*Disclaimer* - I do not own the copyright to Kingdom Hearts or Toaru Majutsu no Index
*A/N* - Yellow. Hope everyone is doing well. Wanna keep this somewhat short since there's much to get to. Sora's first day in Academy City and things are already this hectic. Also, it's officially been a year since the KH4 reveal trailer. Crazy to think about and gets me excited for what'll be shown next in the future given that Sora's influence will change a few things around. Either way, thanks for everyone being interested in this crazy crossover, and hope you'll stick around for the long run. Also, all the reviews have been a tremendous help and inspiration to continue writing so I'd like to say thank you. Now, enough rambling, and back to Sora hitting a wall.
"Aaah!"
*Boom*
Slamming right through a wall, Sora winced in pain while forcing himself up and eyeing the Demon Tide that seemed to be antagonizing him on purpose. This got the tired boy to not only glare at the bundled monsters but sigh.
It hadn't been that long since he split off from Mugino and the rest of the girls in Item. But once he caught up to the Heartless mass, he was forced to go on a little scenic route past many old and damaged buildings while simultaneously venturing deeper into District 19. Using his Flowmotion to run across building walls and swing around poles to catch up to the moving target until he managed to Airstep to a street lamp and used the momentum and trajectory to fling himself in the air and dive bomb the Demon Tide and push it into a courtyard of sorts.
This is how he managed to get sent flying into the building that he's now in or for better terminology laying on the ground covered in dust and debris while pushing himself to stand up.
However, his moment of peace was now interrupted by the Demon Tide rushing straight at him which forced the spiky-haired boy to roll to the side and stab his Keyblade right into the side of the Heartless bundle.
"Light!"
Out of nowhere, a beam of light was shot right through the Demon Tide causing it to start thrashing around and drop Shadows all over the ground. Not about to deal with another troublesome Heartless spawning others again, Sora jumped up to his feet and started casting Thunder magic like a madman.
"Strike!"
Bolts of yellow lighting hit around the entire room killing all the smaller Heartless instantly while also heavily hurting the Demon Tide. But it still wasn't enough.
Beginning to barrage the Heartless with horizontal slashes across its long body, Sora was fed up and began putting more force into his attacks. Bringing his weapon straight down, the impact managed to send sparks of light and star effects around the room causing the Heartless mass to start spreading apart everywhere and forcing him to run outside and through the hole he caused.
Now standing outside, Sora grit his teeth and aimed the Kingdom Key at the open hole and started blocking it off with some of his spells.
"Get a load of this! Balloon!"
Multiple large colorful balloons appeared around the hole preventing the Heartless from spilling out. But the Keyblade wielder wasn't about to let that happen again. Twirling his weapon, Sora decided to be more forceful with the Heartless and bring them to him rather than waiting
"Gather!"
The entire hole was now filled with a bright spiraling orb that was forcing the Heartless to be pulled toward it which would ultimately cause the balloons to go off. But still, he wanted to make sure none of the monsters were left behind. Which just meant that-
*Ka-boom!*
The area around the hole was blasted with both bright lights and dust covering the area. Sora wasn't sure what the situation looked like but still kept up his guard. This seemed almost easy… too easy.
*Whew* *Brrr* *Whew* *Brrr*
Coincidentally, the dust cleared as something rapidly flew toward him. Raising his blade to defend himself, Sora was instantly hit with a heavy force trying to knock him down but he was prepared and put his all into pushing back. Now with the dust clearing, he saw the Demon Tide with not as many Shadows in its main body anymore meaning he did do some damage.
"Grrrh! Gah!" Sora grunted while doing his best to continue to hold his ground.
However, he knew that if this kept up any longer, then his body would give out and be taken into the dark swirl. Trying to come up with any other ideas to help him out, he was about to try and counter the Demon Tide in the side when he spotted what appeared to be a truck out of the corner of his eye. The truck looked destroyed but was high enough for him to slide under. Buying him enough time to charge up and attack.
Deciding to take that gamble, Sora shifted his weight into his back leg and was ready to strike.
"Haah! Back off!"
In quick succession, he pushed the incoming Heartless to the side of him before performing a counter-impact reprisal and blasting several Shadows away, killing them instantly. Next, the spiky-haired boy sprinted toward the truck but not before flicking his wrist that was holding the Keyblade back at the Demon Tide while performing a Circle Raid on the Heartless stopping it abruptly.
Rushing at the truck, he slid right under the truck while seeing that the Demon Tide had caught up to him and essentially picked up the truck and ripped it into two to reach him. However, Sora had narrowly dodged to the side and summoned his Keyblade behind him but not before dragging the teeth of the blade across the ground while trying something he thought of on the spot.
The tip of the weapon began to glow red which soon caused Fire to appear but instead of pointing the magic attack at the Heartless, he continued to drag his weapon across the ground managing to leave a small trail of flames behind while charging right at the bundled monsters.
"See how you like this! Haah!" Sora yelled while gripping the Keyblade handle tightly and raising the blade now coated in a bright and burning red light.
Not about to let the Demon Tide last any longer, he leaped right at the bundled-up Heartless and began performing multiple quick slashes across its body. With the blade caught on fire, the sight of sparks, stars, and flames was all that could be seen lighting up the dark area. One attack consisted of him having his weapon still with the blade covered in flames and dragging it across the ground before bringing it around in a circular motion and slamming it into the Heartless swarm.
This resulted in a great deal of damage followed by lighting some of the Shadows within the Demon Tide to catch fire and spread it throughout the grouped-up monsters.
Blobs of Shadows now dropped from the Demon Tide's body and began attacking the boy causing him to block the incoming monsters and countering every single Heartless either with a counter slash across one monster killing it. Or managing to drag one with the teeth of his blade into others before performing a counter impact causing a wide strike to be thrown toward the shadowy foes.
This went on repeat as the Keyblade wielder was also casting area-wide spells to slow down the menacing enemies while rushing toward them and stabbing the Heartless in the head or chest or clashing with their dark claws resulting in him being scratched all around his body. There was no time to cast a Curaga spell as the Shadows continued to surround him which drew his attention away all while still trying to keep an eye on the Demon Tide that looked to be on the move again. He would not let it escape.
Throwing his body into every attack, Sora was not letting up and started barraging the Demon Tide with vertical, horizontal, and diagonal strikes before outright stabbing his weapon into the middle of the Heartless group.
At this point, the Demon Tide was now picking up speed and spinning around the wielder of light managing to throw debris his way and force him to drop to the ground and roll away to avoid being hit or worse squished.
"Whoa!"
Crawling to the side, the spiky-haired boy was seconds away from being squished like a pancake from a destroyed vehicle landing right where was just a moment ago. The situation was starting to take a turn for the worse with more and more debris being picked up and thrown his way. Deflecting a large chunk of stone and metal piping, Sora started swatting away everything that came at him while trying to come up with a plan to get the Demon Tide to slow down its torrent of wind.
Recalling what he did with the Balloon and Magnet spells, he figured trying something like that would be better than nothing and pointed his weapon right at the fast-moving swarm of Shadows. But not before being hit in the back with something heavy and sent flying a few feet across the rough ground.
Wincing in pain, Sora perked his head up and saw what hit him. The front end of a destroyed car was what smacked him. He didn't have time to check how badly he took the hit but that would have to wait. This had to stop.
Swinging his head to the side, he narrowly sliced what appeared to be a ripped wall that was about to slam into him but was left untouched. The Demon Tide was looking smaller than when he first encountered it but now its behavior was that of a monster thrashing around both in survival and in anger. If the Heartless decided to flee away, then that could leave it to get away and become an even bigger problem.
"You're going down!"
Springing to his feet and charging at the swarm of monsters, Sora knew that he would need to create a special explosion to finish the Demon Tide once and for all which got him thinking. If he was able to bundle all the Heartless into a small area, then…
Twirling his Keyblade in his hand while still running, he aimed his weapon right at the area in front of the swarm and started casting magic on a rapid basis.
"How do you like this! Gather!"
