Saturday, 4/9

Ren Amamiya was on the train to Tokyo.

He had been given the phone number of his guardian for the coming year to learn the address of where he would be staying. The problem with this was that Ren's guardian refused to answer the phone. Ren had previously been texting the number, repeatedly asking for an address for the past three days with no response. He had sat on the train staring at his phone, praying for a response. Nothing came.

Ren made it to Tokyo without even seeing the "..." that he needed at this point. He stepped off the train and looked around. There was no one waiting for him, and no one was even looking at him. He made his way up a few flights of stairs to the station square and stopped. He looked at his phone, anticipating a message from his guardian. Instead, he saw a red eye with a star in the middle.

Probably just a popup.

He tapped the eye a few times out of pure curiosity when everything stopped. Every single person around him had frozen in place as if paused by some god. Ren looked towards the middle of across the street.

A column of blue flames was rising, growing in intensity with every second. The flames eventually began to take shape and manifested into a demon looking creature of some sort, complete with a top hat.

"What the fuck is happening?"

Ren's vision flashed and everyone resumed their normal routines, unaware of the events that had just taken place. He quickly dragged the red eye towards the recycle bin on his phone. Ren was questioning both his sanity and existence when he heard a man yelling in a slurred voice.

"Has anyone seen a teenager named Ren Amamiya? I'm getting paid to take care of him so lemme know if you see him!"

Ren began to walk toward the voice. Once he got through the crowd of people, Ren saw who he hoped was not his guardian. The man was in his late 30's to early forties, with a tired look on his face that was common for people his age, at least from Ren's perspective. The man's weary face was complimented by unkempt facial hair that hadn't seen a razor in days. The man had terrible posture and swayed a little during his yelling. He was obviously drunk, and Ren assumed that the man hadn't showered in days. Finally, he wore a baseball cap to cover up whatever greasy haircut he had.

Ren got closer to the man, who was informing any passerby of his situation. When Ren got close enough, the man noticed him. Ren tried to speak to the man but was promptly cut off as the man waved a finger in his face. He would've been worried about being poked if the man wasn't clearly lacking the precision for such an act.

"Have you seen Ren Amamiya? I'm supposed to be taking care of him."

Ren saw his opportunity and took it.

"I think I did. He was in the middle of the street screaming 'I am Ren Amamiya! Where is my guardian? He is getting paid to take care of me!' He was wearing a school uniform and he had glasses. He also had shaggy black hair."

The man became irritated, but not with Ren making fun of him. Ren didn't get the reaction he wanted.

"That little shit must still be on the train. Criminals can never get on trains on time. He should have contacted me and told me that he was gonna be late. "

Uh... source? Not sure a criminal record means that someone's late more often, but what do I know? I'm not a criminal.

Ren was dumbfounded by the man's stupidity.

"Sir, I am Ren Amamiya. I was just making a joke. And I did text you but didn't respond. I assume that you're my guardian for the year?"

It was the man's turn to be dumbfounded.

"You don't match the description you gave at all," the man said.

Wow.

"My name is Junpei Iori. When I'm sober, call me Iori-san. When not sober, call me General Iori," he continued, extending his hand for Ren to shake.

Holy shit this year is going to suck.

"It's nice to meet you Iori-san," Ren replied.

He went to shake Junpei's hand, but Junpei quickly pulled the hand away and slicked his imaginary hair back over his baseball cap.

"You should be calling me General Iori right now," Junpei reminded Ren.

"Not going to happen. I also don't think that you want people to know how drunk you are right now."

This is the man who is trusted to take care of me for almost 365 days.

"If people knew how wasted I was, they'd be calling me Emperor. Enough with the small talk. Let's go to where you'll be staying."

After several minutes of Junpei trying to remember where his apartment was, Ren just asked for the address. Junpei gave it to him, and Ren took the lead. They arrived at a sleek looking apartment building that blended in with the surrounding buildings. Junpei took the lead again. Junpei began to at least poorly pretend to be sober as the two entered the building as if he knew that there would be consequences for his public drunkenness. The pair took the elevator up several floors and began walking towards Ren's living space.

