Senran Persona: Akira's Beginning
This is a work of fiction.
Similarities between characters or events to persons living or dead are purely coincidental.
Only those who have agreed to the above have the privilege of continuing.
I agree.
...The contract has been sealed.
The world is not as it should be. It's filled with distortion, and "ruin" can no longer be avoided.
Those who oppose fate and desire change...from time to time, they were referred to as Tricksters.
The main character in this story is a Trickster... so rise, rise young one, rise against the abyss of distortion and show the world that darkness can brighten even the smallest of lights.
He is just walking… slowly, step by step, on the middle of a road, seemingly no vehicles in sight. The lamp posts are the only light illuminating the path since everything around him is pitch black.
But the messy black hair boy wasn't alone. People of different gender, age, and builds appeared out of the dark void as he continued his walk. They were looking away, seemingly not paying any attention to the young person walking past them. But the teenager hears the voices of everyone who is communicating with nobody as he passes by. Although he knows what they're saying is actually directed toward him.
"Never come near us again!"
"I'm sorry… I can't love you anymore..."
"Hey thug, that's it between us."
"Unbelievable, what a disappointment he's become."
"Move along. I'm not speaking to you anymore."
"To think someone this young can be bad."
"But how? What the hell can we do?!"
"We can't give up on our son!"
The boy is receiving all this because he committed a felony that he didn't and shouldn't have received. But he did, and now he hears different reactions to his recent criminal record.
He stops, now hearing complete silence. Looked behind to see the people verbally attacking him had suddenly disappeared. The black-haired boy looks around, confused about what has happened to them. But then, something made him need to look in front. He turns to immediately see in shock at something that made him lose his footing and fall to land butt first on the asphalt road.
The figure now blocking his way is well built, the body indicating a man with arms crossed to the chest. Most of the clothing that is covering him is black. Two tanto weapons in their sheaths are strapped to his upper legs, and shurikens lodge unto the lower arms of his uniform. The only visible bare skin is around the sharp piercing eyes.
It was straightforward for the youngster to know who this person was by looking: a ninja or a shinobi.
"Is it truly over? No future in sight?"
He didn't know how to respond to this very intimidating masked man right in front of him.
The ninja then moves forward to be much closer to the black-haired boy still on the ground, those menacing eyes staring directly at the kid.
"Will you find your new path? Or will you be helped in moving forward?"
Or maybe his brain is not letting him respond to this shinobi.
The man then unsheathes his short blades, and that movement delivers fear to the one on the ground.
"Answer me, Akira Kurusu."
The boy, now called Akira, looks down, shutting his eyes tightly, and his hands curled into fists. Struggling to find the words he wants to say to the dangerous man but also afraid of how he will react, his head lifts up, eyes no longer closed, and his mouth opens up to respond.
(4/9, Afternoon)
(Shibuya)
Akira sees instead of deep darkness and the male ninja; it's now changed to daylight and the inside of a train he is currently on, moving through the tall buildings of Tokyo.
He is dressed in the new uniform for the school he will be enrolled in very soon.
"Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for riding with us today. We'll be arriving in Shibuya shortly. This is the last stop for this line. Please transfer here for all subway lines, the doors to your left will open."
The boy, now wearing fake glasses, lifts them up to gently massage his eyes, realizing he had a dream during the ride. His brain must have been influenced by that new ninja-themed anime he watched recently.
He overhears two high school girls conversing about the stories of "mental shutdowns" happening in the city, which are also mentioned in the news headlines on the train. The transport arrives at its final stop, and everyone, including Akira, gets out. He saunters to the station, frequently checking the directional instructions on his phone to help him find the destination in a city he has never been to.
"Transfer from Shibuya station… to Denentoshi Line…? But where? Is it here?" He thought to himself while looking around.
With help from a station officer, he comes out of the subway tunnel, now walking on the forever-busy streets of the capital. Eventually stopping to see he has arrived at the iconic Shibuya Crossing, with its long and wide sidewalks and the multitude of people inundating the entire intersection.
