Inside Palace sucked more than outside, was Asahi's first thought upon spending a small amount of time outside the safe room.
The air was thick and heavy and hard to breath making moving around difficult, the music was less distorted and grating nut instead made him feel... exposed, stared at, like everyone was looking at him and he just couldn't get away. Not to say it was a bad sounding melody, it was probably just metaverse stuff applying extra feeling to the sense. the safe room they had wrapped to was in the central tower, close to the treasure as they said it was and the safe room itself was actually quite Pleasant from the few seconds Asahi had spent in there it made him feel calm and relaxed. Looking around Asahi felt disgust curl in his gut after they had ascended on flight of stairs, statues of girls in nothing but underwear where all around him As well as floors that would move up and down whenever they approached forcing them to climb on the statues... He is feeling angrier at Kamoshida every second they spend in this place
ascending the flight of stairs they approached the door on the other side of a metal walkway, only to have to jump out of the way due to massive scythes almost slicing them open, Jesus Christ! "What the hell is that! that shit almost killed us!" Asahi exhaled to calm himself down after the sudden death trap just before turning to skull "it's probably something meant to stop intruders...just-" he pushed his hands together and brought them to In front of his chest and then slowly moved them apart "enlarged to an unrealistic degree" mona remained unfazed and simply glanced at where to scythes were "It seems that way, we can't go through with them still swinging. we would probably get cut in half" mona then turned to joker " you have any ideas joker?" the other thief looked around until his eyes settled on a statue of Kamoshida.
joker walked towards the statue and without another word put his hand in its mouth and pulled it down, Asahi felt himself gag but the other two just looked slightly disgusted, panther put a hand on his back "yeah, its gross, we have seen it for a few times in this palace...although they usually have eyes" Ashai exhaled , he is so glad that he only has to see a small fraction of all of this. Turning his attention back to joker he could see him pulling the statues mouth down again and again and once more but stopping before turning back to them "statues broken or something" he shrugged nonchalantly "looks like they removed the eyes which somehow disabled the switch, some top dog shadow probably has them." Asahi nodded to himself, it was a safe guess to make and lined up with how this place is structured.
Skull groaned " we have to search for more keys? Ugh, this sucks ass." Asahi raised an eyebrow "'sucks ass'? what does that even mean? do people actually say that?" his response got an eyeroll from skull and an annoyed "whatever" Asahi smiled at the interaction. joker began to walk down the stairs into the lower floor, avoiding al he shadows in the area, before heading through the door to the room adjacent.
the first high ranking was easy to spot, it was done the flight of stairs splitting the two sides of the room, muttering its annoyance about having to do grunt work, too distracted to notice joker sneaking behind it and pulling its mask off. the shadow dematerialized and then rearose as a man in red Armor and horned helmet raiding a strong looking horse with a spear in hand and the ambush gave them ample time to get into a decant formation. Asahi moved first, reaching for his mask and calling Arthur and a shimmering sphere of light appeared in his hands which he quickly tossed to the enemy leaving a spherical scorch mark, he felt slightly proud of himself "Ahem" he sighs internally, and Arthur for leaving visible damage
the turn passed to skull who sent a wave of electricity from his bat into the horseman, electrocuting its Armor and knocking it down and triggering a hold up. Asahi didn't know what he was doing until joker called for an all-out attack, he remembered his similar move with Arthur and launched into the same movements, a scythe slash to the neck and the legs and the head and then the torso, covering those areas anytime they were left unattended, until the enemy turned to dust and, in its place, a hungry looking eye laid on the ground which was picked up and pocketed by joker.
morgana meowed happily " that's the first key acquired, on to the next" o the way down to the next floor joker turned to Asahi "how'd you find your first proper battle feel apostle?" Asahi beamed at the code name before looking up at the older thief " it wasn't as bad as the first battle I did with you guys... it actually felt kind of... fun?" joker smiled at him then clapped him gently on the back "good to hear, yeah it is kind of fun when you aren't getting killed." he put his hands behind his neck and started walking " the next eye should probably be held by a shadow downstairs, let's get a move on." humming to himself Asahi walked after him
the second shadow was much harder to find as there was a legion of high ranked shadows for it to hide with they ran into a few pretenders in the way, enough for Arthur to gain a few levels and learn to skills, on called 'snap' and the other 'taunt' he wasn't sure what the other did, but he did know that he could probably do some amount of damage with the first. they scrambled around to find the right shadow until panther pointed to the top of one of the raised distorted floors "wait isn't that one of those high ranked shadows up there?" they turned their heads and sure enough a golden armored shadow stood, muttering like its fellow high ranked solider did. immediately they tried to head over, needing to climb on one of those statues to get across before being in range to ambush it
however, it seemed to have noticed us and was able to get in the first hit and force them to gather into each other.
it would be fine Skull would just knock it dow-
it moved first and knocked out Skull with a flurry of attacks.
