For anyone who was wondering, this fic is a rewrite of my old version of "Persona 5: Another Thief". After all these times (and focusing on the other fic), I re-read the whole fic and found a lot of things that I should and shouldn't do.
Also, there were so many things I wished I could do better, now Royal had been released for over a month now (from where I am), I decided to do a complete rewrite of this fic (Mostly following the Royal timeline, with some tease to Scramble/ Striker).
And yes, there will be some changed to characters and plot, but most of the OC and the line up of Le Fool will be mostly the same.
Akira will still be Akira, but I will dive into how the rumor affected him, and he will have a real reason to hide his identity from the PTs.
The whole 'King Crimson' thing on him will stay, and my original plan will still work on this version.
But Keigo will basically be a new character. Aside from the name and why he's here, there is no common thing between the two Keigo.
Anyway, I hope you'll like the new version, review are welcome!
[7th April]
"I was trying to get Kamoshida off of them! Why won't you even listen to me?!"
"It's no use, Akira... Kamoshida-Sensei has the entire school on his back..."
"Thanks to your connection to Kirijo Group, I couldn't get you off of my school... But I'll make your life here a living hell..."
"...I'm just trying to do the right fucking thing!"
"AAAAA!" Screaming in the empty bedroom, Ichijo Akira suddenly sat up on his bed, panting heavily. "...Goddammit."
Taking the alarm clock next to him, he checked the time. "six o'clock in the morning..." Sighing, he got off the bed and walked over to the bathroom.
Looking into the mirror, Akira stared at his feature. His ink-like hair was as messy as he remembered, and the dark circle only made him looked messier. However, the blueish glow when the light shined on it always reminded him of someone, a certain someone he wished that he could talk with.
'Minato-San... What should I do?' Biting his lips to stop the urge of punching something, he gave out a heavy sigh and started to dress for school. "Thinking about him won't change anything, Akira."
As he started to change into his Shujin Academy uniform, the conversation he had with his older cousin unintentionally surfaced in his mind.
[The night before]
"Akira, please let me do something to help you," In the laptop screen was a young woman with crimson hair, her bang covering her left eye. She's Kirijo Mitsuru, the president of Kirijo Group, and the only family member left for Akira. "If that Kamoshida really did those things to his student, I can't just sit here and watch!"
"It's no use, Mitsuru," Akira murmured, shaking his head somberly as he tried to stop the tears from spilling out. "That bastard has the entire school on his back, even the god damn principal know what is happening!"
"If that's so, I'll get the police."
"It's no use, the parents know too, they just turned a blind eye," He shook his head again. "I tried! But... it never works. He can just shift the blame on me, the responsibility of something even like this!"
"I know Chie-San and Naoto-San can help, but I don't want my life to be more of an inferno than before," Interrupting himself, he clapped his hands together and practically begged. "I already gave up, so please..."
[Back to present]
Finally dressed in his Shujin uniform, which he always kept the jacked open and his black headphones around his neck, Akira picked up his shoulder bag and exited his apartment.
Walking down the street of Jongen-Jaya was always a few relaxing things in his life. Instead of the crowded street of Shibuya and Tatsumi Port Island, at least he could focus on the music playing in his headphones. After walking for a few minutes, he stopped in front of Leblanc, the cafe he always had breakfast in.
Opening the door with a nice rang of a bell, Akira greeted the owner of Leblanc- Sakura Sojiro, a middle-aged man with a stylish beard (at least for Akira) and wearing an apron over his outfit. "Good morning, Sakura-San."
"Oh, it's you," The older man greeted with a ghost of a smile. "As usual, right?"
"Yeah," Nodding, Akira sat down on one of the chairs next to the bar stand.
Putting his headphones back on, he scrolled through the song list and stopped on a particular song, {No More What Ifs}. Just as he was about to press the 'play' button, the smell of nice coffee and curry stopped him from doing anything.
"Here's your breakfast," Sojiro said as he put the plate of homemade curry in front of him, next to a cup of coffee. "Take your time, it's hot."