"Before we get to where you'll be staying, I have a few things to tell you. First, you'll be living alone. I got enough money that I can afford to have several apartments. You happen to be occupying the one I would use after a night out in Shibuya."

I see this as an absolute win.

"Second, keep the place clean. If I come by during one of my required visits, and the place is a mess, you're out."

He's probably going to forget that he even took me in. There's no way he'll visit.

"Third, no people. I don't want any criminals or delinquents hanging out here. Nobody from your crowd."

Don't act like you know my crowd.

"Fourth, because you get an apartment, your own financially and food-wise. You should already be bowing at my feet. If I started feeding you, then I'd expect you to start paying for my booze. Do you want that?"

Better not fuck with him right now. He seems pretty irritated.

"No sir."

"Good. Here's the key. There's a kitchen, bathroom, small living area, and a bedroom. Let me come in with you to get another drink."

This piece of shit.

They entered the apartment, and Ren was surprised at how clean the place was. It looked very modern and had expensive-looking furniture and appliances. Junpei immediately went to the fridge to get a drink. Ren surveyed the apartment for a few seconds.

From the door, the kitchen was on the left. It matched the clean aesthetic of the apartment with grays, whites, and blacks across its countertops and appliances. There was a counter that divided the kitchen area from the rest of the apartment, with the side not in the kitchen having three tools.

Ren looked right. Still standing at the door, the living area was in his view. A couch and two armchairs surrounded a coffee table, all organized to be symmetrical. Ren was initially surprised that Junpei had the area that organized, but wrote the idea off as Junpei having cleaners. Further right, a TV sat atop a TV stand. It was a nice TV, larger and sleeker than the one had back home.

Straight ahead from the door was an incredibly short hallway that was more of an indent in the far wall of the apartment. On the left side of the indent was the bathroom, Ren knowing this because the door was opened and he could see the bathtub. On the right side of the indent was what Ren assumed was the bedroom.

Ren was just beginning to observe the barren gray walls of the apartment when Junpei's voice pulled his attention to the kitchen.

"I'm leaving the rest of the liquor here because you don't seem like the type to drink it. Can I trust you with it?"

This man is made of many contradictions. First, I'm a criminal. Now, I'm the underage teen that he can trust to keep his alcohol safe. What's next?

"Iori-san, you have referred to me as a criminal in all of our interactions. You simply cannot trust the menace that is Ren Amamiya."

Junpei looked as if he was trying to remember calling Ren a criminal.

"Huh. I guess I did do that. Oh well. I'm too lazy to take the alcohol with me. Do what you want with it as long as you don't get in trouble. All that matters is your folks paying me."

Don't think I'll be drinking the alcohol. I could sell it, but that's not the impression I want Junpei to have of me. I guess I'll just keep it here. This guy only cares about money. Good. I don't need to worry about him as long as I don't fuck up too badly.

Junpei took a swig from his bottle.

"Get to bed early. We're going to your school to introduce you tomorrow. I'll be driving you, but you should learn the train schedule for when you're on your own. See you tomorrow."

Am I being punished? It's as if society is punishing me with the criminal record and rewarding me with nearly complete freedom in a massive city.

As Junpei walked out the door, he turned back to tell Ren one last thing.

"By the way, keep track of your daily activities in that journal. I'll be reporting to your probation officer with that journal. If what's in that journal is good, then I'll turn on the Wi-Fi. See ya later."

No Wi-Fi? Fuck. Either I torch my cellular data or I'm just a sitting duck without the internet. You know what? Fuck it. Time to see if those studies about disconnected people being happier are true.

There was no need to clean the place, so Ren just decided to listen to music for a bit. He eventually went to bed out of boredom.


Sunday, 4/10

Ren woke up on his own, which was a nice change from the usual alarm or disappointed parent. He went to the surprisingly nice bathroom and took a much-needed shower. He finished up, got dressed, and went to the kitchen.