For Akira, this was an unbelievable sight compared to back home. Now seeing his own eyes, he couldn't help but speak up.
"There's so many… people…"
(Yongen-Jaya)
"I am thou..."
He couldn't stop thinking about that strange male voice from that smiling humanoid flame-like shape. And the weirdest thing of all, he enjoyed it.
The only explanation Akira can come up with is that he had another dream. But in the middle of Shibuya Crossing and standing upright?
He scratches in annoyance. Right now, he must ignore what happened and concentrate on finding Sojiro Sakura's residence. After some assistance from a police officer who clearly wasn't acting friendly to him, the boy arrives at the house. Seeing the nameplate clearly saying "Sakura," Akira presses the bell button, and it rings; he waits. But it seems no one will answer the door. It couldn't be that this person is currently outside the house?
"Looks like no one's home… are you looking for the man who lives there, kid?"
Akira looks to the side to see a parcel deliveryman holding a carton box and a phone.
"Yeah, I am. Do you know where else Sojiro Sakura could possibly be, sir?" He responds, hoping for a good answer.
The person thinks for a moment and then figures it out. "Oh, yeah… Sakura-san's usually at his café around this time." He looks at Akira again. "Well, it's called Leblanc and it's in the back alley. Just turn back, take a left and left again after you pass the vending machine next to the supermarket. The name's on a red and white striped awning above the entrance."
"Understood, thank you very much." Akira answers with a polite bow.
He leaves the small building, overhearing the man saying he will make his other deliveries first before sending the package to mister Sakura. At least the glasses-wearing boy also has the place's name written on his phone and will not need to speak to that unfriendly officer again.
But Akira is utterly unaware that one of the window shutters from the house's second floor opens slightly, indicating that someone in the house is secretly watching the boy leave.
With a few extra walking, he arrives at Leblanc, raising an eyebrow at the unique food choice to highlight the establishment: coffee and curry.
An elderly couple leaves the café, so Akira lets them pass.
"Thank you, young man." Says the senior woman.
The glasses-wearing boy silently bows to them while they leave. He enters inside, stopping to observe the small interior style décor and smelling the distinct aroma of the drink and dish. A TV shows the news, and a middle-aged black-bearded man with an apron is seated on a stool holding a magazine with one of the open pages displaying a crossword puzzle.
The bearded man looks annoyed. "Four hours for just two cups of joe…"
"Um… excuse me, are you Sojiro Sakura?"
He notices the teenage boy. "Yes, it's me. Why do–?"
The bearded man halts his question when he realizes who the person in front of him is. "Oh right, they did say that was today. I wondered what kind of unruly kid would show up, but you're the one? You're Akira?
"Yes, Akira Kurusu. Please take care of me, sir." Responds the deadpan boy.
Sojiro is certainly unenthusiastic. "Sure… Well then, you'll be in my custody over the next year."
"Understood…" Akira looks away, now having something else on his mind. He looks back up to see Sojiro now looking at him deadpan. "Sorry. Still processing how I managed to be here and this far away from home."
The bearded man switches to a raised eyebrow. "Have you been told? A customer of mine and your parents know each other– Well, not that that matters… Follow me."
Akira follows Sojiro to the other end of the building, where next to a toilet, there's a staircase that leads them to a large attic that is very cluttered and piled up with dust.
After Sojiro checks the amount of dust accumulated in this unused room, he turns to the boy. "I'll at least give you sheets for your bed. It's on you to clean up the rest though."
"Yes, sir. It's quite big," Akira responds, accepting the one and most likely of many responsibilities he will need to follow by a man clearly not oozing compassion.
(4/9, Evening)
(Leblanc)
The room is now spotless due to Akira cleaning up the place, but still a large amount of clutter around, which he will have to deal with in the future. With the café now closed and Sojiro left for his residence, the glasses-wearing boy was alone in this new temporary residence.