"well shit"
Asahi shifted bit as the Eligor pointed its spear at him, he could feel the energy the attack held and in a fit of panic, tried to switch to oizys.
emphasizing tried.
the hit did fizzle out from oizys'es presence but Asahi couldn't focus on that, all he could think about was the memories rushing to the front of his mind, the emotional wounds that opened and closed the previous knight reopened once more with her voice sounding in his mind, all other sounds fading to the background, only this was worse he could see what he was remembering fully as if he was back their
Her fists and palm. "Asahi! what's-
he could feel energy leaving him, but he didn't care.
her lies and acts "it's an ail-." "he's des-"
Another portion of energy left him but it doesn't matter, why would it, how could he think that he could succeed? how could he be so stupid
He could feel his arms raising, holding on to his scythe, he let it happen, why does it matter? why shouldn't he just let himself go like he should have years a-
he gets a mouth full of sweet donut and his mind clears
his first clear thoughts are what the fuck, looking over he sees joker, panther, mona and a newly woken up skull looking worriedly at him with skull practically shoving the donut in his mouth, which he swallows, looking at the enemy it seems to be much weaker than it was before all of that happened, whatever it was. Ripping off his mask, which somehow reverted back to Arthur, and fired off a kouha to bring it down, sighing in relief when the attack left the shadow scattering into a dark mist, lingering motes of light and a left eye filled with desire on the floor. Asahi wordlessly moved to pick it up and handed it to joker, not looking anyone in the eye and hoping they would all ignore what had just happened
Skull placed a gentle hand on his shoulder, that effectively stopped him from turning around, damn he thought he could get away with not talking about it. with a sigh he looks up at his friend's face who showed... concern and confusion? that's not an expression Asahi was used to seeing on anyone but his family, weird. Skull's look of concern deepened "what the hell was that all about?!" you just started losing sp and then you tried to slice your damn neck off?! the fuck happened while I was out?" Asahi squirmed a bit under skull's hold on reflex then calmed down and shrugged " I have no clue!? I just tried to switch to oizys to withstand an attack but then...i saw some things and my mind went... weird" mona yelped " what the- a persona shouldn't be able to do that to someone trying to use it! although someone having to unique personas is also not normal so-" mona's voice quietened to mutterings under his breath as Asahi tried to keep his thoughts straight. In his head Asahi heard Arthur laugh.
"What is it Arthur? You know something?", he could feel Arthur's grin from within himself as the thiefs voice filled his mind "of course I do my dear bunny! As a witness to your inner workings I am able to provide you some insight over the situation. Do you rember the vow you had made with Oizys? What you had pledged to her? Did you notice anything remiss about the event?" Asahi thought back , to the heavenly punishers, to the whispers, resentment…to the flames and the vow…wait.
"Ah it appears we have reached an understanding! You have noticed the wrongness of her and that was by design. She is what she says, she isn't thou, what she is would be more akin to the palace we are currently in yet lacking two vital components to bestow her influence over your subconscious , instead she has slotted into a position that was vacant. You where in need, you had a mould to grant her form and a binding bond to tether the material to it , you desperation allowed the forgery of an fraudulent contact that she uses to bind your mind to her whims , to fulfil her role she clings to existence like a cockroach…admirable if it wasn't vexing."
Asahi could feel his ears ringing, and fhis heartbeat quickening… he had a place like the castle? Did that make him?…no later focus. Arthur had retreated back to being silent, which was fine . Now he could hear his teammates and joke seamed to be looking at him, he met his eyes with a blank expression, he is good at those
jokers eyes shone with concern "Apostle until we can figure out why your other persona causes…that then try not to use it if you can help it we don't have enough items to help , it isn't worth the risk." Asahi didn't know how to feel right now…but a nod and a gesture of understanding was enough of a reply to that which seemed to get things moving so they could get out of this god awful place.
getting back to the scythes wasn't that difficult, they encountered a few shadows including on of those 'Heavenly punishers' but despite not being weak to it went down pretty easily to Arthur's 'snap' which it turns out had Arthur using his cricket bat to launch a ball that turned into a bullet midair, which was interesting. On they way arthir gained another new skill this one called 'dodge phys' which seemed like it would be helpful considering his weakness
Joker placed the eyes in the statue and once again pulled it's mouth down, gross. The mechanism gave out a heavy screech until it groaned to a stop, the scythes stopping at the end of their swing and leaving room for them to access the second half of the floor that was blocked of by one of those raised distorted blocks. After dispatching another guard shadow. After locating the stairs to the final floor the band of thieves ascend it.
the final floor contains a long corridor at the end of it was a safe room , then guarded by a lone shadow are the grand doors to the throne room with both sides including one of those statues , the left one being below an opening l leading into the throne room. Avoiding the guard shadow they claimed up the girl statue (for hopefully the final time) they where greyed by a large and lavish throne room lined with a swarm of shadow guards and…… shadow kamoshida himself.