"Thank you," Giving him a sincere smile, Akira clasped his hands together and bowed, then started to eat. Meanwhile, the song started to play.
People come and they go
Some people may stay with you though
I am all alone tonight and I kept on
Asking myself questions...
Akira always had a special taste in music, but as time went on, the reason changed. He got into music because of the influence of Minato and Minako, but ever since that day, he started to use music to forget the life he's facing.
But it didn't work every time.
Time passed slowly as he continued his breakfast, and before he realized, he already finished the meal and the coffee too. "Oh," Blinking in confusion, Akira quickly recovered and stood up. "Thank you for your meal, Sakura-San."
Putting the 800 yen on the table, he exited Leblanc and continued his way to Shujin. The people slowly became a blur around him, and the way to school was surprisingly short.
Even though he tried to ignore them, but as he put off his headphones, Akira was forced to face the cruel reality again.
"It's him..."
"It's a miracle that he's still here, right?"
"Stay away from him, Yuri."
"Disgusting... using his connection to stay here..."
If it's a few months ago, Akira would try to debunk those claims. But he already gave up and accepted this fact. His life was now hell and he had nothing to do about it. He quickly checked which class he's in and went on his way, completely numb to the whispers around.
But if there's a god, that god was definitely fucking with him right now.
"Well well well, here's Ichijo," The voice of Kamohida Suguru rang behind him, and Akira froze.
'Calm down, it's not worth it.' Clenching his eyes and repeating this phrase in his head, he somehow able to keep his cool. "What?" He said without any emotion, not even turned around to face him.
"It's a surprise that you are still capable to stay here," His voice which always caused his blood to boil continued, challenging his ability to stay calm. "I hope that you'll have a nice year looking forward."
"Me too," Murmuring to himself, he continued his walk to the classroom.
Stepping into his classroom, which was class 2-D, he was instantly greeted with glances and whispers. He expected it, but it was never something he's OK with it.
Akira ignored them and continued to his seat, which was behind Takamaki Ann, an exotic-looking teen girl with a blonde twin tail and sky-blue eyes, with an empty seat between them.
As he was passing through her seat, he noticed her gaze at him. It was filled with pity and sympathy.
And it pissed him.
"Can you stop staring at me like this, Takamaki?" He murmured, just loud enough for Ann to be heard.
Taken back by his sudden request, the blonde stumbled for anything to say. "I-I'm sorry... for what happened to you-"
Before she could finish the sentence, he slammed his shoulder bag to his table with a 'bang', startling everyone in the classroom. "I don't need your pity, Takamaki."
"You're not truly sorry," He raised his volume a little, tightening his hands into fists. "And I don't care if you do."
"So, either treat me as if I am not here or just JOIN THEM AND TALK BEHIND MY BACK!" Yelling the final few words, Akira stared at Ann with a rage-filled gaze. Ann, on the other hand, could only stare at him with wide eyes.
Looking around at the stunned crowd, he quickly took a deep breath and calmed himself, just barely. "Tell Kawakami that I'm in the restroom."
With that said, he hastily exited the classroom and rushed to the restroom. Once he was alone, he sat down in the corner and shouted in frustration. The screaming continued for a few minutes, and he took a few more to calm him down.
Kamoshida was right, his life was a living hell right now. He wanted to do something to revenge, but what could he do?
At this point, he was probably considering taking the matter to his own.
[11th April]
A few days had passed, and the news for two transfer students became the talk of the school. Continuing his usual routine of going to Leblanc for breakfast, Akira pushed open the door and was about to say the same thing he said every day.
However, he didn't expect someone else was sitting on the bar stand already. It was a teen boy about his age with curly black hair and a pair of glasses, and he didn't recognize him.
"Good morning, Sakura-San," Blinking, Akira decided to forget about it for a second and continued his routine. "Just as usual."
"You sounded colder than usual, something happened?"
"...Nothing."
Even though he could sense that Sojiro wanted to press on, but the owner caught the hint and stopped, switching his glance to the boy next to him. "This is his first day at school, can you show him the way?"
