Chapter One – Monster

Katou Juri transfers into Kamishiro Yuugo's middle school on the day of the boy's fifteenth birthday. Yuugo notices, of course, but he is the only one to notice the significance of the date except for Arata, who ias friendly and eager and the cockiest kid in class. Though that might just be because he's already been outgrowing the entire class for years and outdoing everyone where it matters. Or where he thinks it does. Yuugo, with nothing better to do than excel, excel, excel and wait to be noticed (and fail of course), beats him every single time.

They both lose to some girl named Ami though, but she is very sweet (achingly familiar and eager to please in a different way) and often offers him chocolate on Valentine's Day in private. Still stings though.

The only one who remembers his birthday is him, so when Arata announces that his senior Chitose has seen a girl walking into their building alone on his own way from work, Yuugo pretends to be interested, if only to glean the .

"He said she's cute," Arata adds, rolling his eyes. "Stupid flirt. What's he see in girls?"

"What you see in Ryuji, probably," Yuugo mutters.

Arata blushed and ducked his head. "It's different."

"It's really not." His friend has a crush, and it is cute and stupid. He doesn't judge. "You guys can't help your taste in eye candy."

"Yuugo, what the hell."

Yuugo grinns into his shirt sleeve and ignores the pang in his chest that no one knows and no one asks what's going on with him. It's probably safer anyway. If it got back to Miss Rie that he was feeling vulnerable or upset, she'd make dinners with his father even more uncomfortable because she pretended to care and that was still more than his father did, even if it was to take over the company through the shadows.

Had to give her credit for the attempt, if dad didn't not want it so much, she'd be golden. As it is, he's just waiting for Yuugo to be old enough, or one of his subordinates that's not her to grow their business sense spine.

As his thoughts turned down that unhappy lane, the door to their classroom opens and in walks a redheaded girl. Not that girl he'd seen in Shibuya a couple of times, this girl's hair was darker and her eyes are round and brown and soft. She smiles at them and does the usual introductory routine. A few boys in the class, and a couple of girls, which is less surprising, look up with interest and curious little stares. Yuugo doesn't, really. She is cute, but he's got enough trouble without girls and his already pesky hormones.

Despite that, Yuugo's getting the strangest feeling that she's staring at him.

Lunch rolls around, and the room buzzes with activity with the new girl. She's all smiles, talks about Shinjuku like it's not a train ride away, and asks eagerly who everyone is and what they like.

Arata, already bored of her, sticks to playing a game on the non-login EDEN. If EDEN hadn't had a non VR setting they'd probably have crashed everything long ago. Wearable hotspots/logins were only a new fashion trend, and they were expensive to boot. As such,Yuugo debates imitating his bet friend, if only to steal his high score in Hunters of X again, which is a stupid game made by some kid when he was like, ten, but it's fun and Arata's investment in being the best is hilarious.

God, Yuugo hopes his only friend learns a bit more subtlety in the next few years. He's not gonna do well in adult life if he keeps being this obvious.

Not that I'm one to talk.

He sets his phone down and looks straight up into red hair and brown eyes. "Hello!" greets the transfer student, leaning back a bit.

Yuugo pauses to mourn his personal space and then answers carefully, with the smile he uses all the time now. "How can I help you?"

The girl's smile is, if possible, more uncomfortable than his. "I've been trying to find an easy way to login to EDEN and reach the medical facilities, for approval. One of my friends was transferred to the hospital near here recently. I need permission to visit him."

Yuugo blinks, baffled. "You can do that through the front desk, surely. I know the process has been streamlined…" It'd been one of his demands to his father, through Rie. It'd made him sick inside, but there'd been a few more cases since his sister so… it would look bad on the company if they didn't let people see.

So instead they just made it immensely difficult for it to happen. Figured.

"No, not really," she said with a shake of the head. "I'm still a minor and his parents are busy with everything so I was trying to get it started for them." She leaned close. "Do you think you can give me a way in?"

Yuugo frowned, skin crawling down his back as he thought about it. Why would she come to him? What could he know that no one else could? Unless… unless she knew… Unless this had to do with..?

She put a piece of paper on his desk, folded into a crane, and went back to her desk. People immediately let out wolf whistles and a few girls burned with jealousy. Arata was staring at the note, eyes narrowed. Then he grunted and turned away, even though lunch wasn't even close to over.

Yuugo looked at his friend's back, before shrugging and picking up the note to unfold it. As his fingers touched it, something like an electric shock raced up his skin and he saw a rush of images, none of them clear, all of them vivid and beautiful and-

Nostalgic.

He opened his eyes to see Kato Juri staring at him with a small smile on her face.

A knowing smile.