The thieves all heard the shadows angered yelling "how have NONE of you found those thieves yet?! What am I paying you for? Go find them! the shadows all marched out the room and into the palace . Asahi snickered to himself "imagine if he knew we where in the sane room as him." They the sturdy doors behind the throne as silently as they could be.
inside the heavy doors was a horse of different types of valuables. Millions of gold coins covered the floors along with swathes of jewels and a large golden vase rested below a amorphous blob of color and light. Panther pointed up at it "Hey what is this? And why is it just floating their?" Mona leaped onto the golden vase " that's what we came here for, the treasure!" Asahi titled his head "So we just steal light?" The cat shook his head " no, to make the treasure steal-able we need to make that person aware that their desires can be stolen. To do that we send them a warning that we are going to steal it. This is what professionals like myself call a 'calling card', all we need to do is tell them 'We are going to steal your heart' and the treasure should , probably materialize!" huh, an interesting concept, and Asahi guesses it made sense and it was the least insane thing he learned today. Panther Beamed "so all we need to do to steal the treasure now is to send the calling card?" Mona nodded "correct panther, now that we have established the infiltration route we can send the calling card any time, so ill leave the choice to joker," the thief in question thought for a moment " lets send the calling card two days from now, we've been going at this pretty intensely for the past two days so lets take a brake, to will also give me a chance to stock up on supplies." jokers logic was sound and Asahi isn't eager to just dive into stealing the treasure tomorrow anyway, so they silently skulked out of the treasure room and back into the safe room and from their they used the app to wrap back to the entrance.
As they walked out of the castle Asahi noticed something in the corner of his eye , something blueish and glowing. He towards it, then blinked, then rubbed his eyes trying to decide if he wasn't hallucinating. joker had stopped and stood perfectly parallel to where the glowing came from so the others had started to chat leaving Asahi to his own devices so he turned back to the glowing and walked over to it. It was a door, a ornate one that shined a pale blue, made from oak and covered in vines with lilies on them... do lilies even grow on vines? Hesitantly He reached out and tapped the door, awaiting whatever consequences it will bring but instead o some unspeakable horror hat awaited him was... the garden from his dream? same garden, same room, same flowers same table and tea set from last night... huh...he'll look into it later.
Turning away from the door he walked over to Panther and skull they looked at him when he came within earshot before going back to their conversation Asahi was content to listen... they were arguing over food preference's? He listened with to the brewing argument , well half listening he was starting to zone out, until he Code-Name his name " Hey Apostle, can you settle this for us?" his attention a snapping back o the other two he saw them both looking at him, "what do you think is better , desert or Meat? Ryuji here thinks that meat is better, which is wrong"("No it ain't! who could eat deserts all the damn time!") "but since he cant admit the truth once and ill have you settle this once and for all! So who do you which do you think is better?" Asahi thought about it, probably to much considering the unimportance of the question, he enjoyed meat he guesses but desert was actually really good as well, but he also had memories associated to each, he had meat on his ramen with Yuuki and Dad when off work would bring home fast food with meat in it...but deserts where always her thing, she could bake quite well he guesses...she often did when she was in a good mood or when dad was home and for his birthday... he liked but taste of dessert more but the thought of eating it again or at least cake made him feel sick.
Asahi Looked up at Panther and Skull "I actually prefer meat...but to be fair I haven't had many good deserts but I also haven't had classic meat dishes like beef bowl in awhile..." he trailed off when both of their faces dropped, did he say something wrong? Skull looked at him incredulously " So you haven't had Beef bowl at the place in town? like any of them!?" Asahi shook his head "Nope.. can remember at least" he shrugged it wasn't a big deal "And you haven't had creeps like the ones from that stand in shibuya " another headshake "I have not been to most of the food places in Shibuya apart from the dinner their" Skull hummed "well we have two days until we send the calling card and you gotta try beef bowl at least once! so if your free ill take you to the beef bowl place! kay?" that actually sounds nice... he hasn't been out in awhile "that sounds good.. i would be happy to go with you thanks skull." Panther put a hand to the back of her neck" ill be visiting shiho for awhile so i wont be able to take you but ill treat you for creeps soon , and that'll convince you sweets are better then meat!" that also sounded nice.. crepes sound interesting.