A Magnet spell now appeared and was spinning while also forcing many of the Shadows to be pulled toward the orb even managing to break apart the damaged Demon Tide swarm leaving a pool of dark yellow eyes to be everywhere on the ground.
Not letting a second get away from him, Sora cast another spell he wanted to test out.
"Drip!"
Suddenly, a purple ring of light went flying around him and reached the bunched-up Heartless managing to force them to stay in place. He had just cast the Zero Gravity spell which if he was correct would stop the monsters momentarily. Allowing him to perform the special attack he was waiting to let loose.
"Take this!"
Locking his sight onto the swarm of Heartless, Sora was now ready to perform a Shotlock on the defenseless enemies. Jumping up into the air and pointing his Keyblade at the Heartless, the tip of his blade glowed in a bright blue light before multiple projectiles started firing right at the group of monsters still affected by the magic spells. In the next instant, a large explosion covered the area leaving him to close his eyes while also wondering what happened.
Casting a Wind spell, the Guardian of Light started scanning the area around him and was now left confused. The area looked to be charred and destroyed in some aspects due to his attacks but the more confusing part was that there were no more Heartless around.
"Did my attacks work? I already let my guard down once back with the girls…" Sora muttered while observing his surroundings
There was no sign of any Heartless still lingering around the area.
Feeling a bit worn down and at least a few minutes had passed now, Sora spotted a destroyed car that had most of its body ripped apart along with its front doors but the seat still remained intact. Slowly making his way over to the car, he plopped himself down in the driver's seat and took a moment to catch his breath.
"*sigh* This is not right… something has to be going on within the city to cause the Heartless to appear this frequently." Raising his hands in front of him while leaning back into the seat, Sora continued to be vocal with his thoughts. "The dark side of Academy City… I'm guessing the city has a lot of things going on that most people don't know about."
Leaning his head to the side, Sora also recalled the various people he had run into in such a short amount of time. First, those teenagers that were out arguing about the blonde guy's looks, then the frightened operative who he managed to help escape, and finally, the girls of Item.
This sprang about a whole different conversation to take place in the spiky-haired boy's head.
'Mugino said that she was a Level 5… If I remember correctly from what everyone told me yesterday, then the city works on a leveling system that sorts everyone into groups based on their power capabilities… not to mention, there is also magic in this world that seems to be at odds against the science side of things *sigh* this is a lot to take in and it's only been my first day!' Sora mentally shouted from within.
Allowing a frustrated sigh to escape his lips, he figured that he should see what time it was since he'd been out for quite a bit now.
"4:49 A.M."
Great. Just great.
"There goes any chance of me sleeping."
Sora stated while realizing that the sunrise wouldn't be that long of a wait now. Since he had his phone out, he decided to take a look at something that was recently added. Pulling up his contacts, the boy began scrolling down the list of people he had listed down. Once again, thanks to his friend Hiro for giving him an efficient lesson in maneuvering his phone. Granted, he still didn't know how to do a lot of things but now he had gotten the hang of it.
Going down the list, he suddenly stopped when he saw the name of someone new in his contacts. Mugino Shizuri.
The image of the tea-color-haired girl appeared in his mind. She was… safe to say a rather explosive girl. One that could also back up that statement with the orbs of light that she could summon around her. Something that left him wondering… did the other Level 5's have abilities like that?
He still wasn't very familiar with the leveling system here in Academy City but the way Mugino presented her title gave him the impression that she was at the very least proud of her strength. Speaking of the brunette girl, Sora wasn't sure what to think about her. As far as first meetings, he could say he's had worse but that still raised a few questions in his mind regarding her. One was that he had in a way given his number to her which would allow for the laser beam-firing girl to contact him at any time. Plus, she probably had a plethora of questions for him regarding the Heartless and who he was since the other girl who was blonde recognized that he was on the tv.
And the other question he had regarding Mugino was how she was involved with the dark side of Academy City. Again, he had just met her for the first time so, he could not understand her as a person. Only that… being involved with the dark side or any side affiliated with darkness really was putting yourself in danger. Which also could push her to do something that she might regret later on once the dust had cleared and she came back to her senses. Similar to how Riku was involved with Maleficent and tempted by the darkness. Becoming a vessel for Ansem and so on…
Putting his best friend to the side for the moment, Sora realized that there wasn't anything he could do at the moment. But when Mugino does come into contact with him and she most certainly will, then he'll give it his all to talk to her about what she could be dealing with. The same goes for the other girls of Item, Kinuhata, Frenda, and Takitsubo.
Before he could think about anything else, the Keyblade wielder soon heard what sounded like a *whoop whoop whoop whoop whoop* sound that was moving very fast and getting louder by the minute. Turning his head to the side, he found what exactly was making that sound.
A bright light shined right next to him followed by the wind picking up. It was a helicopter.
Raising his hand to cover his eyes, Sora considered several things at that moment. One is that if he were to stay there any longer, then he would probably be asked questions about what he was doing there or what had happened to cause the place to look destroyed. The other idea was that he would probably be on the news again and wasn't sure if that was a good thing. Granted, he was still a hot topic but-
Before he could ponder that idea further, the helicopter seemed to shine the searchlight around the area to get a better visual of the area. This forced Sora to take cover behind the closest wall next to him. Another idea appeared within his heart and this time… it was a more concerned feeling.
What if the helicopter was dark-side operated?
It would make sense given that the night was most likely when dark operatives…well, operated. Avoiding any trouble with the common public that could get involved. This is a sort of messed up way of thinking but it was a better alternative compared to doing heinous things in broad daylight. His train of thinking went to all the villains that he's encountered in his adventures and how collateral damage or people's lives didn't mean much to them. The villains still acted no matter who got in their way. Hence, the boy began thinking of the people he had met just tonight. That dark side operative that was scared and the girls of Item. People that-
Once again, he was thrown out of his inner thoughts when he saw the helicopter begin to move to another location. This provided the right moment for him to get out of there. Coming up to his feet, Sora pulled out his Gummiphone and activated the map feature to see where he should head next.
"Huh? District 9… that'll put me a step closer back to home." Looking at the screen a bit longer than intended, Sora muttered a few more words while in a trance-like state. "Home… guess that's what I should call my dorm now."
Knowing that he had a few thoughts and feelings regarding what he said, Sora shook his head and figured that he could worry about that later. For now, he needed to get out of there.
Running through the heavily damaged area, Sora started making his way toward District 4 while activating his Flowmotion to get ahead faster. Sprinting away from the battleground while another day was starting to begin.
Within the windowless building found in School District 7
Residing within the building and appearing to float upside down and connected to wires was the Board Chairman, Aleister Crowley.
Aleister was known by names. Both on the magic and science sides. Some are good while others are not so good. But one thing that he liked to consider about himself was that he was prepared for any eventuality. Being the de facto leader of the Science Side proved to be a task that led him to encounter a number of unknown variables that in one way or another affected his plans. Hence, for the past 24 hours, he had also come to the realization that there was still much he did not know when it came to the forces of magic.
The greatest magician in history is being taught a whole new aspect of magic.
After reviewing the plethora of evidence regarding the boy now known as Sora, Aleister was left with many unanswered questions. The footage and magical readings that had been sent his way of the mysterious brown spiky-haired boy and how he combatted the strange dark monsters. In all of Alesiter's time, he had not once seen these monsters appear in any form or location that he knew about. Such a small creature capable of causing so much chaos. Intrigument was the word he would use to describe the said act.
The boy was able to use magic that he had not ever seen before and with such ease while swinging around that strange weapon of his. The magical properties being implemented to cast such powerful magic as he was able to do was nothing to ignore. Even from a distant glance, the boy held magical power. But it was the power that he was not familiar with in the slightest aside from the occasional elemental spells he conjured.
Moreover, another mystery that laid bare right before him was the sudden appearance of the boy who remained at the center of this phenomenon. Sora.