"Maybe," Upon hearing the words from Sojiro, the two boys stared at each other for a second. "So, you're one of the new transfers?" Akira asked.
"Yes, I am," The boy nodded, holding out a hand. "I'm Amamiya Ren, nice to meet you."
"I'm Ichijo Akira," Taking his hand and shook it, Akira stayed silent for a while, focusing on his breakfast.
Once he finished the breakfast, Akira left the charge on the table and walked to the front door. "C'mon, I'll show you the way."
Nodding, Ren quickly gave Sojiro a goodbye followed Akira. They walked over to the JL station and took the train to Shibuya. After arriving at the Shibuya station, Akira turned around and pointed at the sign above.
"I don't know if you're used to be living in a city, but this is the worst part of living in Tokyo," He said. "Just follow me closely, we're going to Ginza line."
Following the sign above them (Akira was more following his memories), they quickly reached the Ginza line and took the train.
Unfortunately, by the time they finally reached Aoyama-Itchome, the rain was starting to soak the street. The two boys quickly rushed to a nearby store and took a break.
"If there's a god, he must really hate me," Murmuring to himself, Akira let out a heavy sigh and turned to Ren. "Just go over there and follow the others."
He pointed at the road next to him, before placing his bag on top of his head. "Just don't be late, or the rumor will kill you."
With that said, he ran out to the wild and dashed.
Well, he never expected that Ren would be late, especially when he's basically a street away from the school. But somehow, he was late for an entire morning. He expected some whispers about this, but he didn't expect anything like this.
"Being super late on his first day? He really is insane..."
"I heard that he got arrested from an assault..."
"He looks normal though..."
'Assault?' Raising an eye at the whispers, both because of his reason to be here and the fact that everyone seems to be aware of it. 'What the hell?'
"I am Amamiya Ren, nice to meet you all," Ren greeted the whole class with a polite bow, after writing his name on the blackboard.
"Amamiya-Kun got sick, so he was late until now," Their homeroom teacher- Kawakami Sadayo explained to everyone, pointing to the seat in front of Akira. "You'll be sitting there."
She was a young-looking woman with dark brown unkempt hair, a yellow long-sleeved shirt striped with white and red horizontal lines and a blue denim skirt. In all honesty, he knew that Kawakami had a good heart, but something was holding her back.
Not that he's going to look into it.
Akira decided to just focus on his own stuff when Ren passed through Ann's seat, and she suddenly murmured out loud. "...Lies."
"You're that girl..."
Now Akira's confusion skyrocketed, when did Ann and Ren meet? He didn't remember someone around them when they're in the street. "Weird..." He murmured out loud, and loud enough for those beside them to be heard.
And the whispers and chatters exploded again.
"...Did you catch that? Do those three know each other?"
"Does that mean he hit on her before transferring here? Maybe that's why Ichijo-san is so angry with her."
"That row is the worst..."
Frowning as he overheard the whispers, Akira tapped Ren's shoulder, causing him to turn around. "What the hell is wrong with you?" He asked under his breath. "I told you to not be late on your first day."
"Something unexpected happened, it's out of my control." The transfer replied with a distant look. "But from the look of it, it doesn't matter whether I was late or not."
"Yeah..." He nodded in agreement, leaning back into his chair. "This school is the worst..."
With that said, they stayed silent and the remaining lessons passed like a blur. And he wanted to back to his apartment as soon as possible.
Once the bell rang, signaling the end of the school. Akira lazily packed his belonging and got up, but just as he was about to leave, Ann's voice stopped him.
"Ichijo,"
Giving out a heavy sigh, Akira turned around with an irritated look. "What do you want?" He asked with a hint of an edge. "I told you to leave me alone."
"I can't, okay?" She retorted, taking a step forward. "I know... how hard things is for you, and it's not fair either."
"So? You're just going to pity me?"
"No!" Ann quickly shook her head in response. "I just want you to know... at least there's someone who understands you."
"..." Pondering for a moment, Akira's feature softened for a little and nodded. "I'm sorry 'bout that outburst, it's just... too much piling up on me."
"By the way, I never believe you're dating that bastard."