Iori-san left some food here. Please be good.

There were bagels. No butter. No cream cheese. No jelly. No peanut butter. Nothing but bagels.

That motherfucker.

Ren unhappily ate his toasted plain bagel. While he was eating, the front door to the apartment began to unlock. The door opened, and Junpei entered.

"Time to go. You can eat in the car."

Ren unhappily agreed before following Junpei out of the apartment. They stood in silence in the elevator, but neither minded. They weren't on the friendliest terms. Once the elevator reached its destination, they stepped out, walked through the apartment building lobby to the street, and got in Junpei's car. Junpei started driving, much better than what Ren expected from someone whose defining characteristic at that point was being drunk.

The two sat in silence in the car until they were nearly at Shujin. Junpei ended the silence with some good news.

"Ren, I'm gonna be honest with you: this school does not give fuck about what you do as long as you're not committing more crimes. They saw your grades from your old school. They know that you're smart. They know that you know that you can't commit another crime. They think that because you know that, you'll be a good boy that they don't have to worry about until the year is over and they can say 'We rehabilitated a criminal. Please give us your money' to parents.' That was the impression I got over the phone from the principal guy, or whoever he was. Seemed to be a little hard of hearing, but he was a douche to me. Feel free to show him the same manners you showed me yesterday."

Ren nodded silently.

Today will be a good day.

Ren and Junpei opened the door to the principal's office and were greeted by a lady in her mid-thirties and a grease-covered tub of lard. It spoke.

"Welcome. I am principal Kobayakawa and this is Kawakami-san. I assume you are Ren Amamiya?"

Kawakami's shirt is not helping the lack of internet access. Fuck... look up, you piece of shit!

Ren took one look at the face Kawakami made when Kobayakawa spoke and knew that she hated the man.

Perfect.

"That is correct, sir. It's a pleasure to finally meet you. While I am here sir, you should blow my flute."

Kawakami and Junpei turned to Ren with stunned looks on their faces. Kawakami's jaw dropped. Ren guessed that no one had ever spoken to Kobayakawa like that, even if he deserved it.

Kobayakawa looked puzzled.

"What was that you said? I am a bit hard of hearing, so could you repeat it?"

Ren spoke louder.

"Gladly, sir! I said that you have a nice suit."

The comment seemed to inflate Kobayakawa's ego. He proudly checked his suit for any dust, wiping some off the shoulders before looking at Ren again.

"Thank you, it was custom. Before you go, know that we expect you to behave yourself. Shujin Academy is not a place for troublemakers."

Kawakami was visibly making an effort not to laugh.

I wish she wasn't my teacher. Not because she seems shitty, but because she is just too attractive for me to learn anything. Oh well. I'll think about that later. She looks like she's too tired to deal with bullshit, and she probably won't care if I slack off in her class. Good.

Ren finally replied Kobayakawa.

"I understand, sir. I also expect you to lick my balls."

"What was that? Have you already forgotten that I am hard of hearing?"

Ren raised his voice.

"I understand, sir! I am excited to walk these halls."

Ren could see Kawakami turning away from Kobayakawa and holding a hand to her mouth to stop herself from laughing. Junpei had stepped out to stop himself from joining in. Ren began to leave, but he was only a few feet out the door when Kawakami caught up to him.

"While I am impressed with your courage Amamiya-Kun, I expect you to treat me with respect. I am not nearly as much of an idiot as the principal back there," she said with some bitterness at the mention of her boss. "I expect you to arrive early tomorrow to prepare for your first day. You can meet me in the Faculty Office.

That's fair. I already respect her for her opinion of Kobayakawa.

Ren nodded. Kawakami walked down the hall and turned the corner.

Junpei looked at Ren with a look of amazement, jealousy, and pride.

"If I had had a drink, I would've joined in. That guy was a real asshole over the phone." Junpei said, turning to look at where Kawakami had walked away before chuckling. "You're lucky that that woman is your homeroom teacher. Back in my day, and my friends and I had bets on who could get the closest to banging the teacher."