Turning around asahi looks towards joker still standing in that spot "How long until joker stops standing there?" Skull shrugs " eh he does that before we enter sometimes he could be awhile or could be a few seconds we just need to wait a bit he'll probably be done soon." Asahi shrugs leans back on a nearby wall and hums and just sits their and waits for joker to get out of whatever trance he is in.
After awhile joker snaps out of his trance , and walks over to them, "well that's about it here, meet back in two days right?" a course of yeses is his response , He laughs " okay team disperse!" Asahi chuckles as the world ripples around him a sort of tension leaves his shoulders, like he is no longer being watched that he isn't unwelcome anymore
"Intrusion Has been Repeated, Penalty increased, Penalty Dispensed.
Black dots swim in his vison when they come back to reality, there's a dull ringing in his ears and his head aches. He closes his eyes and takes a sharp inhale as a familiar nausea shoots through him... do the others feel like this afterwards? Or are they used to it already? He quietly says his goodbyes before he darts off to the train station ,he doesn't sprint immediately but, he doesn't linger he knows hoe to work with this, well first time that a panic attack wasn't the cause but still the desire to not vomit near others was easily applicable to this situation. He takes a breath as he is tucked into the bathroom of the station, he reaches into his pocket and grabs his phone to checks the time... hmm not too late only around 17:30 not that bad he guesses. He puts his phone away as the nauseas picks up again ,Μάνα Φούκερ, he tries to breath but the exhale turns into a wet burp, shit. He can feel his lunch rising up to his throat , he kneels in front of the toilet and puts his head just above the toilet bowl he tries to level his breathing yet it keeps coming out as choppy breaths and hiccups until, finally the vomit leaves his mouth and lands in the bowl...he vomits too much... Its exhausting he is tired, the metaverse is the worst
he stays like that until the nausea passes and all that remains is the bone deep exhaustion he moves to get the train and the next to get back to Kichijoji almost falling asleep on the way. After walking to his house he looks through the window to see Yuuki inside, h is way too tired to have this conversation but he probably should..."hey Arthur could you do this?" absolute silence...damn he's going to have to navigate this conversation alone isn't he? He can probably do it. Maybe, perhaps not . But he can try. He walks about a 3 meters to the nearby vending machine to get a coffee because he is tired one and absolutely needs it to function for another hour, Guzzles it , throws it in a nearby trash can and heads inside his house.
After taking his shoes off Asahi looks into the living room to see Yuuki watching a show of some sort, he seems to be enjoying it. "Hey Yuuki" Asahi said as he approached the older boy, sitting down next to him on the couch facing the TV "What show is this?" Yuuki turns to him and beams " Its called Phenix rangers Featherman R! its an older version Incarnation of Neo Featherman, this episode is apart of a marathon highlighting the group of episodes from 2009 an earlier episode even had an old apathy syndrome awareness ad in it! This episode is one of my favorites from the older series. Its episode 34 where feather hawk seemingly betrays the other rangers but its all a trick by the Zerg to make the other rangers give up hope while the real Hawk is captured but by the end they" Yuuki rambles on while Asahi zones out , he doesn't mean to , he actually enjoys it when the other rambles about whatever it is he is currently interested in , its takes his mind off of his own thoughts and gives Yuuki someone to talk at that isn't a faceless online guy.
Yuuki continues to ramble on until he notices how long he has rambled on for and rubs the back of his neck awkwardly "A-anyway how was your day? Its kind of late, what were you doing out? We don't have practice today..."Yuuki trailed off after mentioning Volleyball and Asahi shuddered then took in a breath and steeled his nerves "About that Yuuki...you need to quit, there's something I haven't told you about" Yuuki's face showed his confusion and concern, Asahi took in a breath to steady himself before continuing "You know how you haven't been called in for special training this year and that he hasn't gotten as angry with you as usual?" Yuuki nods his expression steadily losing confusion and gaining concern "Well that because near the beginning of the school year, on my first special training me and Kamoshida mad a deal...I wouldn't say anything about the abuse to dad and serve as his personal punching bag and in exchange...he wouldn't hurt you."
Ashai aited for something to happen, he didnt know what he was waiting for but he knew that was waiting for something to happen, yelling, disbelief he didn't know but something like that…he doesn't really want any of that but it's probably likely.He could already feel thoughts swirl in his head
He won't believe you.
He thinks your lying.
You shouldn't have said anything.
you should have just listened to me and suffer for him.
