Chapter 1: The Castle of Lust/Shujin Academy
November 11th
-"Hey. Can you hear me? It's time to wake up!"-said a noisy voice all of the sudden. She didn't want to wake up. She couldn't move properly. Why can't that voice leave her alone?
-"Wake up! Kazumi Asaka!"-the voice exclaimed and she woke up at its call. She tried to clarify her sight and rubbed her eyes, just to find out that she had cuffs on them. Oh right. The police caught her before she lost her consciousness.
-"I see you are finally awake."-the voice that spoke was now the one from the woman with silver hair and a gray office suit.
-"Sign here."-said the voice of the man that was screaming at her earlier-"It's a declaration on your name."
Kazumi looked away from the paper as she refused to sign such thing. She was totally blocked about the situation. How did she ended up there? How did that woman caught her?
-"I recommend you to behave if you want to get out of this place alive."-said the woman-"No one in this station will have mercy of you, a Phantom Thief, even if you're a minor."
-"Fine."-she clenched her teeth before taking the pen and signing a form of declaration for her crimes as a Phantom Thief. The male officer retired after collecting the form and said to the woman to be careful with her.
-"We are finally alone."-said the woman-"I couldn't believe it myself after your clothes changed but it's all true. You are Kazumi Asaka indeed."
-"This is the interrogation room. The police injected you with truth serum so you better cooperate."-she continued-"I, Prosecutor Sae Nijima, will cover your case. Tell me everything that happened with the Phantom Thieves."
-"What exactly do you want to know?"-Kazumi asked while she saw the woman in front
-"Start from the beginning, from when you became a Phantom Thief."-she asked while crossing her arms
-"This will be a long story then."-she said-"I won't mention any names though."
-"No problem. I will be hearing every detail."-she said as she was confident that she could solve the case even without that.
-"You already know the details of my criminal record after all. So, let me start with when I arrived to Tokyo for my probation…."
April 9th…
Kazumi woke up after a nap. The train travel was tiring after all. On her surroundings, people were talking about many current news. Two girls in front called her attention as they were talking about something called mental breakdowns:
-"Mental breakdowns? To a person?"-asked one of the girls to her friend-"That's gotta be a joke!"
-"You are really into this cult stuff aren't you?"
Kazumi ignored them at this point as the announcer of the train said that they will be arriving to the last station, Shibuya. From there, Kazumi used her phone's GPS to get to the Ginza line while walking on the busy streets of Shibuya. Suddenly, a strange icon with the form of a red eye in a black background appeared on her touch screen, blocking her GPS app:
-"What is this?"-she asked as tried to press the icon but nothing happened. She noticed something strange on her surroundings and saw that all the people, who were previously walking, stopped like they were frozen in time. Kazumi looked up confused. She was the only one who was moving.
Under one of the big screens of Shibuya, she noticed a blue fire emerging. The fire took a form somewhat familiar. Kazumi looked at it hypnotized. She had a feeling that this was similar to that weird dream about the blue room. Inside the fire, the face of a girl, similar to her but with yellow eyes, rose and Kazumi blinked. All of the sudden, everything went back to normal.
-"Agh…"-she groaned-"Daydreaming huh?"-she looked at her phone and saw the same icon but this time she was able to move it around and decided to send it to the recycle bin.
Later, she arrived by train to the Yongen-Jaya station. This was the station near to her new residence. She came out of the station and looked for the house of her guardian, Sojiro Sakura, who will be taking care of her during her probation.
Arriving to the located neighborhood,Kazumi approached to a police officer in the corner of the street:
-"Excuse me."-she called for his attention
-"Yes?"-asked the officer
-"I will like to ask for directions. I'm looking for the house in this address."-she said as she showed the address on a paper to the officer
-"That residence? Well, it is in an alley a bit further on the back. Turn to the right on that apartment with stairs that you see there."-he said as he pointed out the direction
-"I see. Thank you very much."-she vowed in respect before going towards there.
When she turned to the right, she heard a kid asking to her mother if another accident occurred but she calmed the girl saying that the police officer in the corner was just there for patrolling. Kazumi kept walking until she was in front of the Sakura residence:
-"This must be the place."-she said as she touched the ring bell but nobody answered-"Nobody's home I guess…"
-"Nobody answered huh?"-said a voice behind her and she saw a parcel delivery man-"Oh yeah, Sakura-san is at his café at this time."