I'm not going to act like I wasn't just staring at Kawakami the whole time, but he really just said that aloud. Not even a minute after she left.

"Sounds like you were a real piece of shit, General Iori."

Please don't brush that off.

Junpei looked angry at first, but he seemed to calm down.

"Yeah, I guess that that was pretty out of pocket. My bad. However, I expect you to not call me out on what I say. I don't need a criminal like you telling me how to act. Got it?"

Ren nodded. They both left Shujin, with Junpei drove Ren back to the apartment. Ren was left home alone once again. He hadn't had much time to himself while he was in Tokyo, but now that he had actual free time, his loneliness truly began.

Ren scrolled through his remaining contacts. He had already tried talking to his friends after his arrest, but most of them hadn't answered. The ones who had answered told Ren to delete their contact. He saw the contacts of his mom and dad but didn't want to message, call, or contact them in any way. They hadn't been happy over his arrest and were less than supportive during the court proceedings. They were uncaring enough to leave Ren with a guardian like Junpei Iori.

Ren had never had the best relationship with either of his parents. He always felt like he was disappointing them in some way, like he wasn't the version of himself that they wanted him to be. This drove them apart, and Ren's arrest was the nail in the coffin of their relationship, at least it was from Ren's perspective. He didn't know know how his parents thought of his arrest (he had a good guess), but he didn't care enough about the relationship to try and salvage it before leaving for Tokyo.

Shit, I'd probably abandon myself too.

Moving on, Ren thought about the nature of the arrest itself. The pleading woman, the bald man with lame glasses, the obviously paid off police. The whole situation was a contradiction of what he had been taught his whole life by the media and in school: doing the right thing gets you the bad ending.

What else has doing the right thing gotten me? I might as well have no parents, my friends hung me out to dry, my school expelled me instantly despite my, uh, exemplary behavior there, and I was sent to a school that is led by an arrogant prick.

Ren had been preyed upon by the dogs. That man who he pushed was probably just another corrupt politician or something. Ren couldn't figure out if he cared or not, but he knew that thinking about the man would only make him upset.

At least Ren still had his Switch. That was the only thing that he had left that would keep him happy alone in his apartment. Ren decided to just spend the rest of the day in a few virtual worlds so that he wouldn't have to think about the real one.


Before he went to sleep for the night, Ren decided to check his phone. Upon opening it, he saw that the red eye app was back. He quickly deleted it again. He put his phone away and went to sleep.

He awoke in a different room. Panicked, he quickly stood up to see two twin children staring at him. They were both dressed in blue and had light blonde hair. They both had bright yellow eyes. Ren began to see what was behind them. What looked to be a prison had a desk in the center. At the desk sat a man with an incredibly long nose.

Do not trust his lies.

The long-nosed man looked up at Ren and said in a deep voice, "Trickster, welcome to my Velvet Room."


Monday, 4/11

Ren woke up upon leaving the Velvet Room. He immediately went to get in the shower.

That couldn't have been real. First, time freezes, and now elderly Pinocchio is lecturing me about ruin. Maybe my punishment is making me question my sanity. Maybe I'm still in my cell, high off my ass on experimental drugs and I'm imagining all of this. Hell, that'd explain why on earth Junpei wants me to call him general. No real person would demand that of someone else.

Ren finished up showering and got ready for his first day at Shujin. While he wasn't happy to be dealing with teachers (except Kawakami) who just thought he was a criminal, at least he had a clean slate with the student body. He finished eating and left his apartment without checking if he would need an umbrella. After leaving his apartment building, Ren had no trouble remembering the way to the train station.

He boarded the train to Aoyama-Itchome, and then he saw her. She had her back to him, so he couldn't figure out who he would be crushing on for the whole year. She looked roughly the same age as him. She couldn't be over eighteen given her school uniform, but she still looked mature. She had short brown hair with a headband on top.

Shit. If all the girls who go to Shujin look like this, I'm not getting punished. There's no way she'll care about me though. She's just too out of my league. She probably has a boyfriend.