Because that's all your good for.
he'll leave- the thought is cut of by a steading hand on his head finally he looks up while trying to blink out the tears that had welled up in his eyes, Yuuki looked back at him then retracts that hand from his hair and leans over to embrace him in a hug that leaves him pressed onto the couch , it's nice and warm..Yuuki always gives great hugs. Asahi could hear yuuki sniffing but before he can ask him if he is alright Yuuki speaks "Asahi..why would you do that? I mean… I don't want to beaten by kamoshida but.. I wouldn't want only you to be!" Asahi averted his eyes from the over, which was hard when you have been takle hugged, then takes in a steading breath before speaking "I-I owe you yuuki! I couldn't just let him hurt you! So what if he beat me, I don't matter in comparison!" The tears where welling up again, this was a a terrible idea it's to much, he breathed in to try and calm himself down but it hitched and wobbled.
Asahi felt Yuuki's grip on him tighten , keeping him from fully panicking as the conversation picked at only recently closed wounds "why do you think you owe me?" Why does he owe him? Why does he owe him? he feels a dry laugh bubble up in his throat at the question before looking Yuuki in eyes "We both know why…I wouldn't be here if I didn't" The older boys eyes widened , he pulled away from the hug he initiated and moved closer towards the corner of the sofa in thought.
"Asahi, I didn't save you…just for you" Asahi was taken aback , he squints his eyes at Yuuki, the fuck does that even mean! Before he can say anything yuuki continued "Not that I don't want to help you! I liked you back then 'Sahi! It's just… that wasn't the best only reason I wanted tk save you so bad." Asahi still has his eyes narrowed in skepticism, he doubts that yuuki saved him out of anything less then good intentions. Yuuki cleared his throat "Back in middle school and even now…I was a Zero" Yuuki laces the word with so much venom it would probably kill any man with its potency. "I was the guy who was always the but of the joke, the person people made fun of all the time yet they always forgot about me…." yuuki trails off clearly getting lost in thought
snapping out of it he bashfully rubbed the back of his neck before his face reverted to the serious expression it held before hand "But you where different, you never said those things to me , you weren't mean to me at all, in fact others bullied you more then me , that made me feel better about myself" Asahi grew perplexed but continued to listen "When I saw your message , so many thoughts went through my head, how I couldn't lose you, how much I liked you and…I couldn't go back to being the absolute zero that I used to ge…" ….What? He- his thoughts were cut off when yuuki resumed "After I grabbed you and you told me everything, I felt horrible for thinking about saving you for that reason , so I decided to be better for you , d-Mr chiakuru and ichiro treating me as part of the family helped get me away from my 'parents' wich made me feel more indebted to you, so if anything I owe you more"
Asahi wanted to refute that , he wanted to arguec that he still owed yuuki but…he knew ge was wrong, shaking his head Asahi looked towards yuuki "…Ok , I get it. We don't owe each other anything right , and I shouldn't put you before me and you shouldn't put me before you right?" Yuuki blushes then nodded mumbling "could've …let me….it" a laugh escapes the younger boy, but he rembered why he had this conversation in the first place "anyway , you gotta quit the volleyball club ok! Why are you still in it? Didn't it suck firsy year aswell?" Yuuki locked more sheepish at the question "well I was going to quit but I always felt to scared , then he stopped beating me and I thought I could leave but then you where still their so i couldn't" well…that was an amusing sample of miscommunication.
Then yuuki suddenly went rigid like he was rembering something "wait…don't you Sakamoto and the transfer get in trouble with kamoshida, what does he plan in doing to you guys?" Well shit , this was a thing he was trying to avoid mentioning. Looking down at the ground he internally debates for a second before making up his mind. Asahi reached into his pocket to pull up his phone then opens it to the meta nab in preparation. "This is going to sound crazy , abd j can't prove it until after this is all settled but….we gave a way of changing kamoshida so he confesses himself." Yuuki looks sceptical, Asahi groans into his hands and holds out his phone on the meta age straight on the search history , showing kamoshida's keywords.
"these are the key words that allow us to enter his mind … more or less, thus mind is filled with monsters that can kill you if you don't have a persona … which is basically one of those 'stand' thingy from that show you watch" yuukis face of confusion slowly warps into understanding and concern " so you are doing something dangerous to help everyone abd yourself? " ah he gets it! Asahi nod eagerly. Yuuki hums "then I want you do promise me something" Asahi tilted his head , a promise? Yuuki looked at him wearily , with worry written on his face " please, be careful and..deafest kamoshida for me…and everyone else , and also do not kill yourself in the process, that..isn't worth it and I know you enough to think that you would think that's a good idea." Asahi feels heat rush to his face, he clears throat his " I-I wouldn't do that!" Yuuki raises an eye brow "You just admitted that you were letting kamoshida beat you to protect me. I know if it came down to it , you would do that. Just…please promise me you won't." Asahi groans burying his face into his hands "yes, yes I won't do that".
