yeah, this is a must have path for an infiltration mission." Morgana said in a smug voice.
"Infiltration mission!? Cool! Oh, we should totally get a team name.", "Hey, I call dibs on being leader!", "Guys, what do you think about team name?"
Minato and Ryuji stared at the two idiots in front of them.
….
"Ohhhh, I'm regretting this already."
"…Well, you are the one who asked for it."
x-x
After some time…
"So, this is it." Ryuji said as they reached over a metal door.
"The screams are…Horrifying." Akira said uncomfortably.
"Damn, I'm almost scared to open it." Ryuji said wiping the sweats from his forehead. "Okay, I'm gonna have to prepare mys-*Clank*…"
"….", "…."
"What?"
"Damn it, Arisato! I'm still not ready yet.", "Senpai, You just took away the chance for my cool entrance!"
"It's just a door. Get over it." Minato said in a very annoyed voice. "Besides, all these pink around here is making my head hurt." With Morgana's guidance, they made it to the place called training room where the slaves were supposed to be held captive.
They got here with little to no trouble. The wildcard held himself well. His persona was faster than all the shadows here. And his dark elemental attack was pretty interesting, too. 'The only bad thing is he talks too much and gets excited easily.'
'And Sakamoto….', Minato looked the boy who's breathing loudly beside him.
….
"…Are you in labor?", "Shut the f*ck up, Arisato." He's fine. A little too loud to be his liking, but his model gun proved useful.
FYI, because the wildcard was being too trigger happy, he had to hold onto that. So, he's walking around with two guns but they don't need to know that. 'And I have to keep myself from shooting myself.…And let me tell you, it's hard.'
"Okay, Blondie. Do it quick. We don't have much time. Kamoshida must already know we're here.", 'Morgana, he's…well, I don't know what to think of him…yet.', Margaret said that she could not say in certainty until she sees for herself. 'Although she told me the possibilities…' which he didn't listen at all.
"Okay, Okay. I'm ready. Whewww. Let's do it." As they entered the hall the cherry atmosphere from before got turn upside down.
"The f*ck?", "Uhhh.", "…." In front of them was what could be described as living hell.
"The f*ck is this shit?! This is not training. This is just…Violence!" Ryuji shouted in anger.
Akira was too surprised to even utter a word. Kamoshida's soldiers were beating up students, making them play without breaks, basically abusing them and of course, torturing them. Well, they were a little more exaggerated here but…. The bad thing was he's seen some of the students from down there. 'That means she's also….'
Minato looked down the place. Although all of them are asking to stop, begging for mercy, their torturers didn't let up a moment.
….
Minato shook his head. 'No time for that.', "Morgana, tell them to hurry up."
"So, you felt it, too. Yeah, A lot of shadows are coming here. Hoi, Blondie! Hurry up! We've got no time."
"Damn it, I can't use the camera!" Ryuji cursed in anger.
"It doesn't matter. Nobody gonna take you seriously if you show them photos of Knights beating up students. Just try to memorize their faces."
"Senpai's right. We can search for the real ones tomorrow and ask them details. This…" Akira turned away from the sight. "This needs to be stopped."
"Yeah.…Yeah, thanks, Arisato."
"…Just hurry up." Minato once again looked down. 'I wonder who's the real monster…the one who hurt them…the one who ignored them.'
x-x
"Arsene!" Akira summoned his persona and shoots a dark energy ball towards the shadow that's following them…bit it's not enough to finish it off. "Damn it, it's still alive."
"Slowing them is enough. Run, Kurusu, don't look back."
"Huuh! Huhh!" The boy beside him is again panting loudly.
"I thought you were in the track team." They are running up a spiral stairs with them in the middle, Akira on the back and Morgana in front of them.
"Wha!? How do you know that!?"
"The teacher told me." Minato looked at the boy. "Is it because of your leg?"
"Mind your own business, Arisato!", "Sakamoto-san, look out!", "Wha!?" Ryuji looked behind to see a plant like monster aiming it's claw at him. "Ah, Shi-" But Minato shoved him beside and…*Bam*…*Bam, Bam!* , "Kreeee!" The shadow vanished with a cry.
"Uh, Senpai!"
"Ahhh, t-thanks, Ari-arisato.",
"*Sigh* , Next time, if you can't run, say it sooner." Minato pulled him up by collar. "He-hey, what are you do- Woahhh!" And dragged him like a sack. "Oof, oof, ahh, hey slow down!"