-"Well, LeBlanc is on the back of the alley so I'll leave it at last and go to my next delivery…"-he said for himself as he went back on his vehicle.
-"Café LeBlanc, huh?"-she murmured and went back to the alley while looking for that place on her GPS. She finally arrived at a small and very shabby place with the name "Coffee & Curry: Café LeBlanc."
-"This one should be."-she said before putting her phone back on the pocket. Kazumi shook her uniform just in case she had dirt on it and fixed her glasses before she went inside.
The Café was just as small and shabby inside as it was outside, she thought. On her sight, she saw an elderly couple and a middle-aged man with a pink t-shirt, white pants, a black apron and glasses sitting in front of them while solving a crossword.
The TV on the back was showing the news about a bus accident. The elders were discussing about while the middle-aged man wasn't paying any attention to it. Kazumi decided to get their attention:
-"Good afternoon…"-she said as the people inside paid attention to her. The middle-aged man saw her and spoke:
-"Oh right. That was today."-he said as he put the crossword on the table
-"Well then, we will be going now."-said the old man-"The payment is on the table."
-"Thanks for coming."-said the owner of the place, the middle-aged man.
-"Well, this place is on the back of the alley so no car accident can occur here."-said the old woman
-"A what now?"
-"You know, all these strange accidents happening. It will be difficult to step outside with safety."-said the old man
-"That's not of my concern."-said the man as the two elders left. They didn't seem offended by his ignorance.
-"Ugh...Four hours for just a single cup of joe."-he complained and paid attention to the girl-"So, you're Kazumi."
-"Yes. Please take care of me."-she said in a quiet voice while vowing to him in respect.
-"Uh-huh."-he said in a tone of disbelief-"I'm Sojiro Sakura. You'll be under my custody over the next year."
-"I was wondering what kind of unruly kid will show up. But it's you, huh?"-he said with a smug smile-"Have you been told? Your reason to being here was because your father is a faithful customer of mine when he travels to Tokyo and…"
-"Well not that it matters…"-he cut the conversation-"Follow me. I'll show you your room."
-"Ok."-she nodded as she followed him upstairs of the Café. They ended in the attic of it where everything was a disaster. It looked like nobody had cleaned that place in years. At the back of the attic, there was also a mattress with a couple of sheets.
-"This is your room. I gave you a mattress and a couple of sheets at least."-he said as he saw the shocked face of the girl-"What is it? It looks like you want to say something."
-"Well. This room is big…?"-she said in a nervous tone
-"It's up to you to clean up the rest."-he said-"I'll lock up after I finish each day."
-"You will be alone at night. So don't do anything reckless or I'll throw you out, understood?"
-"...I suppose that's fair."-she replied-"I won't be causing any troubles then."
-"I hope so."-said Sojiro with a serious look-"I get the hist of your situation."
-"You were unsatisfied with the police work and decided to take hands on your brother's death, the woman you thought was involved caught you in a trap, you were arrested and the court and your parents ordered you to move here."-he said in a summary to which Kazumi nodded obediently.-"So basically they got rid of you for being a pain in the ass."
-"Listen girl. That is what you get for trying to fight a showdown you can't win."-he scolded her-"Now that you are here, you better behave yourself for the whole year and your probation will be lifted."
-"A whole year, huh…"-she murmured before she sighed
-"We'll be going to Shujin Academy tomorrow. The school you will be attending."-Sojiro said-"There's barely any place who will take you after all. What a waste of my Sunday…"
-"Oh right. Your luggage arrived earlier."-he said as he faced towards a box in a shelf-"I left them over there."
-"Yes. Thank you, Sakura-san."-she said to the man.
-"Not to get familiar but I don't mind if you call me Sojiro."-he said before he went downstairs.
After Sojiro was out of sight, Kazumi checked her luggage. Inside the box, there was clothes and items for daily life necessities. She decided to change her uniform into casual clothes: a white turtleneck shirt, black sleeveless sweater, brown skirt, long socks and white shoes.
After that, she decided to draw the box back on the shelf:
-"Well. This is my room now."-she said-"The least I can do to start this new life is cleaning. I'll ask Sojiro for some cleaning goods."
Kazumi went downstairs and asked the man for such items. He was surprised that the girl had the energy to clean up but left her alone with that. In her room, Kazumi cleaned the dust on the windows of her room and other furniture. She placed the bags with coffee beans in a shelf, mopped the floor, dusted her bed and placed the sheets in an organized way. By the time she finished, it was already the evening.