Yuuki raised an eyebrow at Asahi "Promise?" Really? Asahi reaches out and grabs his hand and shakes it " I promise. I won't kill my self in the process of changing kamoshida's heart." Yuuki grins in satisfaction "good, now what to do for dinner…" Yuuki trailed off and as he did the world around Asahi freezers and a glitchy voice resounds within his soul.
"I aMtHoU
thOU ArT I
thou HAst AcqQuiRedD new VOW
They bonds shall serve as a chain
that shall draw out your greatest aspects
with th3 1ntr0duct10n of th3 m00n 4rc4num
th0u sh4lt g41n th3 p0w3r T0 0pp0s3 F4T3 1ts3lf.
Asahi blinks at the sudden rush of information. This isn't the strangest thing that has happened to him but…it's still odd and the world is still frozen . Then a new information bursts into his mind
Moon
Rank:1
Ability: Yuuki's belief: increase exp gain for personas by personas in battle(Oizys is unaffected)
Huh, figures she would be excluded for that, he doesn't get how yuuki would give him a bonus like this but he is honestly too exhausted to care at this point. The world unfreezes as he yawns, stretching his sore limbs and rubbing his eyes , he looks over to yuuki "why don't we just get takeout today, I have enough money to pay for it." Asahi can see Yuuki's eyes light up, he smirks in satisfaction. Today wasn't great but at least he can drown it in a burgers.
the next day
school was as normal, uneventful. He could feel kamoshida's stare bare into him as he went past but otherwise uneventful.
Yuuki had went home already, Asahi had already told him that he would be hanging out with a friend today so he would wouldn't worry about him. He leaned on the schools fence , ryuji had message saying he would be out shortly so he probably won't be waiting long. He hummed you himself as time passed, about 20 minutes later ryuji emerged from the school, Asahi could tell it was him from his bleached hair, and walked to the entrance before noticing him.
"Sup Asahi! You ready to get some beef bowl? We just gotta take the train to shibuya and we'll be their." Asahi raised an eyebrow "Sakamoto -senpai…why didn't you just ask to meet their then?" To Asahi's amusement, ryuji groaned "Dude, can't you drop the 'senpai' shit already!?You don't call Ann or Akira that! Also you didn't even know where the place is before today!" A smile bloomed on Asahi's face as amusement coiled in his gut "because I know that it annoys you for one , and it's on central street and I have eyes..that can read signs..Because I can read." Ryuji groaned "Let's just get on the damn subway…"
Satisfied at that Asahi walked towards Aoyama itchome's station with Ryuji following next to him. The walk wasn't that far, seeing that the neighbourhood only really had a liner street to the school from the station and the train ride was no issue seeing as they made it to shibuya without issue. Asahi let Ryuji lead the way, seeing as this was supposed be ryuji showing the restaurant to him. Central street was as he remembered it despite…….however long it was since he was last here. They had walked about halfway in when ryuji turned to the right "Ah there it is! 'Kay Asahi, this is the place. You ready to try some real meat?" Asahi shrugged "isn't most meat 'real' meat , as opposed to fake meat?" The taller boy groaned "you know what I mean! Let's just head in."
The smell of meat hit Asahi nose as they entered the restaurant, it was also accompanied by the sweat sauce that accompanied it. It made Asahi even hungrier then he already was. Ryuji flagged down a set of chairs and practically dragged Asahi to them before sitting down and grabbing a menu "Man your gonna love this! Let's see…you like egg?" Asahi nods "Hmm ok and do you want sauce" another nod "OK and do you want any spicy shit in it?" Asahi's eyes widened as he shook his head vigorously "God no! Spicy stuff was never my thing…" Asahi shuddered at the memories. Ryuji laughed "Ok, ok I get. No spicy things." Ryuji put the menu down "ok and I think i know what to get us, and as I said , you are going to love it!" The blond called over a waiter, he looked overworked…Asahi looked around and wonderd where the other employees are. "Hello and what can I get you two-" before the waiter could finish speaking ryuji cut him off " we would like two barbecue beef bowls, one with egg and extra sauce and one with some extra meet and Chili!" The waiter scoffed but nether the less took their orders and walked away into the kitchen before emerging to collect more orders
Ryuji turned to him "So while we wait, we got some time to sit and chat. So um…what do you do for fun? Like you do some sp- wait no not sports, you play like music or something?" Asahi hummed, then shrugged before deciding on a response " I play the violin, used to do it more often though, probably more rusty then anything…ehh wasn't that good at it anyway, was only like ..grade 2." Ryuji looked at him incredulously "Dude that's like …two hole ass grades, out of like how many?" " like six or sevenish" He spluttered "W-Well that's still like probably good ain't those Mozart or whatever people like songs grade 1's play? I think like that one…'odd to happiness?' Asahi felt a laugh bubble up in his throat " it's called 'ode to joy' and yeah it's a piece you learn a bit before grade 1, it's still a very nice piece when performed right." Ryuji smiled " ok that's cool! You probably make I sound awesome! You could probably be one of those people who get money thrown into their case thing " Asahi was about to respond when two bowls were set down infront of them.
