Chapter Notes
~ As Yuuri's personas will be limited to the Phanton Thieves, I will not put Caroline and Justine or any other librarian for him. For a while.
~ More characters and a new Arcana released!
~ OC instead of Kamoshida
~x~
I open my eyes and find myself again surrounded by the strange blue cage again. I get up and face my old nose called Igor.
"I see you did very well on your opening day." He says, laughing. "You released 3 more Arcana and got a new person. Impressive."
I remain silent, looking coldly at him.
"But do not think it's over. We're just at the beginning of your journey." He says, and I frown. "Soon enough, pain and anger will come to you. You already have the place."
Shujin Academy.
"Here's a small gift for your efforts."
Arcana Update: The Fool ~ Level 2
"You can now use th Àrsene's Hbility in your world. Use it wisely."
~ x ~
When Phichit Chulanont opens his eyes, he is frightened to see that it is already morning. For the first time since his mother died, he managed to sleep without being haunted by the voices that haunted him. Voices that blamed him for his mother's death.
"Meow." He listens and gets scared, sitting on the bed and seeing a black and white cat sitting on his desk.
"How did you get in here?" He asks, approaching him and seeing a folded paper.
He picks up the paper and notices something inside. A CD. He then goes on to read the content written on the paper, and is surprised.
...
Mr. Phichit Chulanont,
I stole the pain that was in your heart. Nothing makes me happier to know that you will not be haunted by the painful memories of your past. Now, it's time for you, on your own, to change.
I promised someone I would give you a friend. His name is Yuuri Kunogi, and he will visit the cafe tonight. But you have to take the first step if you want to be friends with him.
I also promised to give you this CD. I don't know the content of it and I do not think it's in my interest to know. I believe it is important, but the choice is yours whether you want to see the content, save it or just trow it away.
And with that, my goal to help you ends. Maybe we'll meet soon.
Thief Ghost Eros.
PS Don't bother with the cat.
...
In fact, when Phichit notices, the cat is no longer in his room.
~ x ~
I buy a new umbrella from a convenience store and go to the train station, going to school. On the way out of the station, I notice there is a girl in Shujin's uniform waiting for the rain to pass.
"Do you want to split with me?" I ask, putting myself on the right side of her and covering her with the umbrella, which is large enough to cover us.
"Are you sure?" She asks, surprised.
"Better than waiting here." I answer, making her smile.
But before she could respond, we heard a car horn.
"Oh, Kirihara, do not you want a ride?" A man I recognize as one of the school teachers asks, looking at us. "Hmm, are not you the student transferred?"
"Yes I am." I answer, looking at him first, then at her. "Do you want to go with me, or with him?"
"With you." She replies, and I notice she's pale.
I nod, and I look at the teacher, smiling.
"We don't want to be a bother, Professor. We still have time, so she and I are going to walk." I mean, scaring them. "Excuse us."
Using my left hand to make her move, she and I stepped away from the station, going to school. I notice she's tense, looking back all the time. Soon we arrived, and I accompany her to the classroom.
"Thanks." She says, smiling.
"No problem." I say, reaching out for her. "Yuuri Kunogi."
"Yuuko Kirihara." She says, squeezing.
Walking down the corridor, I meet Chihoko Nakamura again.
"Yuuko, Good morning, and Yuuri-kun too." She says, scaring Kirihara.
"Chihoko, do you know him?" She asks, making the other smile.
"He helped me out yesterday by lending me an umbrella." She says, and takes it out of the bag, reaching out to me. "Thank you."
"You can have it, if you want. I've already bought another, so it's no problem." I say, smiling at them both.
"Nakamura." I listen to the previous voice, and turn around, seeing the teacher from before, making a face that I do not like. "Meet me in the PE after school." He says, moving away.
I look at Chihoko and see her pale. She too?
"Do you want me to go with you?" I ask, making her look at me in surprise.
"No, no." She says, shaking her head quickly. "I ... I'll be fine."
"OK." I smile at her.
I noticed Professor Katsuki approaching and I said goodbye to the girls, going to her.
"Professor Katsuki, good morning." I call, getting closer to her.
"Good morning, Kunogi-kun." She says, noticing my face. "Some problem?"
"Who is the teacher of Physical Education?" I ask, raising her eyebrow.
"Professor Leonardo Monteiro, Brazilian, one of the former coaches of the Brazilian Soccer Team who was a five-time world champion." She replies, surprising me.
"Incomplete entry." I listen to my cell phone, noticing the open navigation application.
"Oh, I forgot the last name in the middle of it, but I'd better leave it for later." She speaks and I nod, hearing the school bells.
~ x ~
"Welcome." I listen to Celestino and smile.
"A latte, with two tablespoons of sugar and two Croissants, please." I mean, sitting on the same table as before.
With my cellphone and headphones, I watch more episodes of Magic Kaitou while I eat and wait for Phichit Chulanont. I wait for two hours, and I sigh. Maybe I should try again later. I get up, going to pay what I had, when I hear a scream coming from above. I notice Celestino freaking out and going toward the stairs, but by the time he sees Phichit go downstairs and look around the cafe, until he looks at me.
