Persona 5: Daywatch
Monday, 11 April 2016
Early Morning
Yongen, Leblanc
Sojiro looked up from a cup of hot coffee as Akira trotted out in a crisp Shujin uniform. "You're really going to school." He scrutinized the youth.
Akira shot him a hooded gaze. "Your faith in me is touching. Surely I must be on the fast road to rehabilitation." He held up his hands wide. "Welcome, glorious civilization, here I come!"
"Don't get smart," Sojiro snapped, eyes narrow as he set a plate of curried rice down on the counter. "Just sit down and eat before customers start coming in."
Akira pulled up the bar chair, clasped his hands in prayer, then dug in. He jerked away. "Wow, this is good curry. As in really good."
Sojiro crossed his arms and struggled to look neutral, but the corners of his lips quirked up.
Despite the amazing flavor, the limited time pushed Akira to scarf down his first breakfast in Tokyo before pushing away. He gave a swift bow. "Thanks for the meal."
Sojiro's left eyebrow twitched, but he retained that watchful, neutral look. "Maybe you really do have manners after all. Hurry to school. You'll be late if you get lost."
Akira pulled his smart phone out and read the screen. "Weather report said there was a chance of rain. Do you have a spare umbrella?"
The middle-aged man shook his head. "Sorry, you'll have to buy one at the station."
Akira looked into his wallet. "I have four hundred yen, plus a thousand in the account. That should be enough."
Snorting, Sojiro shook his head. "You sure are new to Tokyo. No way are you going to find an umbrella for less than three thousand." When Akira's expression took a turn for the murderous, he opened up the register. "Here, two thousand, five hundred yen." When Akira's fingers closed on the bills despite his dubious expression, Sojiro held on. "This isn't a gift, this money belongs to the shop. You'll pay it back as soon as you can. You can start by flipping the sign open for me."
Monday, 11 April 2016
Morning
Aoyama
Akira trotted out of the station, coming to a stop under the first convenient business awning to pull out his phone and read the map. "Shit. There's no way I'm going to get there on time."
His scanning the map for a faster alternate route halted when a shapely set of legs and a little bit of black pleated skirt poking out from a white hoodie walked into his downward-directed view. The slim girl came to a stop under the same awning and brushed water off her damp sleeves. Her shoulders shifted from a weary breath, then she reached up to pull her hood down. Smooth, ash blonde hair cascaded down and Akira's breath hitched in his throat. Even through the warm hoodie extending past her waist, he could tell her curvaceous frame.
"Yes?" She asked, the controlled tone of somebody impatient but trying not to sound rude.
Akira opened his dry mouth, closed it, then opened it again. "I-is that a Shujin uniform?"
Her pretty, pale blue eyes flicked over him before fixing on his, the mask of indifference drawing back a little from the porcelain-skinned beauty. "Uh… yeah. Same as you."
Kicking himself for making a bad impression with the prettiest girl he laid eyes on, Akira blurted, "Sorry, I'm Akira. I'm a new transfer." He reached over the hand holding the umbrella. "Could you show me a fast way to Shujin Academy?"
Her blue eyes bore into his for several seconds before she reached for the umbrella, fingers not closing over it. "Takamaki. Even if we run, we'll still be late."
Akira adjusted the angle, inviting her to take the handle, allowing a confident smirk over his face. "Trust me, I can keep up. We used to practice parkour back home." He waited a moment for her to take the umbrella, and followed her at a strong run all the way to Shujin. She went one way as he turned for the office.
While she wore a lighter, orange-striped yellow shirt today, Kawakami looked almost identical to yesterday. Her hair and expression both looked frazzled, and she turned a cool glare on him. "You skipped the whole opening ceremony. Fashionably late may work in the country, but we expect punctuality in the city."
Akira fought to keep a snarl off his face. This wasn't Inuri High anymore, the only person to embarrass was himself. And if Sojiro was any indication, he'd have nobody to turn to. "The train lines have all been fouled up with that accident yesterday. I was expecting to be half an hour early."
She looked at his empty hands. "Didn't you even pick up your books?"
