Chapter 2:

Down the Rabbit Hole

As the boy ran through the streets for cover, Akira couldn't help but curse himself for not checking the weather beforehand.

The rain had soaked his uniform and hair, making his first day at school already unpleasant even before he arrived at the place properly. All around him, students wearing the dark Shujin uniform could be seen walking and talking, most of them carrying umbrellas or rain capes to protect themselves from the, while not heavy, extremely annoying water from the skies. It hadn't been hard to memorize the trainline he had to take, the only issue being the packed cars and huge lines ate every step of the way, something that was apparently commonplace in Tokyo, the beating heart of Japan. How could people get used to it, he wondered.

Finally, he took cover in front of some fashion store, trying to dry himself at the best of his capability, which was not much considering his clothes were already too wet and humid for him to even pretend he hadn't took the rain face first. He gave up after half a minute, simply leaning on the wall and sighing, quietly waiting for the rain to subside. There was still some time, after all.

While he watched people walking on the streets, he wondered how things would be at Shujin: the prospect of changing schools was never attractive to him, even before being slapped with a criminal record. It was change of pace, of friendships, of routine, of everything, no to mention his newfound hesitation to interact with colleagues. He had no way of knowing whether people knew about his probation, but figured that such thing were naturally interesting gossips: the criminal transfer student, coming to shook our good and peaceful school.

He clicked his tongue in annoyance, already dreading the whole thing. His plan, as always, was to keep quiet and keep his head down, even at the cost of his already hurt pride. He could not, in any form or capacity, cause or be involved in trouble, no matter how small it was. Any sign of trouble would warrant his expulsion and a stay at Juvenile Rehabilitation, a fate worse than death in his opinion.

Keep quiet and keep your head down.

Keep quiet and keep your head down.

"Excuse me, can you tell me what time it is?"

Keep quiet and-

"Huh?", Akira mumbled, raising his head in confusion.

In front of him, stood a tall man with piercing yellow eyes that made Akira quietly gasp and recoil for a second. Wearing a blue suit and an equally blue patterned coconut hat above his silver hair, the man adjusted the scarf around his neck with one hand, while the other casually held an umbrella, protecting its owner and the probably expensive clothing from the rain.

"I asked you the time", the man bluntly repeated in his deep voice, staring at him intently.

For a moment, Akira had lost all words: the man's appearance was too uncanny for even Tokyo's standards, if the internet was to be believed, but it was the way the man looked at him that made Akira hesitant. Was he some weirdo? Some crazy guy? Was he in danger? While he was no weakling, the man's stature was all that he needed to see to be sure he would not win a fight there.

"U-Uh", Akira started, fumbling his pocket for his phone. "It's 7… 7:13."

The man showed no reaction, continuing to simply glare at him as if there was something either very interesting or very despicable on Akira's face. The boy started to get nervous, not too thrilled about being stopped by some freak on his first day of school.

"Sir?", he asked after a few seconds, time in which the man didn't even move a muscle. The stranger leaned his head sideways, squinting his eyes.

"Do you feel it?", the stranger asked, making Akira lift a brow in confusion.

"What?"

"Change is coming. Or rather, an spectacle so bombastic that the entire world will feel its consequences", he answered, placing a hand on his pocket. Akira tensed at that move, readying himself to sprint in case he tried anything. "I wonder if you'll be leading it… or drowning on the mud of ignorance."

What the fuck was he talking about? Akira breathed, calming himself before slowly trying to reason with the lunatic.

"Sir… I don't know what you want, if it is money or anything like that, but…", he started. But what?, he questioned himself mentally. "... if you continue to bother me, I'll have to call the police."

The man once again showed no reaction for some time, before slowly taking his hand off his pocket once again. Akira braced himself for a knife or a gun or anything, but the thing the stranger held was something entirely different.

A blue butterfly, casually perched on the man's finger and slowly flapping its wings. Akira's eyes widened in surprise, something that the man took notice.

"I assumed that an awakening would be necessary, but it seems you already have what it takes", he once again spoke in riddles. "Perhaps just a little push will suffice."

With a gentle movement of his finger, the stranger made the butterfly move and fly around in the air before landing on Akira's phone, which he now noticed he still held in his hands.

Before he could say anything, the butterfly glowed.