Now lying on the refurbished makeshift bed, he stares at the ceiling, dressed in pajamas. He contemplates what had happened to him after trying to help that helpless woman being assaulted by a rude drunk man who successfully sued the boy for suffering an injury that wasn't Akira's doing.
The result:
Not only does he have a felony on his permanent record, but Akira also gets expelled from his previous school, former friends have abandoned him, his ex-girlfriend ended their relationship, and adults with whom he would have friendly talks now ignore him completely. The love he still has left is his family, although Akira is uncertain if their feelings for him are the same as before the night that changed his life drastically.
"Could I've been wrong?" He thought to himself.
Should he have just done nothing?
Suddenly his phone rings and vibrates, thinking that it is indicating that an application inside has been successfully updated. He checks it to see in surprise that the mysterious app he deleted in Shibuya Crossing is back.
"When did it… I thought I deleted this app."
Akira drags the app and places it in the trash bin for deletion, leaving the phone on top of a closed cardboard box. He stares at the roof, remembering that dream on the train that afternoon, still knowing the questions asked by that dark-clothed ninja.
"I have absolutely no idea. What would you do in my place, mister shinobi?"
The lights are switched off, and pulling the blanket above himself, he begins his first night sleeping in Tokyo.
(4/10, Daytime)
(Shujin Academy)
Sojiro and Akira arrive at the school in the Aoyama district, where they must adequately introduce themselves to the staff about the boy's transfer. The bearded man is dressed as if he is going out on a date, and Akira is already wearing the Shujin uniform to get comfortable with it.
They stop close to the school's entrance, where Sojiro gives more instructions to Akira. "Do me a favor and behave yourself, all right? Don't get me wrong– I don't care what happens to you. Just don't cause me any trouble."
"Yes, sir." The boy responds, deciding he needs to be on his best behavior at the only school that would accept him.
And out of all of them, this preparatory school was the few who still mandates classes on Saturdays. Which felt like he is in juvie already.
The glasses-wearing boy saw two girls in front of him and frowned a little before shaking his head and following his guardian inside.
"Hm, didn't expect there would be other transfers..." The older man noted as they all entered the school.
When they reached outside the Principal's Office, the two teenage girls turned around to now face the other two visitors arriving as well. For both males, it is clear to them that they are very pretty looking. Both have different ponytails to control the long hair length, and one has well-tanned skin. Although both Akira and Sojiro couldn't help but notice and absolutely did not expect to see them also have such well-developed bodies, specifically on the chest area.
"Are they really teenagers…?" Sojiro thought in disbelief.
Akira, on the other hand, was more direct with his thoughts. "Are those real?"
(Shujin courtyard)
Sadayo Kawakami is glad to have the introductions with the three new students over with, and she can finally begin her Sunday break. But first, she has been conversing with the PE Teacher and volleyball coach of the boy and girl team, Suguru Komashida.
Both teachers recently discussed the newly enrolled delinquent student in her homeroom class and the volleyball teams practicing hard for this year's national tournament.
"We'll have to work hard to make up for the track team too." Komashida explains to her.
"Yes… that's true." Kawakami's response ends with her looking away.
The PE teacher is aware something else is on her mind. "What is it, Kawakami-san? Does that kid with a record really bother you that much?"
She looks back up at the PE teacher, realizing how worried she was expressing. "What? Oh, sorry, it's not just him actually. You see, my class had three spaces available. That boy isn't the only one being transferred this year, I have another two new students joining as well."
"Really? But I'm sure you'll have no problems guiding those two." Responds the encouraging tall man.
Kawakami looks away again. "That's not why I'm concerned. Due to how those two girls look physically, they'll most likely have to deal with a lot of unwanted attention while they're here."
"I see… well gotta go. See you tomorrow." He waves to his coworker, taking a different direction towards the gym.