"Yuuri Kunogi?" He asks, and I smile.
"Yes?" I ask, and runs toward me, grabs my arm and pulls me toward the stairs, past a door, which is closed behind me with force. He gasps and I find myself in an attic. With a bed, a table with computers, a sofa, air conditioning and a huge bookcase.
"Err ... This is very strange." He says and I look at him, laughing.
"Congratulations, you took the first step." I mean, making him open his eyes.
"You are ..." He begins, but I raise my right forefinger, asking him to be quiet. "Oh."
We sat in silence, looking at each other.
"You ... Do you really want to be my friend?" He asks, and I smile.
"Of course." I answer, putting his hands in the pockets of his black jacket and walking through the attic. "I do not have a home either at the moment. I live in the Katsukis, but I'm not from here." I say to him.
"And now?" He asks me, and I notice the CD next to his laptop.
"Have you seen what's in it?" I ask, lifting it.
"No. I did not have the courage to see." He answers. "But ... Can we, together?"
"Of course."
...
"That ... That's not what I was told." Phichit says, and I watch the documents on his laptop screen.
"In fact, there's something very wrong about that." I speak, concerned.
"I think I'm going to have to use my hacking skills to dig deeper." He says and I am surprised.
"You're a Hacker? Cool," I say, and frown at a strange app. "Can you open it?"
Phichit opens, and suddenly I hear.
"Connection with Dell i15-5570 i7 notebook successfully established."
"What was this voice?" He asks, surprised.
"I think now you can help me while I'm like Eros." I comment, also surprised, looking at him. "What do you think? You can help me, and I'll help you investigate your mother?"
"Oh really?" He asks, and cheers when I nod. "Deal!"
...
New Arcana Bond: The Hermit ~ Level 1
New Mask adquired: Necronomicon
~ x ~
Back home with Phichit's number and e-mail on my phone, I see Morgana being pampered by Hiroko-san. Laughing, I go to my room and sit on the bed, waiting for him.
"So, how did it go?" He asks, climbing into bed too.
"It was interesting." I mean, picking up the cell phone. "He now has a navigtion app on his notebook, but is different from mine."
"How different?"
"I'm not sure. I just know that mine has created a connection to his." I speak, breathing deeply.
"That's weird."
"Hey Morgana, can explain to me what happened in the cafeteria?" I ask, and he looks at me.
"That was a diferent dimension, called Metaverse. It shows the collective psychological state of your society's mind, ssomething like desires. But when these desires become obsessions, individuals detach themselves from society and the metaverse creates an underworld according to the obsessions of that individual, which is what I call the Palace. " Morgana speaks, and I cross my legs, bringing the index finger of my right hand to my lips, reflecting.
"So you mean there's a palace for the whole society?" I ask, listening to him laughing.
"You can say yes, I think you'll soon have the chance to see for yourself."
...
Arcana Bond Update: The Magician ~ Level 2
...
Suddenly, my cell phone rings and I see a message from Phichit.
Phichi-chu
Yuuri, do you have a criminal record?
Immediately, I begin to tremble, calling him.
"Yuuri?"
"H-How do you k-know this?" I ask, and noticing Morgana staring at me desperately.
"Shujin has a forum where students post all sorts of things." The thing is ugly for the school. "Takeshi Nishigori, to the soccer team, revolted against Professor Leonardo Monteiro and, in an act of self-defense, the teacher broke the Nishigori shouted something about Nakamura and Kirihara, according to certain posts, but no one entered details." He speaks, and I become pale. "And in one of those posts, someone has posted pictures of criminal records that are in his name. They range from violent acts, steals, rape and even murder."
"How? How did you find out?" I ask, feeling short of breath.
"Yuuri!" I listen to Morgana, but I just let my cell phone fall on the bed.
I shout something, shivering and crying. I feel dizzy and soon my vision fades.
No no no no no
Please do not...
"Yuuri-kun? Mari wants to talk to you ... Yuuri-kun? Oh my god, Toshiya!"
~ x ~
I miss class the next day, unaware that Chihoko Nakamura jumped off the roof of the school for being a victim of rape, and that I, Nishigori and another boy named Guang-Hong Ji are about to be expelled from Shujin by Professor Leonardo Monteiro.
Right now, I am at the Lilia Baranoskaya clinic, which, after examining and talking with me, states that I have an anxiety attack and that I may have panic attacks depending on the situation.
~ x ~
Chapter final notes
Status
Compendium active
People: 03 - active
Arcana Bonds: 05
Masks: 04
Hearts Changed: 01
Arsene - end of the day
Level: 18
Powers: Eiga (Curse), Cleave (Physical), Sukunda (de-buff), Dream Needle (Physical), Invigorate 1 (Passive), Maeiha (Curse), Counter (Passive)
Zorro - End of the Day
Level: 17
Powers: Garu (wind), Diarama (Cura), Me Patra (Cura Status), Media (Cure), Lucky Punch(Physical) and Magaru(wind)