"Well then…let's start the game", he heard the stranger say quietly. Akira gasped and blinked, raising his head to face the stranger once again. His tricks were quite impressive, and whatever nonsense he was spouting surely made sense inside his head, but he really needed to-

But the stranger, along with the butterfly, was already gone.

"Hey, are you okay?", another voice came from beside him, different from the one before.

Akira blinked in confusion at the disappearance of the stranger, looking around him for any clue of his whereabouts before noticing the person that had asked him a question. And when he did, he had to control his own jaw so it didn't drop.

The girl's blonde hair was the first thing he noticed: the color of sand, lazily reflecting the daylight and tied in two ponytails, one on each side of her head. Her face seemed to be, for a lack of a better expression, sculpted to perfection, with a small nose and pink lips open, her green eyes showing some concern over Akira, for some reason or another.

"What?", he asked, now stunned not only by the bizarre man that talked to him earlier, but the beauty that stood there talking to him.

"Oh, sorry", she apologized, waving a hand dismissively. "You seemed like you weren't well, so I got worried. You were spacing out, looking at nowhere, so I thought something had happened."

Akira raised a brow at her words: spacing out? Wasn't he talking to that stranger just a few seconds ago? And when did that girl get there? He didn't notice her arrival before.

"What the…", he paused, deciding to not talk about it. Was the man just an hallucination? He seemed like it: the bizarre get up, his weird yellow eyes and that strange blue butterfly all looked like something straight from a dream. "I-I'm okay, thank you."

The blonde smiled and tightened the grip on her bag, making Akira look down and notice she was wearing the same Shujin uniform as him. Well, 'the same' was not exactly true: while the boy did his best to wear his uniform prim and proper, as a normal and uneventful student would, the girl wore a white sports jacket above hers along with red stockings covering her legs, something he didn't see any other female student on the street wear. She seemed to have some fashion sense, apparently.

He quickly got his bearings back, turning his gaze away from the girl: he didn't want to creep her out with his stare. His mind raced for a few seconds, thinking about the strange events that seemed to be happening around him on the last few days: the lack of cuts on his hands, where he gripped broken glasses with all the strength of his grip; the strange cat carrying something with its tail as if it was entirely natural; the weirdo that just spoke cryptic things and disappeared suddenly. All these things made him consider that he was losing his mind: maybe the events of the last month had messed him in the head? It wasn't a far fetched idea. The stress and frustration had brought him on the brink of rage more times than he could count. He began considering if he hadn't gone mad.

But then again, if he was questioning his own mental faculties, didn't that mean he was still sane?

Suddenly, a car pulled over, interrupting his train of thoughts. The window was rolled down, revealing a large muscular man on the driver's seat, his curly hair coming down on the sides of his head and his chin larger than anyone's Akira had seen in his life. The man smiled, not at him, but at the blonde girl besides him.

"Hey, Takamaki-chan!", he called in a overtly casual tone. "It's raining pretty hard, would you like a ride?"

In the corner of his eye, he saw the blonde flinch. He raised a brow not only at that, but the whole situation: did she knew this man? Or it was just another weirdo? To his surprise, her reaction was simply to smile forcefully and nod her head, walking towards the car's door. After she sat down, the man turned to him, still smiling.

"What about you?", he asked.

Before Akira could even formulate a response, the look on the man's eyes spelled everything to him: "fuck off". Even if he was smiling, his glare was a simple and effective warning, his eyes glinting in an unspoken threat. Akira stood silent for a moment, before forcing himself to smile and wave, denying the ride.

"Suit yourself", the man kept smiling while he rolled up the window and started the car, driving away and leaving Akira alone. The last thing he saw was the girl's downcast face, before the car disappeared from his sight.

Akira didn't have time to ponder about the situation before hearing loud footsteps approaching him, making the boy turn to his side to see the source of the noise: another Shujin student was running at all speed in his direction, huffing and sweating as he passed by Akira e came to an abrupt stop.

He growled and kicked the ground in frustration, scratching his head. "Shit, they got away. Screw that pervy teacher!"

"Pervy… teacher?", Akira repeated, confused.