While the volleyball practice today is essential today, what Kawakami-san told him about those new female transfers piqued his interest.
"A lot of unwanted attention, huh?" He curiously wonders to himself.
(City street)
The road is packed with cars not moving, including the driver and passenger in a vintage car waiting patiently for the vehicles to move again. The only way for them to pass the time is by listening to the radio's music.
Sojiro is clearly annoyed at this. "Ugh… Traffic's not moving at all… You're taking the train starting tomorrow."
"Sure, I can look up the directions on my phone." Akira complied, having done it before when he went to his old school on the first day.
"Good…" The bearded man looks away from the road to switch to the boy. "So, how was it? The school, I mean. You think you can manage?"
"It seems fun." He responds while looking at his new guardian.
Sojiro first responds with a disapproving sigh. "Do you even understand your situation?"
"Sorry, should I have just said: I don't know?" Akira now regrets trying to say something positive.
The guardian shows a bit of guilt, realizing what the boy was trying to do. "Well… that's what I would say."
He switches back to the traffic. "Still, you were expelled once already. To think you'd re-enroll at a different one. It's not like anyone will be sympathetic with you. If that's what it was like at school, people might say stuff about me in the future too… What a troublesome kid I've taken in…"
After hearing the end, the glasses-wearing boy had to ask. "Then can I be honest, sir?
"Shoot."
"Why did you take me in?"
Sojiro looks back at Akira again. "I was asked to do it, and I just… happened to agree to it. I've already been paid for it too, after all."
For the boy, that made sense. Who would take care of a teenage criminal they have never met before for free?
"…and now back to today's top stories." The radio begins transmitting the voice of a male newscaster. "A subway train has derailed, severely affecting the timetable across all of Tokyo–"
"Another accident? So that's why it's crowded. There's been a lot of those lately." The bearded man now understands the situation on the road.
Akira is also aware of it. "Yeah, I've been hearing about those incidents back home too."
Sojiro continues. "In fact, there was a really sad one just last month… it happened before you came here. If I remember right, the girl that passed away was only fifteen. Her parents have gotta be just..."
Even though the man is single, Akira can see how Sojiro understands the pain of losing a family member, and maybe he had a similar experience.
They return to listening to the newscaster. "…all traffic around Shibuya Station is being redirected due to the accident, so drivers should expect jam-packed streets."
"Oh, come on!"
It wasn't only Sojiro. Silently, the passenger is also annoyed that they have to continue waiting in the car a lot longer.
(4/10, Evening)
(Leblanc)
Akira is sitting on his bed, occupied with deleting many contacts he had on his phone except members of his family. He won't be using most of them anymore.
After they both arrived, it was too late to open the café, so Sojiro decided to leave it closed until tomorrow. Akira is given a diary to report on his daily activities, while his guardian will also make his own report to the authorities. And as usual, the bearded man warns him again if he's not behaving appropriately outside or inside the café, he will be sent back to the police and later be moved to juvenile hall, most likely.
He then hears the ringing sound, but it is definitely not coming from his smartphone. The glasses-wearing boy goes down the stairs to find the ring's source is a yellow vintage-type corded phone close to the cashier. He picks up the handle, placing very close to the ear.
"Hey, it's me." It's the voice of Sojiro.
Akira is confused by this call. "What's up? Did you lose your phone?"
"No, I didn't. Anyway… I closed up shop. But I forgot to flip the sign to "Closed" when I left. It's too much trouble for me to come back just for that. Think you can do it for me?"
"No problem, but why did you call the public phone?"
"It's a personal policy of mine not to save a guy's number in my phone. Either way, I'm glad you actually picked up. Anyway, I'll leave the shop sign to you."
"Alright, goodnight, sir."
"Night"
He places the handle back on the device and does what Sojiro requires. He thought that if the bearded man had that policy, it would explain his outdoor clothing attire, and those phone calls before must be his current girlfriend.