"Morgana, heal Kurusu with your spell."
"Wha-No, You got it, Dia!" Morgana without question, summoned his persona.
"Kurusu, use your strongest attack on the wall."
"Yes, Senpai. Arsene!" Akira ripped his mask off and the devilish persona appeared again. "Cleave!" *Boom!* The wall broke down barring the shadows from approaching them but flying ones easily got over it.
"Morgana."
"Nice, One eye. Zorro!" But Morgana's wind spells made short work of them.
"Woahhh!", "Don't stop.", "Sorry, Senpai."
"Damn, Arisato. Are you some kind of tactician?"
"No, I'm not. And don't use big words like that. It doesn't suit you."
"HEY- Oof!"
They kept running until they get to the top. 'They are not questioning me now because of being in danger but they are going to be pretty suspicious when this is all over.' But, he had no choice. Either summon floating blue cards or use the laser gun or just punch them with his bare hands…and none were viable options.
"We're here!" Morgana headbutted the door to open and they reached the hallway they first entered.
Morgana ran towards the door. "Crap! It's locked!" Morgana rammed the door to no avail. "I will try to pick i-"
"There's no time." MInato said as he let Ryuji down.
"We have no choice." Akira opened the door at the end of the hallway and they all ran through…But turned out it was a mistake.
"Ah, Shit.", "Damn it, this was a trap.", "…."
"So, it was you Knaves again. To think you would make the same mistake twice."
"Kamoshida!?" Ryuji stood up from the floor. They are now in a large hall with lavish carpets and decorations with a giant chandelier above them. 'Architecture aside, the point I'm trying to make is we're completely surrounded.'
"Kamoshida, You sick bastard!" Ryuji stepped forward with a grin although his legs were shaking a little. "Your days are numbered! I remembered all of their faces. Soon as I get out of here, You're finished!"
"Hey, one eye. Tell him to tone down the trash talk. We're completely outnumbered here.", "What makes you think that I can shut him up?"
"*Sigh*", Kamoshida sighed acting nonchalant. "It seems what they say is true, barking dogs seldom bite." Then his face turned furious, looking them with anger. "Guards! Get them!" As soon as he gave his orders, all the soldiers morphed into their shadows form.
"Wha *Fwoosh*" Minato ran towards the blonde boy and pulled him back before the shadows can cut him half. "Kurusu.", "Leave it to us." Akira also ran towards them and attacked the shadow before it could make it's second attack.
"You two, take over! This is going to get ugly!" At Morgana's advice Minato, pulling Ryuji, ran to the back where there's less shadows…or so he thought. *Bam*
The door opened and the shadows they left behind on the stairs, entered with vengeance.
"Oh, shit!", "Sakamoto, Get behind me." Minato took out the gun again.
"Senpai! Sakmoto-san!", "Focus on your own battle!", "Die, Intrude-*Bam!*" Minato shot the Pyro jack in the mouth before it can finish whatever it's shouting. "Sakamoto, get the door.", "What?", "Get the door!"
Ryuji scrambled on the floor and ran towards the door.
"Oh, running away again?" Ryuji stopped as he heard Kamoshida's voice.
"Sakamo-Tch." Minato rolled to the side as berith brought down his spear on him.
"Oh, how far the star runner of track team is fallen."
"What did you say, you bastard!?"
"Because of your selfish acts, Shujin's prized track team has to disbanded. How sad." Kamoshida mocked with a sick grin.
"Sh-shut up, you son of a bitch!"
"Huh, You ungrateful piece of trash. Have you forgotten my kindness in supervising the track practice?"
"It was no practice! It was physical abuse! You just don't like our team!" Ryuji shouted angrily.
But, Kamoshida's grin didn't faded, even growing wider. "To be fair," Kamoshida looked at him with smug face. "I just don't like you."
"Huh?", "For King Kamoshida!", "Wha-", "*Bam!* Ryuji turned to the voice to see Minato coming near him.
"Tch! That blue haired brat."
"Ar-arisato, Sor-", "What do you think you're doing? You're too old to get emotional over this!", "Umm."
"Hahhahah, Sakamoto, how low can you sink?" Kamoshida's laugh echoed throughout the hall. "Even to a transfer student, you couldn't say back anything. You only can just suck it like a piece of trash you are."
"D-damn it."