Giving out a ghost of a smile, Akira continued his walk and exited the classroom, just in time to overhear the conversation between Ren and another boy with spiky blonde hair.
He recognized that boy, he was Sakamoto Ryuji, the use-to-be ace of the track team. But since that bastard came in, not only the whole track team was disbanded, Kamoshida even broke his leg. And he could notice the wincing and the unnatural posture.
He felt sorry for him, but they never talked.
"I'll meet you on the rooftop."
'What? When did they meet?' Narrowing his eyes in suspicion, Akira almost decided to follow them to the rooftop, but stopped himself from taking a step. "It's their own business, not mine."
Shaking his head, he turned to the stair and walked down, ignoring everything besides him. The whispers, chatters, rumors... but suddenly someone came across his sight, causing him to stop in his track.
"Suzui..." He murmured under his breath, and his heart suddenly ached. "...The bruises on her are worsening... that bastard..."
"I have to do something before she turned into..."
It was Suzui Shiho, a girl around his age with brown eyes and a black ponytail, held in place with a pink elastic band. She was one of the members of the volleyball team, which meant that she's one of the victims of Kamoshida's abuse, both sexual and physical.
Before Kamoshida's arrival, Akira was one of a few boys who were brave enough to talk with her. She was outgoing, but a bit scary when you went to her bad side. However, ever since his arrival, Shiho became a different person in every way possible.
Now, she was quiet and reserve, only hanging out with Ann. If he could, Akira would definitely give his shoulder for her to rest on, let her know that at least he cared about her.
But with the tag around his name, it's for the best that this distance remained.
Snapping out of his thought, Akira quickly continued his walk to the front gate.
[Akira's apartment]
Once he was out of school, he quickly took the train and went back to Yongen-Jaya. Opening the door of his apartment, he threw the shoulder bag aside and changed into his casual clothes. Unknown to others, he was actually an amateur novel writer, always posting different one-shot of some idea he had.
However, ever since the spring break, he hadn't been able to write anything at all. Opening his laptop, he was about to type something on his keyboard when a voice suddenly rang in his head.
"I hate this 'new' you, Akira."
Groaning in annoyance, Akira quickly shook his head and took a sip of water. "Just forget about it..."
With that said, he started doing the laundry, cleaning his apartment and made some sort of meal for himself. After that, he read a novel he had been a fan of, falling into the dreamland before he realized it.
Until a certain piano melody and female voice rang around him.
[?] 'The Poem of Everyone's Souls' plays
Stirring, Akira opened his eyes and noticed that he's not in his apartment. Instead, he's now in a bar with a velvet blue covered everything. However, the weirdest thing is that... he recognized this place.
"Why am I in Jazz Jin Club? That place is at Kichijoji."
"Because it's not the 'Jazz Jin Club' you're talking about," A female voice suddenly rang near him, catching him by surprise.
Looking around, he noticed an individual in this bar other than him. She had white hair and yellow eyes, and wearing a blue outfit.
"Welcome to the Velvet Room, This place exists between dream and reality, mind and matter." The individual, who was a young woman with short hair and wearing a sleeveless blue dress said.
"Velvet room? When did I..."
"Don't worry, your body in the real-world sleeping right now. However, I call you for urgent need."
"Urgent..." Trailing off, his glance scanned the space around him, familiarizing himself to this place. "OK, who the hell are you?"
"I apologize for not introducing first," The young woman said with a slight bow. "I am Elizabeth."
Nodding in slight confusion, Akira stood up from the chair he'd been sitting on, taking a few steps closer to her. "Well, nice to meet you, Elizabeth. But why 'call' me here?"
She looked down thoughtfully for a moment before clearing her throat. "I am the attendant of the Velvet Room, serving our master Igor."
"However, my master and my brother and sisters got captured by Yaldabaoth, and now the next Wildcard's journey was controlled by him-"
Before he could finish, Akira quickly interrupted her. "Wait a minute, Yaldabaoth? Isn't that the 'god' in Platonism?" He asked, using his finger to emphasize the 'god' part.