Sojiro entered to her room after knocking the door and noticed surprised that she left the place better than it looked at the beginning of the day:
-"I must admit it doesn't look that bad."-he said-"I didn't expect you to clean as soon as you came."
-"I'm used to clean my house anyways."-she said while sitting on the bed
-"You must be tired. It'll be wise if you went to sleep now. I'll close the Café and go home."-he said-"We have a long day tomorrow."
-"Uhm, Sojiro-san."-she interrupted him-"Is it fine if I ask you a question?"
-"What is it?"-he asked confused
-"Are you living alone in that house?"-she asked. Sojiro's expression suddenly turned cold.-"Do you have any familiars I should know?"
-"It's not of your business, girl."-he said with a sharp tone-"If you dislike this place, I can always talk to your father about this."
-"Wait. That's not what I meant…!"-she said nervous-"I was curious. That's all."
-"Ugh."-Sojiro sighed-"I'll forget you just asked me that. It's bad to get involved in the life of the adults, you know?"
-"Well. Good night."-he said before leaving the room.
-"I was trying to be nice…"-she murmured before she dropped herself on the bed-"Whatever. It is expected that someone like me will be treated like this after what happened."
-"..."-she remained silent while remembering what happened yesterday-"Even in my own dreams, I'm judged."
Kazumi changed on her jade colored pajamas and went to sleep. Her phone rang and when she pulled up, she saw the same app icon of the eye:
-"Again this?"-she asked herself deleting it again-"I thought I deleted it before."
She went to bed after that. Tomorrow she will go to her new school and surely her guardian will be pissed off if she was late.
April 10th…
Kazumi was arranging her hair on the mirror that morning. Sojiro knocked the door and entered at her signal:
-"Good morning."-she said to the man who was using a grey coat and a fedora hat this time
-"Uhm."-he nodded as greeting-"You seem to be ready to go."
-"Remember that we are just going to meet the staff of the school."-he said-"It is located in the Aoyama district. You better remember this as you will be going on train from tomorrow on. Today, I'll give you a ride."
-"I appreciate it."-she said in a respectful voice following Sojiro downstairs.
Shortly, they arrived at the gates of the school after parking the car on the street. Sojiro stopped and turned towards her:
-"Do me a favor and behave yourself ok?"-he said-"I don't want you to cause me any trouble."
-"Roger…"-she said unanimously. As he hasn't said that already.
They went inside the school and right to the Principal's office. The Principal was really obese man, bald, with a yellow suit and a red tie. Next to him was a woman on her early thirties, she was using a yellow striped sweater and a long jean skirt. Her hair was short and frizzy as Kazumi's and it was brown.
-"Just to reiterate, if you cause any troubles, you will be expelled from the school."-said the Principal-"I myself was doubtful of accepting you due to your circumstances but something else came up…"
-"I hope you remember that if you are expelled, no other school will be willing to take you on."-he clarified.-"She will be your homeroom teacher."-he said while introducing the woman next to him.
-"I'm Sadayo Kawakami."-she said with an apathetic attitude-"Here is your student ID."-she passed Kazumi a card with her photo and her name on it.
-"Make sure to read the school rules. If you cause any trouble you will be sent to the guidance office. I will not be able to protect you at all in that case."-she kept saying-"That is your promise right? Principal Kobayakawa?"
-"She will be responsible for her actions."-he nodded
-"But seriously why me though? I'm sure there was someone more experienced."-she complained
-"It was a sudden transfer and your class was the only one with spaces available."-he replied.
-"If you are done explaining, mind if we get going?"-Sojiro interrupted-"I have a business to go back to."
-"Sakura-san, please keep an eye on her."-said the Principal
-"I know. We'll have a serious conversation about the situation she's in."-he said
-"Asaka-san, make sure to come to the faculty office as soon as you come to school tomorrow."- Sadayo said before they went out and Kazumi nodded.
After that, Sojiro and Kazumi walked through the halls and he said: "They are treating you as a nuisance…"
-"I guess your past follows you wherever you go."-he took a box of cigarettes from his pocket-"With that in mind, if they expelled you, I'll have to kick you out ok?"
-"...I'll be careful."-she said with a look down. The adults around her passed from being figures of respect to a bunch of prejudiced monsters. However, looking at Sojiro, she taught that maybe it wasn't going to be like that all the time.