The train came to a stop. As people began to leave, Ren shot the girl one last glance. She was already staring at him.

She noticed me! Shit, she's gorgeous. Her eyes. The red is just too much. I can't take this.

Ren quickly walked away from the train before realizing that there was a possibility that the girl would ask him why he was staring. He walked even more swiftly out of the station. Once he made it out of the station, he realized that it was pouring outside.

You could've checked the weather you fucking idiot.

He took shelter under an overhang when another girl piqued his interest when she took shelter next to him. She had blonde pigtails and stuck out from the people around her like a sore thumb. She also had a Shujin uniform. It complimented her perfect figure, and Ren couldn't help but stare. After about a minute, she finally noticed Ren. She gave him a friendly smile when a white car pulled up. A man in a blue tracksuit leaned out the window, revealing easily the worst haircut Ren had seen since coming to Tokyo.

"Good morning. You want me to give you a ride to school? You're gonna be late," the man offered.

Ren stared, saying nothing. The man definitely wasn't talking to him.

Why would he talk to me when I don't have blonde pigtails and look fine as hell on this lovely morning?

"Um sure, thank you," the blonde girl said.

She went to get in the car when the man turned his gaze towards Ren.

She got in? Must be a teacher or her sugar- no, don't think that. Just assume he's a teacher.

"Do you need a lift too?"

"You can lift my balls into your mouth is what you can do," Ren mumbled, waving the man off. He wouldn't be making friends with any teachers. Then he would feel bad for fucking around in their classes.

The car drove off, leaving Ren under the overhang. Ren stood there for a moment, deciding whether to skip school completely or to wait out the rain. Without warning, a kid with unmistakably dyed blonde hair ran up to Ren.

"Dammit, screw that pervy teacher," he said, Ren's phone beeping immediately.

He's a hothead. Maybe I can get a reaction out of him.

"Pervy teacher?" Ren replied.

The blonde kid stared at Ren, a look of disbelief on his face. He spoke.

"What do you want? You plannin' on rattin' me out to Kamoshida?"

Who the fuck is Kamoshida?

"Kamoshida?" Ren questioned.

The disbelief on the boy's face intensified.

"Huh? In that car now. It was Kamoshida. He does whatever the hell he wants. Who does he think he is? The king of a castle? Don't you agree?"

The boy began to get angrier as he spoke. Ren's phone beeped again.

Perfect.

"The king of a castle?" Ren continued to provoke the boy's anger.

"Uh, it's just a sayin'..."

Lame.

The two stood in silence until the boy spoke again.

"...Wait. You don't know Kamoshida? Are you for real? You're from Shujin, right?"

Ren's phone beeped yet again, but he didn't care.

This kid seems to go back and forth between his emotions. I don't want to waste time provoking him. Better just be friendly.

"You go to Shujin too?" Ren had a much more genuine-sounding tone this time.

"Yeah. You go to Shujin and don't know Kamoshida? Wait, you must be the transfer student that everyone is talking about. Amirite?" The boy became excited.

"Everyone is talking about." Fuck. That could mean two things and both are very bad. I don't need attention of any kind from people I don't know. I don't need to ask this kid. I'll find out once I get to school. Hopefully, there's another transfer student with a criminal record.

"I am a transfer student, but the one everyone's talking about, I don't know. My name is Ren Amamiya. It's nice to meet you…?"

"Ryuji Sakamoto. Don't bother with the formal shit or anything like that. Just stick to Ryuji. The rain's letting up. Should we get moving?"

The two shook hands. They began to walk towards the school when a sharp pain occurred in Ren's head. It felt like a migraine. But as soon as it came, it was gone. Ren stood up straight and adjusted himself to make sure he was alright. Ryuji was holding his head as he adjusted himself as well. The two didn't say a word and began the walk to Shujin.

Ryuji turned a corner while telling Ren, "Here. There's a shortcut that will guarantee we make it on time."

The two walk through the alleyway when Ren started noticing changes in the environment. He couldn't describe it, but there was just a certain glow to everything around him.