Being the superintendent of the metropolitan city, he gained easy access to every single individual who entered the city. Everything ranging from who they were, where they came from, and what they were doing. Such power was at his fingertips. However, what seemed to amaze even him was the file that was currently being projected right in front of him regarding the boy who wielded the large oversized skeleton key. Even stranger was that instead of having to go looking into who he was, the boy was practically asking to be allowed into the city.
Such a twist on the typical script of trying to enter somewhere that nobody else could.
Now, however, seeing the boy's request to be allowed residency within the city was an absolute joke. Whether the up-and-rising boy knew it or not, he had become involved in something grander. A part of his future plans. A pawn if you will that-
A surprise came to Aleister's face which remained unmoving, while still within the tube filled with liquid, as he sensed something strange entering the dark room he occupied. Pulling up several screens, he scanned the area for anyone who may have entered without alerting him but to no avail nothing was targeted.
However, in the corner of the room, something did appear. Something that… wasn't normal.
"You know… it's rather rude to waltz into a room without alerting someone. You might have seen something you shouldn't have" Aleister said while waiting for a response.
Silence was heard in the room. Until it wasn't any longer.
"In my defense, finding a door to knock on is rather difficult to do so" replied… no one.
Aleister did not react to what the voice had said and was rather curious about where it was coming from. It was not anyone that he was familiar with. Meaning that whoever was speaking was someone he had no prior knowledge or interactions with.
"Is that so? Well then, for further clarification, there's a reason for that."
"Heh. In a way, I can respect that."
"...Now then, do tell me, friend, just who are you? And what brings you here?" Aleister questioned while silently scanning the room for any lifeforms.
"That's a loaded question to ask."
"Where I am currently standing, I'd say it's a reasonable set of questions to start with."
"Well, when you phrase it like that… How can I ignore your request?" the voice said while having a hint of amusement in its voice.
"Then, if you'd be so kind?"
"...Who I am… let's just say I'm someone that's… heavily involved with the darkness."
"Hmm…" Aleister didn't say much and continued to listen to the mysterious figure.
"Not clear enough I see…"
"To some degree, I understand what you are proclaiming. However, that is still a far-fetched answer."
"Then perhaps it'll be easier to understand if you were to see me."
Expecting some grand appearance, Aleister was prepared to see someone stepping out of the shadows and presenting themselves in a dramatic reveal. However, what he did see managed to keep him quiet and raise a plethora of questions to consider.
The figure who stepped from the corner of the dark room… was enshrouded in darkness. Quite literally. From head to toe, the figure was a blank slate of nothing but a dark cloud making up their entire body. However, Aleister was able to sense a magical presence around this… figure even to the point that he could scarcely see a form within all the darkness.
"Well now, not what I was expecting in the slightest."
"You don't seem all that surprised."
"Trust me, if I could, then you would see my eyebrows raised."
"Funny. Although your face remains still, from the tone in your voice it sounds like this is your first time encountering something like this for the first time" the dark figure commented.
"I wouldn't classify it as a first. However, I will say that you appearing out of nowhere with no prior interaction does leave me intrigued."
"Fair enough. Plus, it seems I still haven't answered your questions completely."
"As it seems so…"
"Well then, my reason for appearing before you is quite simple really. I would like to propose… a partnership of sorts."
Hearing the dark figure's reasoning, Aleister spent a good moment thinking before responding.
"A partnership you say? Do tell me, what is your reasoning for coming here with that goal in mind? And why would you ever think I would agree?"
"My reasoning? Well, to make the offer even more appealing, it has to do with what's been keeping you on the edge of your tube. No pun intended."
"There are many things keeping me, as you put it, at the edge of my tub. You'll have to be clearer, friend" Aleister replied while putting much emphasis on that last word.
"...Tell me, what do you know about the heart?" the voice asked.
Once again, silence entombed the large dark room as Aleister did not have an immediate response.
"Conventional wisdom is ascertaining to me to believe that you are referring to something other than the actual topic that is a heart. Would that be a likely concept to follow?"
"You are quite right. The heart, so to speak, is a fickle thing really. Something so hard to describe and yet so easy at the same time. To give you a very short idea of what I mean… the heart is made up of memories, wills, goals, and ambitions. Bordering between the light and darkness. It's also something that should be of interest to you since it greatly involves a certain brown-haired boy who was seen wielding a giant key."
The pitch had been sent and received.
"I see… then, do tell me, what is it that you hope to gain from this so-called partnership? Moreover, what's in it for me? You can't be the only one to benefit from this sudden alliance" Aleister replied while carefully listening to everything this figure had to say. His interest in the topic had increased.
"What I hope is to see… progress if you will. And for what you will receive in benefit… I guess you could say enlightenment."
"Hm. How so?"
"While I have not spent that much time here in this city… I must say it's rather impressive… to a certain degree of course."
Aleister did not reply and continued to listen to the voice.
"However, were you take my offer of a partnership, then I could supply you with something only a man of your standing would truly understand to be treasured above anything else."
"And what, pray to tell, do you mean by that?"
"Knowledge. It's as that overused saying goes, the pen is mightier than the sword. Information is more beneficial to be used as a weapon rather than just using the weapon."
"You seem to talk as if this is not your first time proposing a partnership. Is it safe to say you've done this before?" Aleister replied, taking note of the figure's response.
"Heh. That… you'll just have to find out in due time. Now then, what say you? Do we have a deal?"
"Were I to accept this sudden idea of a deal, what then? Do I confide with you on every single breath I take in my city?"
"Of course not. Honestly, speaking, I have no real intention of getting in the way. I prefer to stick to the sidelines and watch how things unfold. I only ask that you allow a certain someone to flourish here in the city for the foreseeable future. He's the one I'm most interested in."
"This someone… I take it that it's Sora?" Aleister asked, having a screen pop up right next to the tube which showed a picture of the boy.
"You'd be correct. He and I… Well, we haven't exactly met. But he is certainly someone that is of great interest to me."
"And all you want is to see him flourish in Academy City? Such a simple request."
"One that comes with added benefits. You see, those monsters causing havoc within your city are better known as Heartless. The reason for their sudden appearance is… complicated to say the least. Just know that Sora will need to be the one to deal with them if you want them completely gone from your city" the dark figure stated while seemingly starting to fade away.
"Your answers have been nothing but insightful and confusing to a certain level of understanding" Aleister responded.
"As they should be. There's so much you are unaware of… magician. Or should I say- "
"Enough with the patronizing. I have given it some thought regarding your offer."
"And?"
"It's an offer that is quite suspicious. But… I'm willing to take a risk on it."
"Excellent."
"Besides, if I am being played, then do know my actions aren't personal."
"Heh. I'd like to see you try" the dark figure said while sounding amused.
Seeing that there was nothing else to talk about now, the dark figure began to start fading away until…
"And one more thing to know about Sora."
"Please, do tell."
Seemingly letting a moment pass between the two, the dark figure spoke in a more serious tone of voice.
"Do not underestimate him."
"That's some praise to be throwing in his direction."
"Heh. Oh, trust me, you'll see firsthand how he manages to beat all expectations. Along with the connections he makes with those who cross paths with him. That's all I have to say for now. I'll be seeing you, Aleister…"
"Likewise… whoever you are."
The dark figure let out a small laugh.
"I guess it'll be rather awkward to be referred to without a name. Especially if we are going to be partners for the foreseeable future. You can refer to me as… darkness."
"...How amusing."
With nothing else to say, the dark figure began to fade away until there was no more dark cloud within the room. Leaving Aleister to himself once again only this time he had many thoughts regarding the interaction that just occurred. Moreover, his attention was drawn to the spiky-haired boy on the screen along with the paperwork he managed to pull on the said boy. Everything was given permission to be granted making him a full citizen of Academy City. And if the dark figure was correct about him, then he would be someone to keep a close eye on. Especially if what… darkness said about his ability to connect with others.
Aleister couldn't help the ecentric fascination entering his mind regarding the boy who wielded the key-shaped blade. Things seemed to be getting interesting.
Inside a luxurious apartment
The dark side team known as Item had made it back home. All exhausted from an eventful night. Well, all but one.