" Here is your food sir's, I hope you enjoy it. Do you want any drinks as well?" Ryuji turn to the younger boy " you want a soda?" Asahi nodded and ryuji turned to the waiter "We would like to sodas please." The waiter nodded and grabbed two cola bottles and deposited them in-front of them then walked off. Ryuji smirked at him before grabbing his chopsticks " well let's chow down!" Then started eating, Asahi cautiously took up his chopsticks, then grabbed a piece of meat and put it in his mouth. It was good. Very good, it was just salty enough but he could also taste the sweat sauce, he could smell the flavour clearly. The texture was nice too, calming , soft , but not too soft, just tough enough for him to need to chew it. Asahi's face must as have shown how much he was enjoying it as ryuji nudged him, almost causing him to choke, before talking through his full mouth "It's Guwd right" Asahi nods as he takes some rice from the bowl after swallowing some meat.
After awhile of eating, Ryuji picked up his glass of cola and chugged it , Asahi looked over to his bowl to see that he had already finished. Looking at his own food , Asahi could see that he was only halfway done. How the fuck could ryuji eat so fast….unfair! Asahi sighed as he tried to catch up, not wanting to have ryuji waiting for him to finish up eating , almost chocking on the rice again but he did mange to eat in time for ryuji to be done guzzling his drink. Ryuji belched into his fist before turning to Asahi "so w-urp-what's you deal?" Asahi tilted his head , picking up his own glass and taking a sip…hmm sweet "what do you mean by my 'deal'?" The blond shrugged " You know, like what's your history with kamoshida? I mean I know you were in the volleyball team , but like anything else?"
Asahi thought about his response while taking another sip of his drink , the question could have been worse and it's a lot easier to talk about this then with yuuki due to Ryuji not being his brother (friend?person? Is brother the right term? They weren't related but eh best word for it ) and wasn't that involved in it anyway , Asahi put the drink down and looked ryuji in the eyes with the a neutral expression before clearing his throat " Do you know yuuki Mishima?" Ryuji nodded "Well me and him are really close and stuff and I knew he was doing volleyball so when I came to shujin i decided to join as well to spend more time with him…see if I could make him happy as he seemed kind of sad lately but…then I realised what was really going on" Asahi paused to drink from his cola and a take breath before continuing "I am pretty weak and small…among other things so this made me a very desirable punching bag for kamoshida so during my first special trading session he gave me a deal saying ' be my personal punching bag or I'll beat up your friend' he knew that my dad wouldn't have tolerated his bullshit so he made the deal to make sure I didn't tell him" Asahi laughed " It was my own fault for taking that deal but I'll get him for hurting Yuuki for that first year… il never forgive for that…despite me being a dumbass that got himself beat for no-" he was cut off by the sound of banging fists on the table, Asahi jumped out of his skin clutching his heart from shock , Turing around to look at ryuji Asahi saw him wear a familiar expression, anger.
Asahi felt dread coil in his gut as his ears rung he is going to hit you, you upset him by being a idiot, you ruined your chance at friendship , he hates you , he hates you, he hates you, he hat- "That god dammed kamoshida! How could he do- no that's exactly what I expect from a fucking asshole like him!" He turns to Asahi and freezes for a second before his expression softens into something calmer "hey, you didn't to shit wrong , okay. We all make mistakes and shit and it wasn't your fault, it was that bastards fault and we will make him pay! Aren't you mad about what he did to you? Not just Mishima?
Was he angry for…him?
He inhaled sharply at the question. His mind racing for reasons he didn't understand. It was a simple question, he is angry at kamoshida. He hurt yuuki and others, he had made Someone commit suicide. But when he thought if he was angry about what happened to him……"
"I love he"r
"it's not her fault I am wrong. I deserve this"
"Dad loves her , I can't hate her"
"I can't hate her for what she did to me. I let it happen, it helped someone, she loves me , she just wants me to be better."