"No, Kawakami-sensei. I came straight here to check in." He bit his tongue to keep from throwing out 'like you asked yesterday'. People didn't like being reminded they asked for something unnecessary.
Her pen shot out, scratching out a signature on three separate forms in quick succession. "I don't have time for excuses. Let's just go." Collecting her binder, she led him to class 2-D. When another student tried to slip in behind her, she shot him the evil eye.
Akira took his spot up at the front for the requisite introduction of the transfer student. The almost twenty students chattered amongst themselves.
"That's the guy? He looks so normal," somebody in the middle of the room said.
Akira quirked an eyebrow, but held his tongue.
Kawakami plopped her binder down and came to a stop behind the front desk. She sounded as tired as she looked when she more pleaded than demanded, "Everyone settle down."
The back door slid open and another girl and boy slunk in, taking seats in the corner of the class behind Ann. Kawakami gave them both a good glare before continuing, "I understand some of you may have had problems with the subway. I expect you to adjust as needed. We start regular classes tomorrow, so there's no leeway time." She paused for a tired breath out, lifting a lazy hand in Akira's direction. "This is our transfer student. Introduce yourself."
Despite the weak beginning, he took a piece of chalk and wrote his whole name. People just asked more questions when he tried to drop the family name entirely. Done, he bowed to the class. "My name is Kurusu Akira. Please call me Akira. I look forward to attending school with all of you."
"Maybe it's one of those 'beware the quiet ones' types," one of the girls near the middle of the room said.
Ignoring the strange chatter, Kawakami waved her hand at empty seats near the middle. "Go sit down there for now. Share with somebody's books until you pick up yours."
Akira slipped in and sat down in front of a dark-haired male with his uniform suspenders hanging slack at his sides. It felt like everybody's eyes were on him as Kawakami begain routine administration. "Who's the class rep today?"
The boy behind him stood and gave a brief bow. "Mishima." As the teacher wrote, he called out, "All rise."
Monday, 11 April 2016
Lunchtime
Shujin, Cafeteria
Belly growling, Akira stepped into the cafeteria and took in the scent of soy and fish, splurging on the grilled fish lunch.
"Look out, I hear that guy's with the creeps in Shibuya."
Akira paused, glancing around for the source of the muttering, but the amount of movement made it impossible. Nobody met his eyes and most scurried away from him. Muttering under his breath, he glanced for candid cameras. This treatment would make sense if he was still at Inuri High, but he hadn't made a terror of himself here. Finally, he spotted somebody who didn't look away. The blond bombshell he met at the train station, sitting across from a pretty girl with a black ponytail. Akira slid over to a seat on the other side of the table and pasted on a smile. "Hi. I'm surprised to see nobody else already sitting here. Do you mind?"
"Wow, first day and he's already hitting on Kamoshida's bitch? He really must be looking for an early grave."
A snarl flashed over Ann's face.
The transfer student gave a polite nod to the dark-haired girl next to Ann. "I'm Akira."
The dark-haired girl gave a shy smile and Akira's stomach flipped. She looked him in the eye, gathering her courage. "Suzui Shiho. Are you… really the transfer student?"
Wondering what her tone meant, Akira decided to play it off as if people weren't giving him weird looks. He thrust out his chest and smirked. "Yeah. I finally escaped from the boonies."
Ann squared her shoulders. "But it's nice out in the country, Kurusu-san."
His hands tensed on his chopsticks. "Would it be too much to ask to call me Akira? Just Akira is fine."
Shiho's phone chirped and she snatched it up, reading the incoming text. Her mouth twisted in embarrassment, but also curled up at the corners. She looked up and across the room until meeting eyes with Akira's class representative. Her stance softened and she beamed a soft smile that made the whole room seem warm and pleasant.
Swallowing at the sudden butterflies in his stomach from eavesdropping on a lovers' silent exchange, he coughed into his hand and struggled to think of something to say before something stupid came out. "So, um… I heard this place has quite the athletics program."
Shiho looked at him, seeming pleased with herself. "Oh, yes. The volleyball team's been to the national championships for the past four years in a row. Last year we even won."