-"Man, what a pain. I seriously don't want to treat a girl like this but I have no other choices on the issue."-he said as they went back to the car and he was lighting his cigar.
While they were on their way home, back at the school, Ms. Kawakami was complaining about Kazumi with one of her colleagues, a teacher wearing a jersey. He complained too as he thought his achievements improved the school's reputation as Kawakami implied it was the motive why Kazumi was accepted at the school.
Sojiro's car was stuck due to the transit and he was thinking in high voice about how rumors about Kazumi will affect him too. He was already starting to regret that he took her in but he was already paid for that:
-"Why did you took me in, Sojiro-san?"-Kazumi asked.
-"I was asked to by your father and I happened...to agree to it."-he said-"Social links are a powerful thing, you know?"
-"Uhm."-she nodded while Sojiro was turning on the radio. The news on the radio were talking about a subway accident.
-"Another accident? There has been a lot of those lately."-Sojiro commented-"I wonder what is happening with this country…"
On the TV, the news were also reporting about the accident. The driver of the train was found unconscious with his eyes totally blank and blood pouring from them. Previously, he was going at maximum speed until the train crashed against a passenger platform and some of the wagons turned around. The ones watching this report were the SUI Director, an old man with a blue suit, glasses and the top of his head was bald, and Sae Nijima, a woman with silver hair and gray suit.
The director mentioned that with the accident, the transport company couldn't deny their crime of negligence about the poor state of the rails. Sae was more interested on the state of the driver however, as it followed the symptoms of a psychotic breakdown which it was her case to study. The director invited her for a drink but she cordially refused to it.
Later, she reunited with a handsome boy, a high schooler perhaps, with a mid-long brown hair, dark brown eyes and dressed with a gray coat, white shirt, a blue striped tie and wearing black gloves:
-"Did you call for me?"-he said in his charming voice-"Is it a case?"
-"Not quite. I want your opinion on something"-Sae replied.
-"Sure. Your judgement is often correct though. Can we discuss this over a sushi perhaps?"-the boy asked with a quite insisting look on his face, which Sae was ignoring as she walked forward.-"You are making a student working until late, after all."
-"Coffee and that only."-she replied at which the student showed disappointment. (I'm sorry, this part does not have subtitles on the game so I made up the last line.)
On the evening, Sojiro and Kazumi finally arrived to the Café. Sojiro complained about how he couldn't open the Café for the whole day. Kazumi apologized as she felt a bit guilty about it but Sojiro didn't blame her at all. When they went up her room, he gave her a diary to take note of her daily activities:
-"You're not limited to anything during your probation, except to follow the law that is."-he said-"I can't keep and eye on you all the time so make sure to report all your activities in this diary."
He received a call of someone. Kazumi noticed how relaxed Sojiro looked while talking to that person. Was it a woman perhaps? Maybe she'll ask him someday when he wasn't so wary about her. Sojiro left the place to close the Café and Kazumi took the diary from the table:
-"I better do as I've been said for now…"-she thought as she took a pen and registered her activities from yesterday and today in point form.
-"Tomorrow will be my first day...I better get some rest."-she said as she was going to change in her pajamas but then, she heard something ringing on the distance.-"That's not my phone…"
She went closer to the exit of the attic and realized that it came from downstairs:
-"Oh right. There's an old phone on the entrance."-she remembered as she went downstairs and answered the phone. It was Sojiro, who asked her to change the sign of the place from OPEN to CLOSED.
After she did that, Kazumi went to bed as she was checking her transport for tomorrow. The rare app appeared again and she deleted it and rebooted her phone to finally get rid of it. After that, she went to sleep.
April 11th…
Kazumi woke up on time and dressed herself on her new uniform before going downstairs. She found Sojiro behind the serving bar:
-"Good morning."-she greeted him
-"I see that you have decided to actually go to school."-he said surprised-"I made you breakfast, here."
-"Curry…?"-she asked confused as the meal was not really a breakfast after all
-"What's with that look?"-Sojiro asked-"Hurry up or you'll be late for school."
-"Yes!"-she exclaimed as she sat down to eat-"Let's eat…"-she said as she took a spoonful of the curry on her mouth. Unexpectedly, she felt like she was in heaven. Her eyes shone and she proceeded to eat more, leaving the dish clean like if it was recently washed.