"Indeed," She nodded, placing the books in her hand on the bar table. "But at the same time, he is real as well."
"So... Yes and No, I guess," Sighing, the guest crossed his arms thoughtfully. "But why should I help you? You can't just 'call' me to this place and expect to save your... family."
The former-attendant of Velvet Room unintentionally tightened the book in her ha.d, giving out a deep sigh. "To be honest, I wished that we wouldn't need to call you for help... "
"I made a promise with him to keep you away from all these businesses..." She trailed off, guilt slowly crept onto her face. "But I choose you... because of your connection to my guest in the Velvet Room."
"Guests in the Velvet Room..." Akira murmured to himself, pondering for a moment. "But what could I do? You're requesting me to fight a god to save your master, and I'm just a normal high school student."
The mysterious girl giggled at his reply, but quickly recovered into her professional expression. "You are much more than who you think you are. Your potential is much more than this."
Akira was about to ask her what did she mean for 'his potential', the space around him suddenly covered by blinding light. He didn't know what was happening, but before the darkness came back, the voice of Elizabeth rang beside his ear.
"...When the time comes, you'll know what you can do..."
[12th April]
Stirring, Akira opened his eyes and found that he's back in his bedroom, his laptop's screen remained on. "What the... when did I fell asleep?"
"And that's a really weird dream..."
Rubbing his hair, he checked the time on his laptop. "Holy Christ, it's seven-thirty in the morning already?!" Exclaiming in surprise, Akira quickly got up from his seat and refreshed himself, changing into his school uniform.
Already forgot about his dream with the Velvet Room, Akira was about to leave his apartment when his phone suddenly buzzed. Raising an eye in confusion, he took it out from his pocket and checked.
His phone was mostly normal, plain black wallpaper with some silver strips. And the buzzing was for a notification that something was installed. Raising an eye in question, he scrolled the phone and found a mysterious app.
"What the hell..."
Akira didn't know what it was, but it had an icon consisted of red and back, forming a shape of an eye. "Whatever, I'll get it fixed after school." Sighing, he ignored the app and went on his way.
Since he's been half an hour late to wake up, he was forced to went straight to the subway instead of having breakfast in Leblanc. Buying a piece of chocolate bar on the way, he was somehow able to catch the train on time.
However, in the corner of his eyes, Akira noticed a girl he didn't recognize. That girl was wearing Shujin uniform, judging from her collar's symbol, she was a first-year. She had crimson hair tied to a ponytail with a big red ribbon. For a split moment, Akira almost mistook her with Minako.
Remembering the news about the second transfer being an honor student and a first-year, he quickly realized that she was the second transfer student. Shrugging, he turned his focus back to the song playing in his headphone.
{'Beneath The Mask -Rain-' plays}
It was raining again as Akira walked out of the station. Thankfully, he did remember to bring an umbrella. Following the others and went on his way, he reached the school and went straight to the classroom.
[After school]
The day passed through like before, whispers about the new girl. Apparently, her name was Yoshizawa Kasumi. And she was an excellent gymnast, got the scholarship and transfer to this school.
Actually, Akira didn't know whether it's a gift or a curse. Joining the school when Kamoshida was around.
Speaking of which, just as Akira stepped out of the classroom, the voice of Kamoshida took his attention.
"Hey there, Takamaki." The PE teacher said, walking up to Ann. "You're looking for a ride home? Things have been pretty dangerous lately with all those accidents."
"Sorry, I have a photoshoot today," Even though Ann reclined gently, but her tightened grip on her bag said otherwise. "It's for the special summer issue, so I can't afford to miss it..."
"Hey, now... Being a model's fine and dandy, but don't work your pretty little self to the bone."
Sensing no reply from her, Kamoshida decided to press on. "You mentioned you weren't feeling well, right? something about appendicitis?"
Avoiding his secretly perverted gaze, the model bit her lips to stop herself from running away. "Yes, I keep planning to go to the hospital, but I've been too busy... sorry to worry you."