Akira tapped his fingertips on the table a couple of times. His 'sports' back at Inuri High tended to involve running from the police. Father Motoori was clear he needed to leave those things at Inuri. "Um… good for you."
Ann looked offended for some reason. "That's all?" She crossed her arms, elbows on the table. "Shiho-san was even on the team then." She flashed a smile filled with haughty pride at Shiho. "She's even one of our starters when we go to nationals in a couple weeks."
Shiho's shoulders drooped and her head fell enough for the overhead lighting to look like it cast deep shadows in her eyes. "It's not so big a deal. After all, volleyball and Yuu-chan's all I have."
"Oh," Akira said, looking up from his fish. "I didn't want to demean your role or anything. It's just that when I looked up the school website last week, I didn't see almost anything in the way of fine arts programs or recreational clubs."
Shiho sat back in her plastic folding chair, eyes rolling up in thought for a moment. "Well, that would be more Kosei High. We're an athletics and academic place."
Akira pursed his lips. "I'm just not looking for a sports program. Father Motoori said I should use this change in venue to apply a little more of my mind and a little less of my muscle, and he's always given me good advice in the past. I'm studying to be a chiropractor."
"Really?" Shiho said, looking Akira over with the first undiscriminating curiosity he saw since setting foot in Tokyo.
"Yeah," he looked down at his food, trying not to blush at the first sign of interest from a pretty girl. The fact that she had such bright, soft eyes only made it harder. "My family would never allow me to do anything outside of medicine, but I don't want to be a researcher. I'd rather help heal people. Chiropractics is something that's small-scale and cheap enough that I can be easily approachable, but also can offer the weary and pained some immediate relief so I get to see my patients walk away with a smile."
Ann raised an eyebrow, scanning him as if expecting a disguise. "Are you for real?"
"Why?" Akira shot back, free hand curling into a fist and his right tensing on his chopsticks. "Is there something strange about that?"
Shiho gave him a genuine smile. The kind that nudged her shoulders up and made her eyes sparkle, besides making the whole room seem warmer. "Not at all, I think it's a very good goal to work towards. It's something good for society and good for you."
Akira swallowed, his mouth suddenly dry and butterflies dancing in his stomach, knowing he lost the battle to keep the blush from his face. "Thanks, Suzui-san. Say, do one of you want this?" He held up a plastic-wrapped pink-frosting-covered dessert.
Ann opened it by the time he realized she swiped it from his fingers. At least she smiled as she said, "Donations of sweets are always appreciated. Maybe you're a good guy after all."
Akira swallowed a large chunk of grilled fish, deciding while good it wasn't worth the yen. "Well, if volleyball's really the only thing going on, should I come by and watch one of the practice games? It's not like we have a chess or medicine club."
Shiho tensed. "No!"
Akira blinked and glanced around, wondering what happened. "Huh?"
Ann flashed a plastic smile, her shoulders and body posture indicating general anxiety like Shiho but also hostility aimed at himself. "She means you should get settled in before you try to join a club. Keep your eyes open, you know?"
Akira shrugged and picked up another bite of sushi rice before looking back at Shiho's slow settling down. Once she seemed back to normal, they settled into meaningless small talk and Akira felt a smile on his face.
Monday, 11 April 2016
After School
Shujin, Hall near North Stairs
Pacing out from the student guidance office with his books, Akira adjusted his school satchel and headed down the stairs for what he thought was the library. Before even getting halfway to the first floor, he saw Ann trudging out from class 2-D. She angled for the stairs when a tall, muscular man in a white shirt and dark blue track trousers walked up to her from the hallway further down. "Hey there, Takamaki."
Ann's leg twitched, shifting her weight to the balls of her feet and her body angling away from him.
He either ignored or took no notice of the stark change in her stance. "I saw you running to school with that transfer student."
Ann's shoulders pinched up, her fingers clenching over her book bag. She shifted, still refusing to look him in the eyes. "Oh, was that him?"
The muscled, towering man waved an arm, something a little too practiced about it to be genuine dismissal. "And I heard he was with you at lunch. Be careful around him. He's got a criminal record. Assault, I hear."