Standing in the main room was the tea-color-haired girl who hadn't even changed out of her dirty clothes. As soon as she and the others had made it back to their place they all went their own ways. Or to be more precise they all went to shower and go to bed. The night's events had left them beyond tired. But not for Mugino.
There was no way that she could let slumber claim her. Once she had stepped into the high-end apartment and ignored the small talk from her teammates, she got right to work. Grabbing blank pieces of paper, opening up her laptop and typing at an incredible speed, printing things left and right, pulling up recordings of the news feed of the prior day's monster event, and leaving sticky notes all over the main room's wall. She also printed out a picture of a certain spiky-haired someone that was captured on the news and put him right in the middle of the wall. Turning the tennis court living room wall into something akin to a criminal investigation you see in movies where the detective goes all out trying to solve the case.
That was what she had started once she got back to the apartment but now, the entire wall had basically become a spider's web of string and documents and pictures. All sorts of evidence and speculation on the boy who wielded the giant key. Practically the entire wall was now fitted with all sorts of topics surrounding the boy. Things like what elemental abilities he had used, weapon structure, and anything else relating to the giant key, and different theories on what his esper ability was. Mugino had not stopped trying to pinpoint just who Sora was or where he came from which brought another action from the high school girl.
*Ring* *Ring* *Ring* *Click*
"Mujinyama, about damn time."
"And a good morning to you, milady."
"Did you get the information I requested?" Mugino questioned, getting right to the point.
She had gone a step further in her search to find more about the brown spiky-haired boy. Using her influence within the Mugino family to gain something like intelligence was something as easy as putting butter on a piece of toast. Really, anything that she could ask for or wanted would be given to her without a second thought. This is why in the case of gaining background information on the spiky-haired boy, she sent a message to her family's butler, Mujinyama, to find and collect anything and everything on the boy.
"Milady…"
"Yes? I'm waiting for you to send everything you have on- "
"I regret to inform you… there was nothing that we could find on this Sora."
Taking a second to let what the old man had just said, Mugino had to repeat his response word-for-word twice before clutching her phone and calmly speaking into the device.
"...What?"
"It's as you are thinking, milady. There was nothing that I could find on this boy. Honestly, I have to say, this is a first for me as well. With how vast the Mugino family's connections are and how deep they run through different government systems there was nothing to be found around this young man. Truth be told, this has left me rather perplexed" Mujinyama stated, having a feeling of how the young lady was acting on the other end of the phone.
The Mugino family was guaranteed to have access to such a thing as someone's background information especially if it came at the request of someone as prominent and distinguished as the young lady herself. Due to their laundering into casinos and banks which then moved to military hardware and soon transitioned into governmental power, the Mugino family was one with great influential connections. Hence, why the old butler who had been in the service of the monumentally deep-rooted family was startled by the stark realization that nothing was coming up in any of the networks the Mugino family had connections to could not find anything on the boy known as Sora.
Mujinayama had also gotten a look at the boy due to the young mistress sending photo after photo of the boy that she could find along with descriptions of his clothing and physical appearance. Alas, he also had his own thoughts about the boy but decided that it was best to keep those thoughts to himself. Moreover, he also had to explain to the young mistress how something like this could even be possible. He already had an idea of how she would react given that… he was quite familiar with her proud and unwavering personality when it came to things that she wanted.
Speaking of said girl, Mugino began to feel her hands clamp up while the urge to reprimand the old butler for how something like this could happen. But with the circumstances at hand, she decided to merely let out a frustrated sigh while taking a seat on her couch and lean back while staring blankly at the wall littered with everything regarding the spiky-haired boy who wielded a stupid giant key.
"Mujinayama."
"Yes, milady?"
"Was… Is there anything at all that you could find on him?"
"I"m afraid not, milady. There is absolutely nothing surrounding this boy. It's almost as if he appeared out of nowhere one day without any prior history on him."
Scoffing at the statement, Mugino let out a sarcastic laugh.
"Ha. You know better than I do, that's complete bullshit."
"Again, milady, I am only stating what I am seeing here. Perhaps I should contact your mother and father for help in this endeavor?"
"No. I'll handle it from here now."
"Milady?"
"I don't want them getting into my business. This is a problem that I'll solve on my own."
"I see, then, I take it whatever information you are seeking lies within Academy City?" Mujinayama asked while growing curious about how the young lady would solve this problem.
"In a way, yes."
Taking a look at her phone, Mugino realized just what time it currently was.
"6:30 A.M."
"Well then, milady, I wish you good luck in your endeavor to find everything you can on this boy. Furthermore, I also ask that you do manage to get some sleep. It's not good for- "
"I don't need you to tell me something like that," Mugino bluntly replied.
"Now, now."
Clicking her tongue, the tea-color-haired girl let out a sigh.
"*sigh* Whatever. Make sure this conversation stays between the two of us."
"As you wish, milady. Have a good rest of your day."
And with that, the conversation came to an end leaving the tea-color-haired girl to her thoughts while still staring at the decorated wall. Many thoughts were going through her head all at once. Seeing that there was nothing else to do, she got up from the couch and made her way to the kitchen to grab something light along with a cup of coffee to help give her a boost of energy as she was starting to feel the effects of being tired.
Now with what you could call a very light breakfast, Mugino began to eat and tried to take her mind off the boy when someone began walking into the living room and let out a surprised noise.
"Whoa! What the- Is Mugino having another super intense investigation?"
Deciding to ignore what the short-haired girl just said, the Level 5 let it be known that she was in the kitchen right now by clicking her drink and having a ringing sound be heard.
"O-Oh! Mugino. Hey there… Have you been up all night?" Kinuhata said, coughing into her fist.
"It hasn't been that long."
"Long enough to see that you haven't gotten any sleep."
"It doesn't matter. What does matter is that I can't find jackshit on Sora."
Tilting her head, Kinuhata was not expecting the older girl to say that.
"Are you super serious? That shouldn't be possible. We've gone after people who tried erasing any trace of their past before and managed to find dirt on them in a matter of hours."
"I don't need a reminder of what I've been having to deal with, Kinuhata," Mugino coldly stated.
"My bad, my bad. Just saying what's super on my mind."
"Yeah, well, either Sora has some deep-rooted connections that neither of us expected. Or… the bastard really did just waltz right into Academy City out of thin air" Mugino said while crossing her arms and frowning.
Looking over at the wall that was now filled with papers and pictures of the spiky-haired boy along with a long list of different esper abilities listed out about what they saw Sora doing during his fight against the Heartless.
'Geez. If I didn't know Mugino, I would've super thought that she had an obsession with this guy" Kinuhata thought to herself since she was smart enough to know if she voiced this thought then she would be toast.
Deciding to switch up the conversation, Kinuhata made her way into the kitchen to grab herself something to eat while also striking up a chat.
"So, since you super haven't been able to find anything outside of Academy City, are you going to call up your sources about him?"
"No."
A bit surprised by how fast the brunette-haired girl responded, Kinuhata had to ask why.
"That's super strange. Why won't you do that?"
Taking a sip of her coffee, Mugino looked down at her drink and began elaborating her thoughts clearly.
"If I were to call up that hag or anyone I have on speed dial, then more attention would be directed toward him and what would that entail?" Mugino asked.
"More heads looking his way."
"Exactly. We also need to take into account that he's practically on every major news site since the monster attack is fresh on everyone's mind. A new celebrity appearing in Academy City!"
She said that last part with a more excited tone of voice while making it sound as sarcastic as one could.
"Hmm. That does super lead us to hitting a wall."
"Yeah…"
Suddenly recalling the night's events, Kinuhata facepalmed herself.
"Wait, don't you have his number? Why don't you just contact him yourself?"
Processing what the younger girl just said, Mugino began to wonder, why didn't she just call him? She even told him herself that she would be contacting him soon due to the vast amount of questions she had. But another part of her threw that idea out the window immediately.
"Right now, I just want to learn as much as I can about this shitty wannabe hero before confronting him."
"Wouldn't he super technically already be considered a hero though?" Kinuhata questioned her leader.