After flipping the sign, he returns back inside to go to bed. Deciding it's best to sleep early for his first day of school.
Settled in bed in pajamas, he is using his phone, already checking his map application to check the best route between Leblanc and the school. He also reads the news about the latest subway accident that happened a few hours ago, which he bet will affect tomorrow's timetables.
He notices that the mysterious app with the creepy black and red design has reappeared once again.
This time he's annoyed. "Seriously? I thought I erased it."
He tries to move the mysterious application to place it in the trash bin again, but instead, the app enlarges itself, covering a large part of the screen. Tapping it does nothing making him slightly irritated about how it's not responding.
"Why isn't it moving? Don't tell me my phone's frozen?" He thinks to himself.
Akira eventually gives up, deciding to sleep, so he'll have time to fix the problem the following day. He switches off the lights and closes his eyes.
(Velvet Room)
All this had to be another of his dreams, but this one felt real. Too honest to be a dream.
His clothing is now changed into a prisoner outfit, complete with handcuffs, and he is locked in a narrow cell. How did this all happen?
And who are these weird people? The long-nosed, elf ears, large bulging eyes, and big smiling man. Those two little girls, each with an eye patch, are prison guards. Caroline and Justine?
All this stuff that this man called Igor was explaining to Akira from the warden's desk was making his head spin too much.
The room's appearance mirrors how he feels? Bound by a contract? Prisoner of fate? Ruin to be avoided? Rehabilitated toward freedom? Challenge the distortion of the world?
Just what is going on here?
"Now then it seems the night is waning…"
Akira cannot stand it anymore.
"W-WAIT A MINUTE! I DON'T UNDERSTAND A THING WHAT YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT?! WHAT DO YOU WANT WITH ME?!"
He then cries from the pain of the electric shock baton hitting his leg but is standing because he holds tightly to the metal bars.
"I said: KNOW YOUR PLACE! INMATE! Don't you ever cut off the warden when he's in the middle of speaking!" Angrily instructs Caroline, ready to use her rod once again.
Justine, on the other hand, is more sympathetic. "Don't worry, eventually, all your questions shall be answered."
Lastly for Igor, he is entirely unmoved by the boy's shouts. "Take your time to slowly come to understand this place. And one more thing."
Akira decides to let the weird man continue speaking, see if he'll say something that makes sense.
"You are quite fortunate to not begin the rehabilitation on your own. You may find others who have already been given the "special potential" like you."
Nope, it made Akira even more confused. "What do you mean "others like me"? And why aren't they here?!"
Igor doesn't answer the black-haired boy. "I'm afraid it is almost time, Trickster."
Akira returns to shouting as loud as possible. "TIME FOR WHAT?! WHAT THE HELL'S GOING ON?!"
"We will surely meet again, eventually…" After a flick from Igor's hand, the loud sound of an alarm is heard.
Akira looks around, wondering where the sound is coming from.
"Time's up. Now hurry up and go back to sleep." Orders Caroline to the prisoner
But the boy is not done here; he looks again toward Igor. "NO! ANSWER ME, DAMN IT!"
(4/11, Early morning)
(Leblanc)
"WAIT!" Akira gets up and immediately looks around.
Realizing he had jumped awake from his bed in his new attic room, the windows show that it is a very cloudy morning. He looks down towards the hands, still remembering the feeling of the heavy chains on his wrists.
"What… the… hell."
That was another dream, the only reason he could think of.
He looks at the phone and sees that the screen is back to normal, showing the current time. Akira decides it will be better to head out right now so he'll arrive at school on time. He reboots the phone, hoping that will get rid of that app for good. After being dressed in the Shujin uniform, Akira grabs his school bag and goes down the stairs.
He sees Sojiro at the counter reading a newspaper. "Good morning."
"Oh, you're up. Seems like you still got the mind to go to school properly. Here's your breakfast, just make sure you finish it before the customers start coming in."