His phone rumbled suddenly, making the boy look down to check it. To his surprise, a strange app icon appeared out of nowhere: it was blue, with an stylized V as its symbol, the icon itself vibrating within the phone's screen. Akira raised a brow, but before he could react, the other student suddenly approached him with an angry posture.

"Who the hell are you?", he demanded, leaning on Akira with a scowl. "You gonna rat me out to Kamoshida?"

The phone vibrated again, but Akira didn't notice: he was distracted by the stranger's abrasive attitude towards him, seemingly out of nowhere. The other boy had his hair dyed blonde, even more yellow than the girl who entered the car previously, and wore an outfit more appropriate to a delinquent than a student: his uniform was open and crumpled, showing a red shirt with 'no mo rulez' written in a stylized way. His suspender hanged besides his Shujin pants, with his hands inside his pockets as he eyed Akira with scrutiny.

Akira, taken aback for a second, simply blurted a question. "Kamoshida?"

"Yeah, Kamoshida! Who do you think that was?", the blond barked, before his expression became one of confusion. "Wait, you don't know Kamoshida? You're Shujin, right? How the hell you don't know him?"

"Uh, i just got here. I'm a transfer student", Akira explained, now a bit annoyed by the blond's jump to conclusions. "I have no idea who this Kamoshida is."

The other boy blinked for a second, before scratching the back of his head embarrassed. "Oh shit, sorry about that. I thought you were going to snitch on me", he apologized, returning his scowl. "But some advice: stay away from Kamoshida. That creep is nothing but trouble!"

Akira nodded, still a bit confused. "R-Right, okay", he agreed, now considering the advice for real: the look on that guy's face wasn't very friendly, even with the wide smile he wore. He planned to keep his distance. "No need to tell me twice. He's got a weird vibe about him."

Akira winced internally after the words left his mouth. Don't say shit like that so carelessly! Shut up and keep you he-

"I know, right!", the blonde nodded vigorously, interrupting Akira's thoughts. "Even some new guy like you could tell! It's like its written on his face, 'i'm an asshole!'"

Akira paused, a bit surprised. He had grown so accustomed to keep his opinions to himself that someone actually agreeing with him was something to take notice of. Of course, considering the apparent delinquent he was speaking to, he wasn't surprised that the other boy shared his view. It seemed that he and that teacher had some history.

"Oh shit!", he suddenly cursed, looking at his phone. "It's almost First Period! We gotta go!"

Akira cursed internally after checking his own phone and confirming it: if he didn't run, he would be late. But the other thing that caught his attention was the weird app from before: it was now pulsating even harder, like it was loading something. Akira quickly swept the app towards the trash bin, deleting it. Fucking malwares. He should clean his phone some time.

"Come on, I know a shortcut", the blond called him, pointing at some alley not far from where they stood. Akira considered his options for a few seconds, before coming to the conclusion that he didn't have a choice: being late for school would be the death of him, after all.

As they made their way towards the school, Akira pondered about the blond in front of him, wondering what kind of person he was. He didn't react in any negative way after finding out he was a transfer student, on the contrary: he seemed relieved. Could that mean that his reputation hadn't reached the school? Akira could only hope. Other than that, he seemed like an OK guy, contrasting with his obviously abrasive attitude. Akira wondered of he should make any friends at Shujin, but never had placed much thought on it: who knew how they would treat them there?

But his social nature got the better of him, making Akira speed up and walk alongside the other boy.

"I'm sorry, i didn't introduce myself", he said, a bit too politely. "I'm Akira Kurusu, second year."

The blond was taken by surprise, apparently not used to people talking to him like that. Was it because of his politeness, or because not many people even spoke with him? His attitude usually drove people back, by Akira's experience.

"Oh, damn, you're right", he snickered. "Name's Ryuji Sakamoto, second year too. You just got here, right? What class you in?"

They entered the alley, making their way across trash cans and one or two puddles.

"Don't know yet", Akira answered, getting more comfortable with the conversation. "My homeroom teacher is… well, a woman with short brown hair? Kinda small?", he gesture towards his chest, where he deducted the woman's height reached.

"Oohh, that's Kawakami, so you're in 2-D", he explained, before scrunching his face. "Man, good luck. I hear she's been on a bad mood lately."

Akira nodded, remembering the woman's distaste towards him when they met, and apparently to everything around her. Just his luck: couldn't he be on a class with a less sour teacher?