Mugino's response was to send her a glare that elaborated that she was both tired but could still chew her ass out. This left Kinuhata to take the hint and go back to making herself something to eat. Which in reality meant using the microwave.
"So, what's the super plan now?"
"Nothing. Aside from going about our days as regular students basking in everything that Academy City has to offer. I'll contact the hag later about what other missions we can take while also hearing that bitch complain about us failing the mission."
"Mm. That's super lame. Those monsters were such a pain. They didn't hit that hard nor were they super scary. But there were just so many of them."
"...And yet, Sora knew exactly what those things were."
That comment left the two girls to bask in their own thoughts regarding the boy. There was still so much they did not know about him or what his background looked like. But the one thing that stood out was that he was strong. And in the eyes of the battle freak ala Meltdowner, she was interested in that kind of thing along with the fact that she had many questions for the boy. And she would stop at nothing to get those answers.
Inside a certain dorm where a misfortunate boy and nun resided
Kamijou Touma's internal alarm clock had been blasting in his dreamless slumber that as soon as the feeling that he needed to get up was realized, he pushed himself forward from his comfortable bed better known as the bathtub. However, as he forcefully pulled himself up, the black spiky-haired boy hit the bathtub's faucet square right in the face eliciting a loud pained groan.
"*smack* Gah! Ow…"
Bringing his hand to massage where he was just hit, Touma could already tell that today was going to be one of those days. Lady Misfortune was all ready to make herself comfortable and send everything and anything misfortunate toward him.
"Just my luck… what time is it even?"
Getting out of the bathtub and going to the living room, he was met with an all too familiar sight. That being his roommate sprawled all over his bed along with the calico cat, Sphynx, laying on the nun's chest without a care in the world. Coming into the kitchen, Touma grabbed his phone that he left charging to see what time it currently was and had to blink several times due to not believing what he was seeing.
"7:00 A.M."
"Crap! I'm going to be late again!"
Rushing to grab a somewhat clean pair of clothes, Touma already knew that he was going to be late for the extra lessons being taught by Komoe Sensei. Which also meant receiving another mark on his academic record meaning even more extra lessons. Something the poor lad was dreading.
"Let's see. Let's see. Ah! There's food… there's food…" Touma said while starting to feel tears coming down his face.
Thanks to Sora's gracious offer to have dinner together while also buying groceries, the Kamijou residence was for once able to provide a somewhat nutritional breakfast. Touma knew it wasn't much but seeing that there really was food in his fridge just made his appreciation for his fellow spiky-haired friend even grander. Even to the point that he was beginning to weep in happiness.
However, there would come a time and place to cry but now was not that time. He needed to get a move on.
Cracking his knuckles, Touma set out to do the impossible and that was to cook a half-course meal in a matter of minutes. Grabbing a few eggs and anything else he saw available in his fridge, the boy got to work. If someone were to observe the spiky-haired boy cooking right now they would think that he was being featured on one of those cook-off shows where chefs compete to take the gold home by working at impeccable speed to create a delicious meal.
At the same time, his roommate began to sniff the air with such intensity that she immediately bolted up from her slumber while still having her eyes closed. The sudden action caused Sphyx to land down on the covers of the bed while looking up at his owner.
"Meow?"
Starting to open her eyes, Index slowly shook her head while letting her eyes adjust to being woken up. Now with a clear mind, she began making her way to the kitchen to find out what that magnificent smell was. To her surprise, she saw Touma working at speeds that made her head hurt just trying to keep up with what the boy was doing.
"W-Whoa! Sphynx! Touma's gone mad."
"Meow?"
Hearing his roommates right next to him, Touma turned his head to the side just as he was about to place the cooked food on a plate. His hand missed the plate completely and landed on the counter all over the place.
"Aah!"
Scooping up the food back onto the plate, he seemingly forgot how hot the food was and held back a scream as his hand was burning. He so wanted to scream but knew time was against him now.
"Index. Sphynx. Here's your food. There's some more in the fridge thanks to Sora's gratefulness. I'm running late."
Handing the nun her first plate and the second plate of breakfast, Touma also handed what appeared to be a small plate of food to Sphynx while simultaneously grabbing his own plate of messy food and eating it all in one bite.
"Yes! Thanks, Touma!"
"Meow!"
"*gulp* Y-Yeah… I'll see you guys later…"
Grabbing his bag and phone, the spiky-haired boy began bolting out of the dorm while closing the door and running down the stairs hoping that he didn't miss a step and come tumbling down… again. Luckily… or not exactly luckily, he did not fall down the stairs and instead turned his attention to another topic. His new neighbor, Sora.
He didn't have time to stop and greet him but he was however ever grateful to his fellow teenage neighbor for providing him with a slightly easier morning than usual. He would have to pay back the Keyblade wielder not because he should have but because he wanted to. Speaking of him, Touma began to wonder what his new friend was doing right now. Was he still asleep? Or was he starting to wake up?
Who knew? But he at least hoped Sora was getting used to being in Academy City, especially with his strange predicament of having some sort of amnesia.
That was something he could understand better than anyone else… not knowing anything and being thrown into a new lifestyle. Touma at least hoped that the boy was doing all right.
Sora was not doing all right.
After having traveled across the city using his Flowmotion ability to scale up the tall buildings or slide across railings for quite some time, he was now located within District 4 which mainly focused on food-related facilities. However, the boy was now feeling the after-effects of being up the whole night and dealing with the Heartless. Sleep was calling out to him and he was on the verge to respond happily.
But he knew that he couldn't just fall asleep right now. If he was able to get back to his dorm, then he would gladly get some shut-in even though the day had just officially started. Which is where his trouble started.
Sliding down the railing of an escalator, the Keyblade wielder had now spotted what appeared to be a small park not that far away with no one present. Alas, that didn't really matter as his attention was drawn toward something within the park. A bench.
Recalling what happened the night before and how he was so close to falling asleep before hearing Touma scream. He was honestly looking forward to taking a nap on that bench which is why he was staring straight at the bench in front of him.
"You know what… I need a break."
Jogging over to the park, Sora pulled his phone out and realized that it was still early in the morning and nobody would be out for another half hour at the earliest. Offering the perfect chance to catch a small but greatly needed nap. Coming up on the bench, he stared at the wooden creation with newfound admiration and appreciation. Laying his entire body down, the spiky brunette let out a happy sigh while closing his eyes and having a dumb smile on his face.
"Thank…you… bench…*snore*"
The boy who wielded the Keyblade was now out cold while comfortably making the bench his temporary bed. After a hard night full of unexpected events, the boy deserved at least some time to himself. Even if it was in the middle of a small park located in District 4.
Sometime later
Feeling like something was off, Sora tried opening his eyes but the comfortable feeling of the bench was preventing him from doing so. However, that would soon be fixed as he heard what sounded like the clicking of a camera going off.
Hearing this, he began to sit up from the bench and started rubbing his eyes to attune his sight to what was going on in front of him. Once he had gotten his vision back to focus, he was left shocked at what was going on around him.
Students wearing various styles of uniforms and casual wear were all staring at him like he was out of this world… wait.
"U-Um… are you, that boy?" one of the students asked Sora.
"Err… what boy do you mean exactly?"
Another one of the students, this time a girl with long dark hair pulled up her phone and showed a video of yesterday's news coverage and wouldn't you know it, there he was fighting against the Heartless.
"Oh. Uh… yeah. That was me… Haha," Sora replied, realizing that this was going to be a recurring thing.
As soon as he said that all the students surrounding him began to bombard him with questions and all sorts of random things such as a picture with him and even his autograph. He also thought he heard a girl yell out for his number but he wasn't entirely sure about that.
Deciding that he needed to calm down this group which could at any moment turn into an angry mob. Sora got to his feet and yelled out to everyone.
"Hey! Please wait! One at a time!"
That didn't seem to help him at all. In fact, the group of students seemed to take that as a sign to get even crazier around him. Time for his backup plan.
Raising his hand into the air, he summoned his Keyblade which got everyone to quiet down and look in awe at the strange choice of weapon.