"*Bam!*", 'What should I do? If this keeps up, the wildcard will get killed.', "*Bam, Bam, Clank, clank*''
"What?" *Clank, Clank* "Morgana, I'm out of bullets."
"What? Ahh! *Sching* , What!?"
"I'm out of bullets!"
"What do you want me t- Ahhhhh!" Morgana got hit by an attack and rolled down on the floor.
"Morgana-sa-", "Kreee!", "Um, Ahhh!" Akira got blown away as he got hit by an block of ice. "Owwww, God, that hurts."
"Kurusu!" Minato tried to run toward him but he realized that if he left, Ryuji's gonna get killed. 'Damn it. Do I have any choice?'
"Hahaha, Sakamoto, watch! Hahh!" Kamoshida said as he kicked Morgana away. "Watch in silence while your friends got slaughtered! Haha!"
"H-hey, stop that!" Ryuji tried to run over to him as Minato stopped him again. "Get back. *Clang!* " Minato blocked the overhead strike with the gun on his hand.
But, of course, it won't be long before the berith's spear completely broke the gun. 'I hope I can pass this off as being athletic.' Minato leaned to the side a little, making the attack missed him and hit the ground. Then he jumped up and rolled in the midair, kicking the shadow's hand. "Huhhh."
The shadow's grip loosened and Minato pulled the spear and *Swoosh!* "GAHHHHHH!" The shadow vanished into black ichor and with it, the spear in his hand vanished, too.
"Wheww." , "Woah, dude, you al-", "Ahhhh…." Minato slumped down to the floor, holding his head, from which the bandages started to turn a little red. "Arisato!" , 'Ahhhh, I spinned a little too much there,…Damn it, Caroline.'
"Arisato!", Ryuji ran towards him, shouting his name.
"Sakamoto, stay back. You can't do anything here!"
"Um!"
MInato stood back up wobbly. "Just try to run. You are practically useless here."
"Yeah, haha. Listen to your wise Senpai. Cause he's not gonna be giving any more advice soon." Kamoshida said looking at the blue haired boy. While Ryuji stuck in the middle of whether to run for his life or not. "*Sigh* , Just admit it, Sakamoto. You're useless wherever you are."
'Does this guy knows how to shut up?', MInato thhought of ways get out of this. 'Which is more strange, healing your head or turning your hair white…Tch, No choice, the wildcard takes priority.', "Messi-", "No, I'm not useless!", "Hm?" Minato turned around.
"What did you just say, Huh."
"Damn it, I'M not gonna lose again!" RYuji gritted out, as if in pain holding his head.
"Oh, still denying?" Minato walked back away a little.
"No, Huuh, huuh, I'm not useless. I have enough this shit!"
"Hah! Just stay in the mud where you belong." , 'Yeah, yeah, Kamoshida. Keep going. You're doing great.'
"Because of you, I can't run anymore and the track team's gone too. I'm sick of being powerless!" Ryuji punched the floor. "I'm sick of being pushed around!" He kept punching the ground that his knuckles started bleeding. "Because of you…YOU!" Not just Minato, even the shadows backed away as a sudden pressure filled the air.
"I'M SICK OF YOUR DAMN FACE, KAMOSHIDA!" *Foom!* A heavy gust of wind blew through the place. The wind was so strong that even Minato had to cover his face.
As the wind settled, the sight was a blonde boy whose face is now obscured by a mask of bone with glowing yellow eyes.
"Wha, what!? Him too!?"
"Arrgh, arrgh, Rarrrrrgh!" Ryuji pulled off the mask with blood sprouting forth like a fountain making a blue aura flared around him as his clothes changed. And Inside, a skeleton being with a ship materialized.
"Yes, Embraced you true self and show them what true hell looks like." A voice echoed throughout the place.
"Kamoshida!"
"Eiee!" Ryuji pointed the iron pipe in his hand towards the man with a grin on his face.
"You asked for a beating." Akira and Morgana got up from the floor. "Is that a persona too?", "Great, now we can fight back." Minato walked to the nearby pillar and leaned on it, watching the scene with a smirk. "Well, we're gonna give you a beating of your life!"
'…Well, well, it looks like even the universe is working at my side…
….
Oh, wait….'
"Bring it On!" Akira and Morgana walked over to his side. "Captainnn KIDD!"
-x-x-
I hope that excuse is enough. The true excuse is, of course, I forgot about the headphones.
Sorry.