Better to just accept my insanity than deny it at this point.

The two emerged from the alley and were stared down by a ginormous castle. The sky above was purple and contrasted with the dark castle. The pair was stunned.

"We didn't… come the wrong way though… what's going on here?" Ryuji said.

"Couldn't tell ya," Ren replied.

"Guess we'll just have to go and ask."

Ren was not a fan of the idea.

That is a terrible idea. Then again, I am probably hallucinating, so it doesn't matter. Fuck it.

The two walked into the castle. Once they entered, it seemed like a castle interior ripped straight from a movie. The decorations were lavish, the art was adoring (of some king), and the guards had the sharpest of swords.

Knights. There's just no way.

Ryuji broke the silence as usual.

"This doesn't look like the Shujin I remember."

The guards turned to them.

"Intruders! Seize them!"

Ryuji turned to run but tripped. Ren let himself be captured.

This isn't real, so why not embrace it?

The guards knocked both boys out.


Ren awoke on the floor in the mustiest of musty cells to Ryuji yelling for freedom out of the bars. Ryuji turned around and saw Ren sitting up.

"You're finally awake. You tryna help me escape?"

"Nah. I'm just gonna go with the flow."

"For real?!"

Ryuji turned away and resumed his yelling. Ren layed back down and put his hands behind his head.

Never thought that a hallucination would be so vivid. Maybe I am still dreaming. Maybe this whole day is a dream. Maybe I passed out after I saw that girl with the red eyes. She was that hot. I'm wasting time thinking about this. Better to just wait for the hallucination to end.

Ryuji continued his yelling for another ten minutes when a voice yelled back.

"Silence! Disturbing the peace of the castle is punishable by death!"

The man from the car earlier walked up towards the two. Instead of his tracksuit, he now wore a red cape, covered in hearts. He had a crown on his head now, and his eyes were bright yellow. While he walked, his cape would open and close, revealing him naked except for his bright pink underwear. He was followed by three knights. Ren stood up. His hallucination was only getting weirder and weirder.

What was his name? Kamoshida? He really is a pervy teacher. Holy shit this year is going to suck.

"Might as well get this over with. First I hear that you guys broke in the castle, and now you're yelling. Unforgivable!"

Kamoshida entered the cell with the three knights. Two of the knights immediately grabbed Ryuji and pinned him to the wall. The other knight held the edge of his sword to Ren's neck. Kamoshida began to beat Ryuji.

"The track traitor could never recover from what he's done. You finally made a friend, just to lead him to his death! Despicable," Kamoshida spat, slamming his fist into Ryuji's gut.

The track traitor? My brain is smart enough to give my hallucinations backstories? I guess I am pretty cool.

The knight saw Ren staring at Ryuji and smacked him in the chest with the side of his sword. Dull pain washed over Ren's upper body, the gravity of the situation rushing to his mind.

Definitely not a hallucination. I am gonna fucking die. Maybe I can get us out of this.

"Stop it!" Ren yelled to Kamoshida, who stopped beating Ryuji so he could turn around.

"Hm…?" Kamoshida turned to Ren as if he were unable to believe that someone had spoken out against him.

"What…? Don't you dare tell me you don't know who I am. That look in your eyes irritates me." Kamoshida kicked Ren into the wall. "Hold him there. After the peasant, it's his turn to die."

One of the knights holding Ryuji left the blonde teenager slumped over against the wall and joined the knight that was already threatening Ren. They pinned him against the wall.

The room paused.

Enough with this time freezing bullshit. Just get this over with.

A butterfly came into view. Ren heard the voice of a young girl say,

"This is truly an unjust game. Your chances of winning are almost none. But if my voice is reaching you, there may yet be a possibility open to you."

Time resumed, but in a much slower state than normal. Another voice in Ren's head spoke, far deeper than the last.

"What's the matter…? Are you simply going to watch? Are you forsaking him to save yourself? Death awaits him if you do nothing. Was your previous decision a mistake then?"