"You must be lonely too," Putting on a fake smile, Kamoshida took a step closer to Ann, much to her dislike. "I feel bad for keeping your best friend at practice so often."
"Keeping your best friend at practice..."
"Keeping 'Shiho' at practice..."
And that's the line that broke the camel's back, for Akira. "Bullshit," He said out loud, causing the two (three if he noticed Ren behind him.) to turn in his direction.
"Excuse me?" Kamoshida said, annoyance spilled through his tone.
"You never feel bad for keeping anyone at practice," He retorted, crossing his arms as he kept the cold stare at him. "For the love of God, stop bullshiting for once."
Ignoring Kamoshida's reply to his word, Akira glance shifted to Ann, signaling her to get away now. Giving him a nod as a 'thank you', Ann quickly walked off and left the sight.
Realizing that the model had gone, Kamoshida stared at him with a rage-filled glare. "Ichijo, you just don't know when to quit."
"I've never quit," With a faint smirk on his face, Akira glanced around him to see that Ren was behind him. "Besides, you can't pull that 'self-defense' moves on me. I'm not doing anything to you, and you're in the middle of the hallway."
Knowing that he can't do anything, Kamoshida grunted in rage before leaving the hallway.
Once he was gone, Akira gave out a sigh and physically slumped. "I need a goddamn break..."
Walking down the stairs and bought a drink from the vending machine, he was about to step out of school when Ryuji and Ren suddenly appear from the alleyway.
"...What." Narrowing his eyes in suspicion, Akira quickly hid in somewhere else, overhearing their conversation.
"What do you think?" Ryuji asked, sitting beside the brushes next to the front gate. "Any idea to get back to that castle?"
"Check on your phone," Ren shrugged.
"I'm not so sure anymore, I didn't see anything like it around here..." Ryuji interrupted himself in mid-sentence, widening his eyes in realization. "Huh? Phone... Hey, that reminds me-"
"didn't you have a weird app thingy on, back then?"
'Weird app...' Akira thought, pulling out his phone and stared at the mysterious app in his hand. '...Don't tell me that he got this too...'
"Yeah, this one," Ren nodded, giving his phone out for Ryuji to see.
"Dude, that app looked creepy as hell... Who'd design their app's icon to look like an eye... and that red and black..."
Before Akira could do anything, a robotic feminine voice suddenly came out from Ren's phone.
"Kamoshida... Shujin Academy... Pervert... Castle..."
"beginning navigation."
'OK, that's it,' Turning around, Akira walked over the gate and revealed himself.
However, he found nothing. Ren and Ryuji just disappeared in thin air, no traces were left. "That's... really weird."
Remembering the conversation between them, Akira focused on the weird app and opened it. There were only three columns and a button with 'Navigate' on the bottom.
"OK... You should remember it, Akira," Murmuring to himself, he typed the words from the robotic voice.
Pressing the button, a sense of nausea suddenly hit Akira as space around began to distort. Before he realized, the Shujin Academy was replaced by a gigantic castle.
"What the fuck."
Akira blinked a few times, making sure that he's not dreaming right now. And unfortunately, he's not.
And the voice in front only made this face hit harder.
"What is this place? ...Is it the school?"
It was Ryuji, asking a... Akira didn't know what words to describe that 'thing'. It was humanoid, with a big wobbly head (too big for its body). It was mostly covered in black, except for its mouth area, its hand, and its legs. But one thing was sure, it looked like a cat.
"That's right," The 'thing' nodded. "This castle IS the school... But only to the castle's ruler."
"And I'm not going to finish that conversation," Rolling his eyes at the never-ending conversation between the three, Akira sneaked around and found a small opening on the wall.
Climbing in, Akira landed on an oddly luxurious-looking room, the floor was composed of black and white brick that looked like a checkerboard. He observed the surrounding, completely unaware of a guard walking up to him.
"Intruder!"
"Wha-" Before Akira could even finish, a sharp pain suddenly exploded in his head, knocking him out.
After god knew how long, Akira finally woke up from the blackout. Looking around, he found that he's in one of the room, being held by two armored men, and Kamoshida was standing in front of him.