"*sigh* Thank you. Now, I don't want to sound rude but could you all please ask me what you want one at a time" Sora asked, figuring that if he dealt with this group then he could make his way… he hadn't thought that far yet.
Apparently, hearing the boy's request, all the students rushed to form a wavy line that seemed to curve around him so that they could hear what he had to say to all the questions. This was all so weird. He'd never had to deal with this kind of public reaction while traveling the different worlds. So strange.
The first student to appear in the line was a young girl dressed in a sailor uniform which must have been her school uniform.
"H-Hi! It's nice to meet you finally!"
"Hey there, I guess I'm the talk around the town huh?"
"Y-Yes! Everyone has been talking about you. You're trending on all social media."
"Great…" Sora said while faking a bright smile on his face. What did she mean by that?
"Um. About my question… What's your name?"
Blinking a few times, Sora realized that his name hadn't gotten out to the public yet. Whether that was a good thing or a bad thing he wasn't totally sure yet. But that did leave him to consider something about the whole ordeal. Would it be a bad thing to tell her his name?
On one hand, it was a bit of common decency to give his name when asked as he didn't want to come off as rude or anything like that. He would have gladly given his name in any ordinary situation. However, this led to another objection of his. Would giving his name backfire on him later on? The whole city probably saw what he did and how he was able to fight back against the Heartless. Could that be something that makes his life even more stressful?
Deciding that he should do what he always does which was obviously following his heart, Sora figured that if giving his name would lead to trouble, then so be it. Besides, it wasn't like the life of a Keyblade wielder wasn't filled with craziness.
"Ah, my bad. My name is Sora."
Hearing this, many students began to type rapidly on their phones about what they were hearing.
"Sora-san … Thank you for answering my question," the girl said while kindly bowing.
"Not a problem."
Now, the next person in line stepped forward and looked to be a guy around his age but he was in regular clothing and not a school uniform.
"So, Sora, what level of esper are you? There's no way a level 2 or 3 could pull off what you did yesterday."
Frowning at what the boy said, Sora didn't like how he said that.
"What do you mean there's no way a level 2 or 3 could do what I did?"
"It's the truth. The way you were able to fight off those monsters. You're probably a level 4. Or… maybe you're a Level 5?"
Many people in the crowd got excited at hearing this idea be said. However, the spiky-haired boy didn't think so.
"No."
"H-Huh?"
"I'm not a Level 5. I'm not a level 4 or 3 or 2 or even 1."
Looking at the boy right into his eyes, Sora had a calm and collected look on his face. No sense of nervousness or falsehood was present in his voice either.
"I"m me. It doesn't matter what level you are when there's trouble… when something bad is happening… All that matters is you tried your best to help. No matter what title you have, doing the right is more important than that."
No one in the crowd of students said anything as they all processed what Sora was saying. That is until the boy who asked the question spoke up.
"That's not true. It's because you're so strong that you were able to save those people."
"Really? Do you think that's the truth?" Shaking his head, Sora now grasped at his heart while steadily replying to the boy. "Even if I didn't have my powers I would have still stepped in and tried to help in any way. And what makes you think someone classified as a level 1, 2, any level really is incapable of helping?"
"I-I didn't mean it like that- "
"But you did. Everyone in Academy City is probably thinking that I'm some kind of superhero for stepping in and saving the day but in reality… I'm not. I'm just me. Someone who likes to make friends everywhere he goes and help in any way that I can. No matter how much stronger I am or how dire the situation is. I'll always be ready to lend a helping hand to whoever is in trouble."
No one said anything until someone finally did.
"Even if a Level 5 asked for help?" one of the students in the back of the crowd asked.
"Of course. And I'm not the only one who thinks that way either. I'm sure there are others out there who do all they can to help those in need. It's just that I happened to get shown on the news. That's the only reason I've become popular like this. And going back to your question… I'm currently classified as unknown in my level status" Sora stated for everyone to hear while offering a small smile.
Everyone present was shocked at what they were hearing. And yet, the boy's words were becoming more ingrained into their heads. Hearing that it didn't matter what your level was or what kind of power you had, only that what you did with said power mattered. A majority of the students currently in the crowd were either level 0's or 1's with a few 2's in the mix. So, hearing that Sora did not look down on any of them or think any differently about those who were classified in those levels made the students extremely happy.
Plus, the boy who asked the question had gone silent before nodding to himself and toward Sora.
"All right. Who else has a question?"
This led to most of the students raising their hands and getting back to the formation they had started with one question at a time. But now the questions were more on the fun side of things ranging from what kind of esper ability did he have or what was it like fighting the monsters. One question that threw Sora for a loop was when one girl with her hair tied into a ponytail asked him if he had a girlfriend to which he replied no albeit confused that kind of question. He also didn't get to ask a follow-up to the girl who asked that due to her running to the back of the line while giggling to herself which forced the boy to just watch her get away while more questions were sent his way.
Question time continued for about another ten minutes until only one more student was waiting to ask him a question. Most of the other students had started dispersing and went their own ways leaving the once-crowded park slightly empty.
"Whoa. That sounds awesome! Thank you, Sora!"
"You're welcome! Plus, if I get the chance, I might stop by a skateboard shop and get one myself. It's been a minute since I last tried but I had a blast riding my friend's skateboard" Sora replied while recalling his time in Twilight Town and riding the skateboard that turned out to be Roxas' board.
"Hopefully you'll have time to learn some new tricks. Either way, thanks again and see ya."
"Same here. Take care."
And with that, Sora was now left with one more student who wanted to ask him a question. Turning to face the last student, he noticed that this girl stood out compared to the rest of the other students who had their uniforms on. In addition, the girl's appearance consisted of a slender body, a small body frame with a small bust size, and long lavender hair with ringlet curls and purple eyes. Another thing that stood out about the girl was her uniform which was definitely different from everyone else he encountered.
"Hello there!"
"Hi! Sorry, you're the last one."
"Oh? Don't be sorry at all. In fact, the way you managed to get everyone under control and in an orderly fashion where everyone had time to ask a question followed by you answering and giving fair enough time. Ah, it was amazing!" replied the purple-haired girl.
"Thanks. I was kind of hoping that everyone followed through with it and whaddya know, they did."
"Mm-hmm. Oh! Where are my manners? I'm deeply sorry, Sora-san. My name is Hokaze Junko. Nice to meet you officially!"
"Hokaze Junko… Got it. I'll be sure to remember your name now. I wasn't able to get a lot of names back there" Sora replied, making a mental note to remember her name.
"I wouldn't worry about something like that. I'm sure everyone that stopped by will understand why it was hard to remember names" Junko said, positivity bubbling off her.
"Yeah, but don't worry. I've got your name memorized!" Sora said, recalling Axel's err… Lea's famous catchphrase.
Beginning to giggle at the boy's lively attitude, Junko also realized something dire.
"Ah! I'm terribly sorry again, Sora-san. Here we are chatting and I've yet to ask you my question."
"It's not a problem at all, Hokaze. Besides, it's really nice to chat with someone so friendly."
"That's great to hear! *ahem* Now then, about my question."
Nodding at the girl, Sora was ready for her question.
"Go ahead. I'm all ears."
"All right, well then, my question for you is… will you be my friend?"
Continuing to start at Hokaze, Sora began processing what her question was in his head multiple times before bursting into a bright and giant smile.
"Haha! Of course, we can be friends. Normally, I'm the one asking people to be my friend but this is kind of nice actually" Sora replied while chuckling and patting the back of his head.
"Truly!? Oh, Sora! Thank you, thank you so much! I was a bit worried you would turn me down. I've had that happen once before but I believe it was my fault for coming off so strong it left the person I was trying to be friends with a bit… put off to be exact" Junko explained while tilting her head to the side.
"That's a shame. They missed out on making a new great friend."
"Thank you, Sora! So, what are your plans now?"
Opening his mouth to answer Hokaze's question, the spiky-haired boy was left aghast. What was his next move? He didn't have anything really going on today aside from waiting to see if Touma was told anything regarding him from Komoe or Yomikawa. And he was told by his fellow spiky-haired neighbor to go explore around Academy City getting familiar with the place.