Probably was. I have nothing now. Look, whoever you are with the deep voice, if you're trying to provoke some rebellious will in me, it's not gonna happen. I just don't care enough about that shit. I've had enough of thinking about saving that woman. I didn't even save her, so I didn't even do the right thing. It was definitely a mistake. I don't need your help. Just leave me alone.

The deep voice sounded offended.

"Okay, fine. Have it your way. Have fun, sheep."

Ren felt something leaving him as if any anger he had at that moment was fading.

Even if this is real, that was probably a hallucination anyway.

Despite what was going on with Ren, the execution of Ryuji Sakamoto was still happening. The knight held Ryuji to the wall and was pressing the sword to his throat. One thrust and it was all over.

"STOP!" said a deep, bodiless voice, shaking the prison cell.

This time, everyone in the room noticed the disembodied voice. Kamoshida looked around, his eyes nervously darting across the cell. It was as if God himself intervened.

"THERE IS NO REBELLION WITHIN THESE TWO. RELEASE THEM AT ONCE. BANISH THEM FROM YOUR CASTLE. GIVE THEM THE FELINE AS A PARTING GIFT. IT WILL LOSE ITS POWERS UPON LEAVING."

Kamoshida didn't seem to react. It was like he was being physically forced to agree.

"Knights, release them. Give them a map with directions out of here. Give them the cat."

Ren and Ryuji were both shocked. And now they had to deal with whatever cat Kamoshida was talking about. The knights escorted the pair to another cell. Inside the cell was a very strange looking cat. It had black and white fur, but stood on its hind legs and had a massive head.

"Are you two imbeciles going to be executed?" the cat spoke.

The cat spoke.

Maybe I sipped that alcohol with my breakfast this morning and didn't notice. But really, am I enough of an idiot to do that and not realize? Yes, yes I am.

"What'd you call us?" Ryuji stepped towards the cat.

"Calm down Ryuji. Cat, call us imbeciles one more time and we won't be taking you with us," Ren threatened.

"I am not a cat!" the cat protested before quickly adding, "but I agree to your terms."

The knights unlocked the cell, and handed Ren a map, and informed him of the nearest exit. The knights then left.

"Dude, we not gonna talk about what happened? We were almost effin' executed!" Ryuji yelled.

Ren answered smugly, "You're right. We're not gonna talk about it. For now. Let's just focus on leaving."

"I second this decision! You guys should follow me because I am an expert on Palaces!" The cat spoke again.

"Not an effin' chance. You're a cat. And the knights gave us directions. Just follow us." Ryuji replied.

"Fine. My name's Morgana."

That's very cool Morgana, but you're probably not real.

"My name is Ren. That's Ryuji. No more time-wasting. We have a school to attend."

The three hurried out of the castle and towards where they entered. When they got back to the alley, the 'God' voice spoke again.

"USE THE APP ON YOUR PHONE TO RETURN TO THE REAL WORLD. ONCE YOU LEAVE, THE APP WILL BE DELETED. THE CAT WILL ALSO LOSE THE ABILITY TO SPEAK. THANK YOU FOR YOUR COMPLIANCE IN THIS GAME."

The three stood there. Ren pulled out his phone.

"Wait! I don't want to stop talking!" Morgana yelled.

"Do you want to stay here forever or do you want to hang out in the real world?" Ren asked.

Morgana sighed. "I'll go to the real world."

"Alright then. Time to go."

Ren pressed the app, and the three were all hit with quick headaches. When their headaches stopped, they looked around. They were still in the alley, but they could see Shujin.

"Hey man! We're back! What're we gonna do about that stupid cat?" Ryuji said.

"He's obviously not stupid, given his speaking ability. I'll take him. Could help me mess around in class."

Ryuji had a questioning look on his face but didn't voice whatever he was thinking. Ren picked up Morgana, who now looked and sounded like a normal cat, and put him in his school bag.

"Whatever man. You do you. Wanna go to class?" He said.

"Sure. I'm anxious to see what the people are saying about me."

The two walked up to the school and entered.