Her attention perked at that, though she cringed with it. "I see." She shifted the strap of her book bag, and Akira noted his opaque blue umbrella still tucked into the bottom loops.
The tall man reached a supplicating hand toward her. "You look tired after a long day. Could I give you a lift home?" He reached his hand out to take her shoulder, only managing the lightest, briefest of touches.
Ann flinched, a brief tremor passing through her body. She angled her face and body even further away, not quite daring to let him out of her peripheral vision. "Sorry, I have a photoshoot today. It's for a summer issue, I can't afford to miss it."
The towering man let out a sympathetic sigh even as his torso tightened with impatient annoyance, stark lines appearing at his neck. "I feel bad keeping your best friend at practice so often. That's why I asked you out in the first place."
Somebody stopped next to the stairs below him, and a young female voice asked, "Oh, hello."
Akira stumbled away, trying not to look like he was eavesdropping.
A girl with curly, auburn hair stood there in a pink cardigan. She held two large books between her hands, and sent him the same wary look as most students had been all day. "Are you lost?"
Akira paced down to the first floor so he at least stood on the same level as her, and slid his hands into his pockets. "Uh… no. Just getting a feel for the school's layout. It's different than the last one."
The girl scanned him, holding her books against her chest. "You're the transfer student?"
He knew he shouldn't be surprised that most students knew there was a transfer student, but this sounded like yet another instance of everybody hearing about him and having some strange expectation where they preferred to avoid him like a leper. He pushed on a nervous smile. "That's right. Name's Akira, second year."
The girl inclined her head, standing straighter. "Haru, third year."
Akira leaned against the wall nearby, keeping his eyes on her. He wondered why she didn't give her full name like normal introductions, but if he was going to do his damnedest to distance himself from his name, who was he to deny her the same right? "Do you mind if I ask you a question, Haru-senpai? Since you've been attending here for the past two years?"
She gave a wary nod.
"Why does everyone seem so skittish here?" Akira brushed a hand backwards through his hair. "I'm not especially surprised about all the rumors – we're all teenagers, after all – but it's like everyone's looking over their shoulders. And a bunch of people keep giving me this look like they're expecting something to happen."
Haru's shoulders drooped and she clutched her books tight to her chest. "Oh. W-well, I don't like to gossip," she stuttered.
Akira bit down a 'bullshit, you're a teenage girl'.
"I'm sure most of it's just the pressure," she explained. "Shujin Academy is a somewhat prestigious academic school, and a lot of the student body are probably just concerned about keeping up and earning a letter of recommendation to their first choice college."
Akira rotated his shoulder to work out a kink. "So there's nobody I need to watch out for or anything?"
Her eyes fell. "O-o-oh, I don't know."
After scanning her nervous posture, he couldn't decide if she was just that timid or if something else was up. He gave her a self-deprecating smile. "Just me, then. That's okay, Senpai. Thank you." Snapping straight, he gave her a picture-perfect British salute and marched away.
Haru watched him leave. "That wasn't what I expected of him."
Monday, 11 April 2016
Late Afternoon
Yongen, Leblanc
Sojiro wiped a wide circle over the counter, stopping when the bell tinged. Looking up, he saw Akira trot inside with a dark book bag. "So, you did go to school today."
"Nope," Akira said back with a flat tone, "I spent all the time at arcades with those fat stacks of cash I smuggled in."
Sojiro sighed, wondering if the kid was always this mouthy. "Just… don't get into trouble. There's already plenty of eyes on you waiting for you to slip up."
Akira's shoulders fell and his gaze hardened. "Right. Because it's so easy to be a model citizen even when people back up and give me room to fucking breathe."
As Sojiro tried to think of a way to tell the kid to just let things pass by, his phone rang. Recognizing her number, he answered and listened for a moment. "Okay, okay. Just give me a minute to lock up." Closing the call, he turned a hard look on Akira. "I'm heading out. Don't go wandering around."
Akira grumped right back. "Fine. I still haven't finished cleaning upstairs."