"I… I'm not sure. I don't have anything I really need to do now. Maybe go get breakfast?"
Clasping her hands together, Junko had a bright smile on her lips followed by her eyes sparkling.
"Then I know exactly what you can do!"
"You do?"
"Yep. You should attend breakfast with me!" Junko exclaimed happily.
The magical-sword-wielding boy didn't want to force the lively girl to propose something like that just because of him opening his big mouth about being hungry.
"A-Are you sure? I wouldn't want to impose."
"Nonsense, Sora. Besides, aren't we friends?"
"Of course, we are. New and barely recent friends but nonetheless friends."
"Then to mark the start of our new friendship why don't we go and get some breakfast together? My treat!"
Bringing a hand to his heart, Sora couldn't let the energetic girl do that.
"Nonsense. You're inviting me. The least I could do is pay for the breakfast since you're letting me join you."
"No, no, Sora. Allow me."
"I couldn't."
"But you could."
Seeing that they were talking to each other on the same wavelength, the Keyblade wielder figured he could turn the tables.
"All right, how about this... I pay for the breakfast- "
"But- "
"And next time you could pay for breakfast" Sora finished voicing his idea.
"Next time?"
"I mean if you aren't against it. Why don't we do this every once in a while? Going out to eat with friends and whatnot. Maybe bring more of our friends together to sit down and eat. What do you say?" Sora asked, ruffling the back of his head.
If it was even possible, Junko's eyes shined even brighter than before with a new look of admiration on her face toward the boy.
"That… would be amazing! I very much agree with your idea, Sora."
"Great! Then shall we get going?"
"Yes! But first I'll be rushing back to meet with my Queen to inform her of what I'll be doing and why I won't be back till later" Junko said to the boy.
"Your Queen? I didn't know there was royalty in Academy City…"
This got the purple-haired girl to start giggling.
"Not exactly. I am a part of the ever-amazing and truly inspiring clique of Shokuhou Misaki better known as the fifth-ranked Level 5, Mental Out."
Hearing that term again in the past 24 hours, Sora realized that he was in a way connected to another Level 5.
"Mental Out…"
"Hmm? Have you heard of my Queen before, Sora?"
"No, I have not. But not in a bad kind of way. You see, I'm fairly new to Academy City" Sora explained to the ringlet girl.
"Wait… What!?" Junko shouted, shocked beyond belief.
Ruffling the back of his head, Sora knew that this was going to be a common reaction from everyone.
"Yeah. I know. It's a bit crazy when you really think about it. But we can talk more about it later while at breakfast. Where did you have in mind?"
"Right, getting back on topic. The place I had in mind was Joseph's Coffee and Restaurant. Have you heard of it?"
"No, this is the first time."
"Well then, if you would permit me, may I send you the coordinates to find Joseph's?" Junko politely asked.
"Of course. Here you go" Sora answered while pulling his Gummiphone out and placing it in his hand.
Junko did the same and pulled her phone out which had a small green frog attached to the side of it. Sora thought that he saw that frog from somewhere but couldn't put his finger on it.
"May I ask what's your number, Sora?"
"Actually, if I place my phone right next to yours' then…"
Suddenly, a chime sound could be heard which left Junko confused and Sora had a more understanding look on his face.
"What was that?"
"Check your phone's contacts for my name."
Doing as the boy asked, Junko went through her contact list and was amazed at what she was seeing. The boy's contact information was all there. Not believing what she was seeing, she called him up immediately expecting nothing to happen but was shocked when she heard a phone going off.
Pressing the call button on his phone, Sora brought the device up to his ear and spoke into it.
"Hello?"
"It really worked… What kind of advanced technology does your phone contain, Sora? Normally, I would have to manually put your contact info into my phone but… you made that so much easier."
"I… I'm not sure. I barely found out about this trick not that long ago. Must be some new form of technology slowly being put into phones" Sora explained while still just chalking it all up to a magical feature within the Gummiphone.
Looking down at her phone, Junko shook her head and was amazed at the advancement of technology.
"Well then, I'll send you the directions to get to Joseph's once I have met with my Queen. Until then, Sora. Take care!"
"Right, see you Hokaze."
Waving at the purple-haired girl beginning to walk further away, Sora was already feeling eager to have some food enter his stomach. Plus, he's been active all night long, so it was only natural that he would be feeling the effects of hunger. Wait a minute, Hokaze didn't exactly specify where this restaurant was located…
Turning around on his heel, Sora tried to spot the ringlet-haired girl to ask her for further clarification but to no avail, she was nowhere in sight. Letting out a sigh, the spiky-haired boy figured that he might as well just wing it and start exploring the city to kill some time. Taking out his Gummiphone to check what time it was, he saw that a bit of time had passed since he last checked the time.
"7:30 A.M."
Placing his hands behind his head, he began to walk down the street and take in all the new sights. In reality, he had barely touched the surface of what was in store within Academy City and couldn't wait to see what else there was to see.
A little bit later within the School Garden located in District 7
After some time had passed riding on a bus heading to District 7, Junko stepped out of the vehicle but not before thanking the bus driver. Now, she was standing near one of the gated entrances leading into Tokiwadai Middle School where her Queen was currently situated with the other members of her clique. With a smile on her face, the purple-haired girl made her way through the halls and toward one of the outside gazebos which were hosting many girls all around a table or more specifically all around a certain blonde-haired girl with stars in her eyes better known as the Level 5 Mental Out, Shoukohu Misaki.
"Ah! My Queen. I'm sorry that I'm late."
"Junko, how many times must I tell you? You're free to come and go as you please" the girl with stars in her eyes stated.
"Apologies. It's a bit of a habit at this point. Nevertheless, you won't believe who I happened to run into!" Junko excitedly said, drawing the other girls' attention to her.
"Someone famous I suppose?" Misaki questioned while taking a sip of her tea.
"You'd be correct. It was the spiky-haired boy from the- "
Hearing the word spiky-haired boy forced Misaki to have to stop sipping on her tea and willfully compose herself from not causing a scene in front of everyone. Even though she was slightly coughing. Now her full attention was drawn to Junko's tale.
"My Queen! Are you okay?"
'Darn, it. She saw!'
"Y-Yes, I'm quite alright. Must have been drinking the tea too fast. Go on, please continue with what you were saying" Misaki said while wondering what Junko had to do with her prince.
"Of course, well then, I happened to be in District 4 where I was on the search for a limited-time Gekota plushie that was draped in a waiter's outfit and being sold by one of the companies there. But while I was looking around, I happened to see a bunch of students crowding around a small park. Curious, I went to investigate, and wouldn't you know it there he was..." Junko explained while everyone including Misaki was paying attention to the story. Especially the Level 5 as she hadn't even blinked an eye yet.
'What was my prince doing?' Misaki wondered in her head.
"The boy from the news was sprawled out and sleeping on a bench."
All of the girls minus Misaki were astounded by the news and bombarded Junko with questions regarding the boy. The honey-blonde girl however didn't know whether to let out a sigh of relief or berate herself for acting as she did. But that would have to wait as she asked a question that threw her for a loop.
"What boy from the news?"
Hearing this, all the girls in the clique turned to look at their Queen like she had grown another head out of nowhere before Junko was the first to address her.
"My Queen… have you not seen the news?"
"I haven't. I don't particularly spend a lot of time checking the news. Aside from something that interests me" Misaki replied, seeing that everyone was still looking at her. This was a strange situation.
"My Queen…" one of the other girls muttered.
"Well then, to catch you up to speed. Yesterday there was an attack within the city and it was strange small but dark-looking monsters. Both AntiSkill and Judgment forces were doing their best to get everyone to safety but out of nowhere a brown spiky-haired boy leaped onto the scene and was fighting back against the monsters"
"Hokaze-san, you're not getting to the exciting details of the incident" another girl in the clique spoke up.
"I first wanted to catch up our Queen on what exactly happened."