The dark haired boy let curiosity get the better of him after a few moments, remembering what happened before.

"What about that Kamoshida guy? Is he a teacher too?", he asked, making the Ryuji scoff.

"Yeah, he teaches P.E., along with coaching the Volleyball team", he explained. "I meant what I said, though: stay away from him. He's gonna make you life hell."

'Great', thought Akira. Every teacher in the school seemed to be terrible in some degree, but that was usually the norm instead of the exception. Every school had a favorite teacher, after all: he wondered who was Shujin's.

"Is he as bad as it sounds?", he questioned the blond. "You called him… what was it again?"

"A fucking pervert", Ryuji didn't miss a beat, venom on his words. "I see how he looks at the girls, but nobody does a damn thing: he's an Olympic Champion, get it? 'Suguru Kamoshida, Pride of Shujin Academy' and all that shit. Besides, the volleyball team is always… bruised, beaten. His training is fucked up."

Akira raised a brow, now even less eager to enter school. "What? And nobody does a thing?"

" 'course not. They just kiss his ass and let him do whatever he wants", he spoke with anger, rubbing his leg for a second. "It's like he's a king in a castle or some shit like that. Treats students like his slaves."

Akira's phone rumbled, making him slide it off his pocket and take a look at the screen. His eyes widened and he let out a gasp.

"Hey, we're finally there!", said Ryuji, pointing forwards. "Just by the end of the alley. Come on, we're screwed if someone catches us being so late!"

Akira stopped on his tracks, not even listening to Ryuji's words, too busy staring at his phone's screen: the blue app was there again, this time open. The logo was splattered on the screen, a cursive V as a pattern behind three text boxes. While strange in itself, it was the content of the boxes that startled Akira.

Shujin Academy.

Castle.

Suguru Kamoshida.

Was… was that app listening their conversation? Was it some of those spy softwares he had heard in passing about? What the hell was wrong with his phone?

Ryuji noticed his delay, turning back to face Akira with a brow raised. "Hey, you coming or not? We're gonna be late!"

A second after hearing these words, Akira's finger brushed on the phone's touchscreen by accident, making the object vibrate and a robotic voice to come out of it.

"Shujin Academy. Castle. Suguru Kamoshida", the voice listed, making Akira flinch. "Beginning navigation. Thank you for using『Velvet Underground』."

"What the-", Akira heard Ryuji begin to ask, before everything around them started to warp and change, distortion spreading on the ground, walls and even the air around them with a sickly red and purple color.

They disappeared from the alley, an unheard scream on their throats.

"... is she hot?"

Josuke clicked his tongue in annoyance, adjusting the phone on his ear.

"Godammit, Okuyasu, what does that have to do with anything?", he questioned his longtime friend, who seemed to be munching some well deserved lunch on the other side of the line. If it was Tonio's, he would kill Okayasu.

After a few seconds, Superintendent Okuyasu Nijimura finished chewing his food, releasing a moderately loud burp. He returned to the call.

"Well, I mean, you said she practically wanted to kick you out of the building judging by the way she looks and talks to you", said Okuyasu, snickering. "So I figured: 'well, my bro is gonna have a field day'."

"That's some shitty logic, man. What does that even mean?"

"Oh, don't even try to lie to me, you dog!", Okuyasu barked. "I know you like it! Remember Rina? From last summer?"

"Okuyasu, she was clinically insane."

"Uh, yeah, but you were still chasing after her like a puppy! I know you more than you know yourself, bro. Just ask Koichi."

"S-Shuddup!", Josuke pleaded, exasperated. He cleared his throat. "Anyway, did Jotaro-san call?", he asked, desperate to change the subject.

Okuyasu resumed his lunch, judging by the sounds he was making. "Nobe, not a word. He did say he would be gone for a while, right? Something about that Giovanna fella? Did he say anything to you?"

"Nah, he just said it was Foundation business. Some shady stuff, by the looks of it", Josuke sighed. If Jotaro were here, things would be so much easier.

"Speaking of shady", Okuyasu snickered again, his voice now closer to the receiver. "You went to any red light district yet? Had any fun?"

"Okay, that's it. Bye, Okuyasu!", he groaned in frustration, his finger going straight for the 'end call' button.