"Curry?" Akira looks at the dish, not expecting to get this from him. "You don't have to, sir."
"It's fine, just sit down and eat." The bearded man also places a cup of water next to the plate.
The glasses-wearing boy settles on the high chair and has his meal. This curry is quite good with its complex flavors and bold spiciness. The place becomes quiet as Akira finishes his food, and Sojiro continues setting up the counter before the business opens.
"Let me clean up the dish." Akira says after finishing his meal.
"Hm?" Sojiro politely refuses. "It's fine, just go to school."
"Okay." The glasses-wearing boy leaves his seat and grabs the school bag. "Thank you for the food, it was delicious."
The bearded man smirks a little. "Huh, turns out you do have manners after all. Hurry over to the school. You'll end up late if you get lost on the way, country boy."
"Heading now." Akira responds as he's about to exit the café.
"Oh yeah, and flip the sign outside to "Open" for me."
"We're open already?" Akira asked deadpanned, his hand placed on the door handle.
Sojiro reacts first with a raised eyebrow. "Already? If anything, we're running late. Also, no need to keep calling me "sir", you can say Sakura-san from now on."
He nods in approval. "Alright. Bye Sakura-san."
Coming out of the entrance, he flips the sign before the door closes. With that done, Akira begins to speed walk to the first of many underground trains he'll use.
While moving along the subway connections, he overhears a female journalist, a tv reporter with a cameraman, and exhausted station attendants reacting to the significant train incident that happened yesterday evening and the mysterious psychotic breakdowns that have caused other major accidents in the city.
(Aoyama-Itchome)
It took Akira some time, but he finally made it to the Aoyama district, where Shujin Academy is located. His hope for an ordinary day on his first day of school went down the drain as he overhears other students talking about a sudden rainfall. Seeing that outside is raining, the glass-wearing boy, instead of getting wet, decides to take cover underneath the front of a shop and hopefully wait for the rain to stop. There are also two female students alongside him.
If only he had known or his guardian had mentioned this, he would have brought an umbrella.
Checking his phone for the time, he finds the weird and now annoying app is still there. If the app doesn't want to go away, then Akira will have no choice but to go to technical support to help him fix this issue.
Although, since this thing refuses to go away, he opens it to see exactly what this application is.
"Hm? Wait, aren't you..."
Hearing a voice mentioning him, Akira turns to see the two well-endowed girls from before looking at him. Forgetting he had the weird app currently active.
"From yesterday. You transferred to Shujin Academy too?" He guessed.
"Yeah." The black pony-tailed girl answered before holding out her hand. "I'm Asuka Shirokage. Nice to meet you!" She greeted me with a bright smile.
"Akira Kurusu."
(Fast Forward)
"And that's where and when it all began…" Explains Akira being beaten up and not wearing his fake glasses.
At the other side of the table in the meager illuminated interrogation room, Sae Niijima listened attentively to every word the boy was saying to her.
Now, she wanted some clarification. "By "began", do you mean encountering the first members who participated in establishing your group?"
He nods sideways. "Not yet, this is where we discovered a whole new world that heavily influenced the formation of it."
"A new world…? What exactly do you mean by that?" Sae asks with narrow eyes.
He rubs a pain on his head before answering. "Just FYI, what I'll say next may sound like I'm crazy… But trust me, I thought I was losing my mind after what I had encountered."
Akira takes a deep breath before readying himself to continue telling the story he never believed would happen to him.
(X)
And that is how Akira Kurusu began his life in Tokyo and before becoming a Phantom Thief.
I have become a big fan of the crossover between Persona 5 and Senran Kagura called: Senran Persona, which also influenced me to buy and play P5 Royal.
So I made this one-shot (with permission from the authors) because I felt the introduction to the protagonist was lacking at the story's beginning, so I decided to create my take on that.
With this done, I might return to my spin-off story to FFDESS or make something new. Who knows... but I hope you enjoyed reading this.