"Fair, fair. Now, get to the good part!"
Smiling widely, Junko nodded and elaborated to Misaki all while a few of the other girls in the clique pulled out their phones and started pulling up videos of the boy in action.
"Right, as the boy jumped into the action, he summoned what appeared to be a giant key to fight the monsters and- "
"Wait. He summoned a what?" Misaki asked while making sure she heard right.
"A giant key. And what's even crazy was that he was able to use different elemental abilities with it like lightning, fire, water, wind, and many more. Plus, he even fought the monsters that somehow turned into a tornado!"
Lost for words, Misaki wasn't sure if her clique and friends were playing a prank on her and was about to say something but stopped when one of the girls handed her footage of the actual event and it was exactly as they said. The brown spiky-haired boy was wearing strange-looking clothes while using a giant key by his side and defeating monster after monster. And then the video switched to a dark tornado appearing in the middle of the street throwing car after car toward the boy who continued to charge forward. The video ended by showing one angle of the mysterious boy running across what appeared to be a bus before it abruptly ended.
To say that the Level 5 was surprised was… well, sort of a half lie. While she was taken aback by seeing the strange monsters and how they had formed a tornado, her attention was on the boy who she had never seen before. But based on his power aptitude from the video alone, it was safe to say that he must have been a level 4. However, that's all Misaki could consider since she didn't know him personally and didn't see how their paths would ever cross.
"And to make things even more amazing, when I saw him not that long ago there was a bunch of other students swarming him with questions and when the time came I finally got to ask him one as well" Junko happily replied.
"And what did you ask him?"
"I asked if we could be friends!"
Again, many of the girls were amazed at their Senpai's direct confrontation and friendly attitude that hearing her outright ask that kind of question startled them. Misaki also had wide eyes at how blunt her friend could be.
"What did he say?" the honey-blonde girl asked, curious about the result.
"He said yes! I even managed to exchange phone numbers with him" Junko ecstatically responded.
"He what?" a girl in the clique muttered.
"Yep. And I offered him to have breakfast with me to celebrate the start of our new friendship!"
This time, Misaki was indeed shocked by her friend's outgoing personality.
"I-I see… good for you, Junko."
"Thank you, my Queen! This brings me to why I came back so suddenly. Would you all like to attend breakfast with Sora and me?" Junko asked while realizing her grave mistake.
"Oh! How could I be so rude? I forgot to mention his name correctly."
"Sora…" many of the girls repeated while now having a name to go along with a face.
Taking a second to process what Junko had just asked, Misaki was about to kindly decline the offer but realized that… maybe this could turn out to be a good thing in the long run. Perhaps by meeting this Sora, she would be able to have a somewhat connection with him in the case of anything bad happening to her or her friends. Having someone with exceptional strength based on what she saw would be a great thing. Plus, if he was so accepting of Junko's request to be her friend, then that could work in her favor…
Bringing one of her remotes out of her purse, Misaki drew the clique's attention.
"Everyone, if you will all agree with me, why don't we accept Junko's offer and attend breakfast with this Sora."
"H-Huh? My Queen? Are you sure that's a good idea? What if he's… you know…" one of the girls started to say.
"I mean, there's a lot of us. Plus, we'll have our Queen with us as well."
"Yeah. We can take him if he tries anything."
"Girls, girls. Please, Sora is not like that at all. In fact, he's quite friendly" Junko said to calm down everyone.
Raising her hand to the air, Misaki got everyone's attention in a collected manner.
"Girls, it's a bit rude to be saying these things without having even met the boy. Why don't we just go find out for ourselves? Who knows, maybe he is as friendly as Junko says?"
Hearing their Queen's wise words, the girls in the clique simply nodded while smiling at the obvious statement.
Turning to look over at Junko, Misaki confided in her.
"Junko."
"Yes, my Queen?"
"Where exactly did you plan on having breakfast with Sora?"
"..."
"Ah! I forgot to tell him how to get there!" Junko exclaimed while blushing in embarrassment. "I proposed Joseph's Coffee and Restaurant."
"Joseph's… I've been there before. Food is not bad. Nothing like what's served here at the School Garden but good nonetheless. Very well, let's get a move on."
"Right. Let me send Sora a message on how to get there."
Back with a Certain Keyblade Wielder
The Guardian of Light didn't think this is how things would end. There was so much he had to live for. So much to do yet so little time. But now he wouldn't get to do any of those things. All thanks to his stomach eating itself.
The boy was trudging along the street still in District 4 while awaiting any further message from Hokaze about where breakfast was to be had. He didn't mind waiting but…
*grumble* *grumble*
His stomach on the other hand minded.
Coming to another clearing, Sora was tempted to run into the nearest store and grab something small to bite but his attention was thrown off when he saw something quite familiar.
"Hey… isn't that…"
Starting to jog toward the object that piqued his interest, he checked both sides of the road before running across the street and calling out to a… robot?
"Hey! Aren't you one of Moogla's?"
Upon hearing the boy's voice, a medium-sized cleaning robot turned around and began making its way closer to the boy before standing still and letting a few gears start to click and move. Next, the front side of the robot opened up followed by a robotic arm of sorts holding out what appeared to be a tablet with various things on it.
Getting closer to the tablet, Sora realized that it was a list of all the potions this robot currently had available to sell. Smirking widely, he pulled out of his pocket his bank card and began to take inventory of what he had… which was nothing.
Deciding that he needed to stay stocked up especially if the Heartless were running amok and causing trouble on a daily basis. He needed to be prepared.
Tapping away at the tablet, Sora had now requested a purchase of several Hi-potions, a few Ethers, and some regular potions just in case. Now, the robot saw what he wanted and tapped away at the tablet a few times until a receipt popped up followed by the robot hand directing him to place his bank card onto the tablet. Doing as asked, the tablet made a jingle sound followed by a green check appearing on the screen. His order was accepted.
The robot then began to place the tablet within its inner body and pulled out what appeared to be a tray that held all of the items he had requested to buy.
"Sweet! Thank you!"
As if understanding what he just said, the robot hand commenced a slight wave with its hand before gears could be heard followed by switches and the entire robot body transitioning back to a cleaning bot.
Putting the potions away in his inventory, Sora saw the robot get further away from him and go back to cleaning which made him chuckle. Coincidentally, at the same time, his phone went off indicating he just got a message. Checking the device, he was excited to see that Hokaze had sent him the directions to get to Joseph's Coffee and Restaurant followed by her friends who wished to come, which made the boy excited. The more the merrier.
Texting her back that he was on his way, Sora now had a little jump in his step as he was eager to meet his new friend's friends. And to quell his stomach from eating itself. All in all, everything was going well for the boy. Or so he thought.
Later...
"Uh… Hokaze?"
"Hm. Yes, Sora?"
"When you said your friends wanted to come to breakfast with us…"
"Yes?"
"I didn't think we'd be taking up most of the restaurant."
Sora said this as he was now in the presence of many girls all wearing school uniforms and staring right at him like he was an alien… technically he was but still. This was not what he was expecting. Not even in the slightest.
'Should I say Touma's catchphrase again… I mean, I'm not in trouble… I don't think so. For now, at least...' Sora said to himself while trying to keep a calm and collected look on his face as the other girls continued to watch his every move.
This was going to be a strange, yet eventful breakfast and the day had only just started.
Across the city and at the top of the one of the buildings
There standing in the middle of the helicopter pad was a dark figure or to be precise, a presence surrounded by darkness leaving it hard to really see what it truly looked like. This presence had gone by many names throughout different worlds, but every name still had some tie to what it truly wanted... darkness.
Beginning to step off the pad and near the edge of the building, the dark figure merely let out a small laugh while slowly beginning to look out into the city and take in the magnificent view.
"I'm surprised 'he' hasn't shown up. Granted, I am unsure if he's been to this world already, but still, it does not matter. My fun is about to begin..."
In a show of egoism, the dark figure began to relinquish more darkness in the area causing the veil of dark mist to appear but still remain unnoticeable to all in this busy city.
"And it will start... with you #2."