"Oioioioi, Josuke! Wait! You forgot something!", Okuyasu pleaded on the other side, making Josuke raise a brow.

"What?"

There was silence for a few seconds, before Josuke began to feel the shit eating grin on Okuyasu's face.

"Is she hot or not?"

"Okuyasu, I swear to god, I-"

"Detective Higashikata", a stern voice called him from the door of his office, making Josuke quickly turn. Lo and behold, Sae Niijima stood there, arms crossed and a serious expression on her face.

"Ohh, so she is hot, I can tell by her vo-"

Josuke quickly ended the call, placing his phone on his desk and smiling towards Niijima.

"How can I help you, Niijima-san?"

The woman raised a brow, before shaking her head with a sigh. "Follow me. I need to introduce you to someone", she simply stated, before turning to look at Josuke's computer screen. "I assume you've read the files I sent you?"

"Of course", he answered, truthfully: he spent the entire night skimming through the dozens of cases registered on the last few months. Mental shutdowns, psychotic breakdowns, all sorts of freak accidents and tragedies caused by unknown means. "I even came up with a few conclusions", he added, rising from his seat and accompanying Sae, the two making their way through the corridors of the SIU.

"Really?", Sae questioned in a not-really-impressed tone. "Then by all means, speak your mind."

Josuke adjusted his tie, ready to be scrutinized once again, like all previous interactions with the ice cold Prosecutor.

"Well, most of the victims seemed to be in high ranking positions, like government officers, ministers or Zaibatsu members", he explained, ignoring the looks from the other officers who they passed along the corridor. "The last incident involved the Minister of Transport, even if the victim itself was the machinist. With that, we can assume there are no coincidences: whoever is behind it has a clear agenda. If common people were targeted, most would assume it to be simply the consequence of stress."

"That is obvious, Detective", Sae replied, not even looking at him. Both entered the elevator, with the woman pressing the Floor button. "It doesn't take a genius to make such connections. The question here is who and why they are doing this, and most importantly how. You simply stated what they are doing."

Josuke fidgeted on the spot, placing his hands on his pockets. "You have to admit this is like no case anyone in Japan has ever seen, Niijima-san. We don't have any evidence or trustworthy witnesses, so it's to be expected that this investigation would be in a slump."

"Yes, and apparently their solution was to send some country boy to help in the investigation", Sae replied with venom. "With the amount of fingers already messing it up, I only expect that you don't mess it up even more."

Josuke tried to ignore her icy words, staring at the floor's number. 24. Fuck, it would be a long ride.

"I'm trying to help, Niijima-san. This kind of issue cannot be solved by some small team, no matter how good they are at their jobs", Josuke argumented, trying to reason with her. "I know my methods are different from city detectives and prosecutors, but I think there's good in viewing the case in another light. Maybe more evidence will come up."

"Oh, really?", Sae suddenly turned to him, her glare cutting holes on him. "So tell me: what revolutionary method of investigation could you bring to this case?"

'My ghost friend can punch really hard', he considered answering, but instead simply cleared his throat.

"Field investigation. I have contacts with the ground police, I could serve as a better proxy between them and the Investigation Team", he explained, this time being honest: he had a few acquaintances on the Tokyo Force, with only a few of them being Foundation connections. Josuke was nothing if not social. "Gathering information from close relatives, witnesses where we can find them, whoever is connected to the cases even if by mere chance. I have experience from my days on the force."

She scoffed. "This is very different from arresting vagrants, Detective."

"People have eyes and ears, Prosecutor", he answered, now a bit annoyed by her cold demeanor. While he understood her behaviour, it was starting to test his patience. "And, as you know, people nowadays tend to distrust government officials and higher ups like yourself, no offense. I know how to talk with civilians, trust me: it was my job."

Sae scowled, definitely offended.

"This is not some rural town, Detective. We can't simply conquer their hearts and minds, or whatever it is that you intend: we need to search for evidence in a city with more than 9 million habitants", she argued, waving her right hand. "We don't have time to meticulously investigate every corner of every block where every person connected to the victims lives. We need solid evidence, not some wild goose chase."

"Isn't that what you've been doing until this point?", Josuke placed his hands on his hips, leaning on her direction with a scowl of his own. "Why are you so against a change of tactics?!"