...Wait, Kamoshida?
"What the fuck?!" He exclaimed in shock, widening his eyes at the person in front of him.
It was Kamoshida, but... why was he wearing a blanket over his... naked body?!
"Well well well, ain't we found an interesting one," Kamoshida said in a heavily distorted voice, a creepy smirk crept to his face.
"Kamoshida, what the hell are you wearing?!"
"No one dared to speak to the king like this!" One of the armored men yelled, punching his torso and sent out a wave of pain throughout his body.
"AH!" Yelling in pain, Akira clutched his eyes before glaring at kamoshida again. "T-This is not happening..."
Giggling, Kamoshida walked up to him and forcefully grabbed his hair. "I've always wanted revenge for your stupid and annoying behavior..."
"Guards, kill him."
Widening his eyes in fear, Akira quickly freed himself from the guards' grip, rolling on the ground to gain some distance between him and the guards. "T-this is not fucking real..." He murmured to himself, before glaring right into the king's eyes. "I-I'm not going to die here..."
"You can run away, just like how you used to," Kamoshida said with a mocking grin, his laughter filled the room around him. "You want to 'protect' others from me? Stop making me laugh."
"Shut the fuck up..."
"How many people did you actually 'protected'? No one!"
"I said, SHUT THE FUCK UP!" Unable to hold his anger, Akira shouted with a hatred-filled glare. "Kimiko, Naoko, Shinji... You have some real audacity to smile like that!"
"So what, it's my castle anyway, I can do whatever I want."
"Whatever... you... want, huh?" He gritted his teeth, feeling the hot blood ran down his tightened fist. "You know, I've always wanted to say this."
"I lost people because of your actions..." Ignoring the blood and clutched his fist further in rage, Akira kept his glare on him. "If I had to die to stop you..."
"THEN SO FUCKING BE IT!"
At that exact moment, the voice inside his head spoke again, following by pure pain.
"Are you sure that you'll do anything to stop him? Even if it cost your life?"
Gripping his head, Akira couldn't help but scream in agony, barely able to keep himself standing. "OF... COURSE!"
"Very well, let us form a path."
Opening his eyes, he could see that Kamoshida was staring at him in shock, sweat building up on his disgusting face.
"You had suffered from fighting back, but is it the wrong thing to do?"
"Another one, right after Sakamoto..." Kamoshida trailed off, too afraid to anything.
"You lied to yourself, saying that you've accepted this as fate..."
"But even fate can be altered as long as the will of rebellion remains!"
Just as suddenly as it came, the pain went away. Opening his eyes again, Akira could feel something on his face. It was a mask.
A slick, plain black domino mask.
Without a word, Akira gripped the edge of the mask and tore. It felt like tearing a piece of his face away, but for someway... it felt like the right thing to do.
A blaze of power and blue flame surrounded him, as well as a sense of power and freedom. Emerging from the flame, Akira found that he's no longer wearing his Shujin uniform.
Now, he was wearing a suit that reminded him of Gekkoukan's uniform, but the jacket was changed into something akin to a plain black trench coat, a top hat on his head while his hands were covered with black gloves.
And a large figure floated behind him. It was similar to Akira's costume, but it faces was covered by a plain black mask, holding a revolver in his right hand while his left hand was morphed into a hybrid between a hand and a claw.
"I am thou, thou art I. Thou who seek to protect, no matter the cost!"
"I am Moriarty, the mastermind and sinner! One who finds the way to our true desire!"
Summoning a scythe from thin air, Akira pointed it right at Kamoshida, his other hand held on to the tip of his hat.
"I'm not going to run away, Kamoshida." He said.
"I'm going to stay, and I'm going to fight!"
(To be continued)
Preview:
Awakened, Ichijo Akira broke free from the shackles holding him back. However, his past still caught up to him.
The days keep on progressing, with the presence of Kamoshida still looming over everyone.
And unexpected calling for Suzui Shiho, and another turn of events.
However, the seed of what's to come still had been laid.
Next Chapter:
"The Volleyball Slaves"
Stay Tuned!