"I don't deserve to be angry about what she did, I hurt everyone else by-"
Asahi felt his breath hitch as his ears began to ring. Why is it such a hard question? He was angry about kamoshida's actions, but is it for him? he felt a tears well up in his eyes as a familiar heat coiled in his gut, shit he can't do this now. Fuck , fuck , fuck f-
Asahi felt a hand on his shoulder, snapping him out of his spiralling thoughts. Turning around he saw ryuji , once again looking concerned(is this going to become a thing?), trying his best to compose himself and using the touch to ground himself he tried yo think of what to say but the words just wouldn't come out before the other boy spoke "You alright man? Spaced out for Awhile there. You also stopped breathing for abit so you might wanna do that." Now that ryuji mentioned that he did notice that he had been holding his breath for awhile, letting out a shaken breath he inhaled quickly and tried to settle into a normal breathing pattern. Ryuji looked down at the table "Sorry if the question bothered ya, I just sorta noticed that you didn't seem as amped up as the rest of us to take down the bastard , but listen ok." Asahi looked up at ryuji and nodded.
Ryuji breathed out "if you can't get angry about what he did to you , I get it, that shit can be complicated. But if you got someone else your angry for then you good, Kay? I'm more angry at someone for my ma then myself." Asahi nodded and mulled over the words, yeah it doesn't matter if he can't get angry fir himself, he can be angry for yuuki. Asahi takes another sip of his drink then realised its empty and sets it down. Ryuji laughed " anyway that's enough emotional crap for one day. I had a blast eating with you though and now you know that meat is better then sweets, right?" A smirk formed on his face " not so fast ryuji-senpai, Ann still hasn't gotten me that crape, so I am Stil undecided." Ryuji groaned before speaking again "Yeah ok…but I still had a good time hanging out and shit. Oh! You know me and joker have started training and shit but the guy can be so busy sometimes that he needs to do other things so how 'bout me and you train sometimes? It'll help clear your head and we can hang out more, maybe eat out more often! Besides" ryuji poked Asahi in the stomach , the finger needing to sink into his clothing before it even brushed against his body, ryuji looked slightly shocked " damn you need to bulk up man. Or at least to eat more." He shook his head "But anyway , what do you say? You can say no and I won't hold it against you if you say no."
Huh, this was nice, he wasn't used to getting choices like that.
This outing was nice so "sure why not, this was fun." Ryuji beemed at him with an infectious smile "Hell yeah man! Trust me your going to live this shit!" Asahi's mouth curled into a smile as joy curled into his gut.
then , as it had the previous night, the world Froze.
p"I aMtHoU
thOU ArT I
thou HAst AcqQuiRedD new VOW
They bonds shall serve as a chain
that shall draw out your greatest aspects
with th3 1ntr0duct10n of th3 Ch4r10ut 4rc4num
th0u sh4lt g41n th3 p0w3r T0 0pp0s3 F4T3 1ts3lf.
Chariot
rank:1
Ability:Training at home is now unlocked!
Asahi inwardly scoffed as the voice left , he could have trained without getting the idea from ryuji, probably……
As the world unfroze ryuji payed for the both and them and they walked back to the train station together before ryuji went to his line and Asahi took the train back to kichijoji
When he got home , Yuuki was already asleep (judging from the snoring) so he went up to his room and did some exercise, just enough to feel sweaty and abit sore but in a good way!
your HP increased by 5 point!
After that he stripped to his boxers and fell asleep
that night, he dreamed faintly of a battlefield.
the next day
school proved as uneventful as it usually was. After it Asahi made the treck up towards the roof, they where going to send the calling card with the goal of stealing kamoshida's heart tomorrow, Asahi felt exited and nervous all at once. He was the last to arrive , everyone else having already taken their seats. Ryuji waved at him " Hay Asahi! You ready to do this?" Asahi smiled "as I'll ever be , tomorrow will be our best shot at stealing his heart." Morgana leped up onto the center if the shall table as Asahi took a seat " it's not our best shot, it's our only shot" with all attention non him the none-Cat cat continued "If we are to change his cognition to where his desires could be stolen we would only have a small window of time before his mind rationalizes that as a bluff and his cognition will double down on the idea that his desires could not ge stolen , making it intangible forever." Everyone suffers at thst before Morgana turned to akira " Joker, it's up to you , will the calling card be sent Tomorrow?" Akira thought about it for a agonising minute "I think we are ready, let's make that bastard pay!" Cheers where sounded around the table with entrusted smiles
Ryuji stretched " So what are we gonna put in the card? I could write it if we need to!" That…sounded like a bad idea, thinking quickly, Asahi spoke "Well we could meet at my house to make the calling card, me,you, Morgana" he looked over at Morgana to confirm if he was coming and saw a nod in return, he smiled at the cat before turning to Ann " you coming too?" Ann's face became serious "Of course, I need to be able to tell that jerk exactly what he needs to hear." Asahi smiled then turned to Akira " you wanna help too?" Akira laughed then shook his head " nah, I gotta go get some last minute suppling , you guys gave fun. Though" Asahi nodded then stat back as joker decided to speak again.
it will be showtime soon!