"Simply because I don't trust your ability to even grasp the dimension of this case", Sae spat back, crossing her arms and standing in front of him, the two now entering a staring contest.

Josuke took a deep breath, trying to calm himself. No good would come off antagonizing the prosecutor, he knew that, but her behaviour made it very difficult.

Even so, he took the bait.

"And why is that, Prosecutor?"

She closed a bit of the distance between the two, allowing Josuke to see every detail of her brown iris' glaring at him with contempt.

"Because I simply don't trust your skills, 'detective'. It's easy to reach high places when you have the right connections, right?", she spat, making Josuke freeze at her words. "Joestar might not be around anymore, but I assume he gave his son considerable help with his rising careers before he passed, am I wrong?"

She leaned back, scoffing. "I simply cannot trust the skills of someone like that. Someone unwilling to fight for his own place, unwilling to sacrifice anything for his own future", she said, before deciding to twist the knife even further. "You are simply the product of other people's efforts."

Something deep inside Sae stirred, trying to hold back her venomous words. It was entirely too cruel, after all: to mention his late father, to diminish his career entirely, to belittle his ability to do his job. Even so, she had her own reasons: he was not needed in the case. She was simply stating the truth, hoping he would back off.

She was entirely wrong.

Josuke held back for long seconds, his teeth gritting and his glare turning into a cold look which made Sae widen her eyes. He slowly closed the distance between them, leaning on her once again.

"Listen to me, prosecutor", he started, his voice devoid of any of the life it held before. "I don't know what kind of conclusions go off in your head to make you say something like that, but let me be clear on one thing: you don't know me."

"You can despise me, try to take me off the case, give me the cold shoulder, but never, never try to assume you know the things I have been through before. You think I'm some simple yokel on his first time in the big city? Fine, it's not far from the truth. You wanna tell me that just because my father was Joseph Joestar I'm a fruit of nepotism? Some golden bastard who suddenly saw himself with a yellow brick road towards his future? Fine, think what you want."

"But you never, ever, say that I made no sacrifice. That I never lost anything, that I never saw any friends die in front of me. You wouldn't understand half the shit I had to do to be alive today, half the shit I had to do to protect those I care about."

He paused for a moment, watching Sae stand her ground with a mix of confusion and defiance on her face.

"Never for a moment I thought of belittling your own efforts, Niijima. You know why?", he asked, not waiting for her response. "Because I hate people who judge by the cover. I don't know you, i don't know what took you to get here, and I don't know what 'sacrifices' you had to make. I respect you."

"And in return, I expect some respect back. Are we clear?"

The staring contest continued for a while, their noses almost touching as none of them were willing to back down. Sae stared at the deep green of his eyes, full of defiance and fire, while Josuke stared back at her brown orbs filled with wavering judgement. Sae mulled over his words internally, but held her ground as a matter of honor. No matter what that infuriating man said, she would not be put down.

Josuke prayed that his words made her come to her senses even if a little bit, tired of her constant doubts about him. His little speech was the better he could do, fueled by the anger her words had stirred on him. That infuriating woman had no right to question his own trials and sacrifices.

Before any of them could say a word, the elevator stopped with a ding, its doors opening. A single person stood in front of it, suddenly gasping at the scene: Sae Niijima and Josuke Higashikata staring each other down, so close and with so much anger in the air it was a miracle no one had thrown a punch.

"Am I interrupting something?", Goro Akechi innocently asked, with a silly smile on his face.

To be Continued -

A/N: Hello again, my dudes. I'm considering making the chapters longer, at least 10k words long. Make sure to state your preference by reviewing the chapter.

Also, another important note: a few months back, I finished Royal.

I guess you know what that means.

After much consideration, I decided to incorporate elements from the new stuff (mostly characters), so be advised: There will be Royal spoilers :(

So, from this moment onwards, this will be a P5/Royal/JoJo fic. For anyone worried about pacing, relax: I'll be making severe changes, enough so the story has a proper structure.

And, as it's not yet clear, a lot of shit will be different from Persona and JoJo canon, but almost exclusively regarding the rules of metaverse stuff, how stealing of hearts work, Velvet Room, gods of control, Stands and stuff like that. It is a crossover after all.

See you next time.