-"Thanks for the food."-she said with a smile to Sojiro while taking her backpack on her shoulder
-"It's nice to see you have modals."-he said-"Already then, now hurry up to school."
-"I'll be going then."-she said as she left the door
-"Ah! And flip the signal outside for me, ok?"-he mentioned before she was gone.-"Try to not get lost country girl."
Kazumi flipped the sign. On her way to Yongen-Jaya station, she greeted a few of the neighbors she saw on the morning.
In Yongen-Jaya, she took the train towards the east and got down on Shibuya. Now she had to take the line to Aoyama-Itchome...if she could figure out which one it was. She went lost for a while on that station until she took the right line. When she arrived at the station, she was surprised by a sudden rain. "Early spring really sucks", she thought.
Kazumi ran towards a retail shop with a stretched roof to refuge from the rain. As she was checking her phone for the hour, she noticed someone refuging under the same roof. She paid attention to the person who took off her hood revealing her beautiful ash blonde hair in twintails and blue eyes. It was a girl of her age.
-"So pretty…"-she said out loud drawing the attention of the other girl. She looked at her with a smile.
-"Well. Thank you."-she answered before looking away.
-"I'm sorry. I have never seen someone like you before."-Kazumi replied-"You look really like a model."
-"Do you go to Shujin Academy by any chance?"-she said after she noticed they had the same uniform
-"Yes, that's right."-the blonde girl answered-"I haven't seen you before though."
-"I'm a transfer student. This will be my first day."-Kazumi replied with a smile-"Uhmm...If you don't mind…"-before saying anything else, a car stopped in front of them. The driver, a man with a big jawline and dressed on sporting clothes,turned towards them.
-"Hey. Do you need a ride? You're going to be late for school otherwise."-he said
-"Of course. Thank you."-said the blonde girl going towards the car while waving her hand to Kazumi in a goodbye.
-"Do you need a ride too?"-he asked to Kazumi
-"I'll be fine, thank you."-she said rejecting his offer. He didn't say anything and while he put the windows up, Kazumi could see the girl having a sad expression on her face.
After the car left, Kazumi sighed and said for herself:
-"I was just trying to make a friend though…"
-"Damn it. Screw that pervy teacher!"-exclaimed someone in front of her and she noticed a vulgar guy with tinted blonde hair and maroon eyes. He was surely using the Shujin uniform but it was confusing since he had a scandalous yellow shirt with the script "No Mo' Rules" over it.
-"Pervy teacher?"-she said as she noticed the app of the icon opening on her screen. The vulgar went towards her with a very menacing expression.
-"What do you want? You planning on rattin' me out to Kamoshida?"-he asked as he was close to her.
-"Kamoshida…?"-she asked confused
-"In that car right now, it was Kamoshida."-he clarified confused by her answer
-"He does whatever the hell he wants. Who does he think he is- the King of a Castle? Don't you agree?"-he said while looking away on rage.
Kazumi noted that the app also registered the word castle and thought that the situation was getting weirder:
-"I don't really know what are you talking about…"-she replied to the boy
-"Huh? So you don't know Kamoshida? Are you for real!?"-he said surprised
-"I certainly don't since it's my first day…"-she said while moving one of her bangs behind her ear
-"So you are a transfer student?"-he asked and she nodded in response-"Well. That explains a lot."
He checked the rain and it wasn't as heavy as before:
-"This rain ain't too bad. We better hurry up to get to school on time."-he said as he started to walk and Kazumi followed him-"Damn it. I wanna go home."
Back to interrogation
Kazumi tried to put her thoughts together to continue the story. Sae asked then:
-"I'm sure you remember that back then, there was a subway accident don't you?"-Kazumi paid attention to her-"And are you conscious about the public uproar about 'Psychotic breakdown accidents'?"
-"I might have heard about them."-Kazumi answered
-"You say that like it's none of your business."-Sae answered with seriousness-"It was all over the news and one of the victims included a teacher from your school."
-"That day...were you still an ordinary student?"-Sae asked
-"..."-Kazumi went silent as she didn't know what she was referring as "ordinary"
-"Let me change the question."-the Prosecutor said-"You transferred to Shujin Academy just as a normal high school student that can be found in any city…"
-"What happened around that time?"-she asked-"Tell me everything truthfully."
-"I will try then…"-Kazumi said.
Take your time.