Phantom Dragon Rising

by pokemonrox7

Society was broken. And Akira's wings were shredded by the shards. After a single night tore all Akira loved from him, he finds himself in Tokyo, living out an unjust probation. Forging new bonds and entering an alternate dimension to change the hearts of the wicked? Well...he was the ward of the Dragon of Dojima; weirder things have happened.

2. Dragon in a Dry Land

"Mnnn...huh...?" Akira groaned as he slowly opened his eyes. For a moment, he didn't remember where he was. He raised his hand to his face to push up his faux glasses and rub the sleep from his eyes.

Ah yes, he knew where he was now. He was sat on a train, being carted to his new life at 300 kilometres an hour. Just lovely...

The wonderful blue oceans of Okinawa had long since been left behind. His home and his family had long since been left behind.

"It's better this way..." Akira reminded himself.

He pushed himself off the handrail he'd been resting his head on, wincing a little as the consequences of resting his head on a metal pole for about six hours became apparent to him. The left side of his face was throbbing and Akira was pretty sure that there was some kind of mark there. Hopefully, that would go away before he met this Sakura guy.

Still, props to the Japanese Transport System and their bullet trains; he hadn't budged even slightly during the ride. He definitely needed that sleep, as uncomfortable as it was. The past couple weeks of his life had made taking a nap next to impossible.

And yet, his nap had not come without a price. Nearly six hours of sitting in the same position had made his butt ache and caused his legs to fall asleep.

He groaned a little and stretched his body. There were a few small popping and cracking sounds that drew the attention of the passenger sitting next to Akira. He looked a little perturbed at the sounds Akira's body made but soon returned to looking at his phone.

Akira shifted a little in his seat and grunted as he felt the numbness in his legs. God, the pins and needles were going to be a bitch to deal with.

He tried to distract himself from the coming tingles by looking at the scenery blurring by. Since he'd been asleep, he hadn't seen the transition from Okinawan beauty to Tokyo's urban ingenuity. Okinawa wasn't exactly primitive, but it seemed a bit rural compared to Tokyo. He couldn't remember the last time he saw buildings this big in person.

At that moment, his attention was then grabbed by the small chime of the P.A system.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, thank you for riding with us today. We'll be arriving in Shibuya shortly. This is the last stop for this line. Please transfer here for all subway lines. The doors to your left will open..."

So, he'd be getting off this train soon. That fact alone filled him with all sorts of anxiety. Here he was, about to take his first steps into this bustling metropolis. He was to get off at Shibuya, then make his way to the subway lines where he would then reach Yongen-Jaya. Assuming he didn't get lost...

Who was he kidding? Of course he would.

With how fast he had gone through his meagre savings, he didn't even have enough to buy a map. He would have to rely on the goodwill of people to find his way. It was going to take a lot of getting used to when it came to catching public transport.

He winced as the pins and needles assaulted his legs and gripped the bar. He could feel the train start to slow down, indicating that it was pulling into the station. He hoped the tingling would abate before then.

Sparing one last look around the carriage that had been his home for the past six hours, he spotted a pair of girls, talking to each other and giggling. He didn't fully pay attention to them, but he heard bits and pieces, stuff like...mental shutdowns and occult stuff...?

Eh, it was probably just the latest anime or something. Nothing to do with him.

As the train ground to a stop, he managed to find his footing and get to his feet. They were still a little tingly but it was nothing that he couldn't handle. He picked up his bag containing all his worldly possessions and made his way to one of the left doors. There were a bunch of people who seemed ready to leave as soon as the doors opened. Akira couldn't help but wonder how many of these people had been unjustly accused and were now living out a probation in Tokyo.

Probably just him.

With the train now stopped, the doors hissed open, and everyone was free to leave. Businessmen, students, and parents with their children. People from all walks of life alighted from the train, and Akira was no exception. With how many people there were, he was practically shoved out onto the platform with nary a minute to prepare himself.

Akira found himself caught up in the crowd, jostled this way and that until he stumbled out onto the platform. He readjusted his grip on his bag and fixed up his glasses from that stampede as well.

Yeah, they still felt weird.

With little indication other than the occasional sign, Akira had no choice but to follow the mass of people exiting the station. He hoped he was going the right way as he walked out from the station. From there, he was immediately met with the sight of towering buildings, cars impatiently waiting for the roads to clear and hundreds of people, all walking in different directions, talking on their phones, laughing with friends.

So this was the famous Shibuya Crossing...

According to the signs he had seen, the subway was on the other side of this crossing. If he looked real close, he could definitely make out the entrance to the subway. Good. He was one rung below lost now.

Then he took a look at the crowd that he'd have to assimilate with and grumbled.

Well, he shouldn't waste time. His ride to Yongen-Jaya could be coming soon. He'd find out when he saw the timetable.

He took a deep breath and began to weave his way through the crowd, inching towards the subway. It was like he was swimming in a sea of people, all moving in their own currents. It was almost suffocating, compared to Okinawa. Everyone was walking like crazy, as if they were the most important person on the road and the sheer cacophony of countless people conversing was almost dizzying.

"...Hey Mommy, can we have a Big Bang Burger...?

"...and so, I told her that I didn't want the money back, just get me my designer shirts..."

"...let's see, it's supposed to be somewhere around here...

"...guys wait up, there's a rock in my shoe. THERE'S A ROCK IN MY-"

"Mmm, not in a drinking mood tonight either? I see, well the offer's always open..."

"...for goodness sake, how was I supposed to know what was going ooooooooooo..."

"Eh?" Akira's instincts started to kick in at that last one. Something didn't feel right.

He looked towards where that voice had come from. It appeared to be a businessman...who was frozen in place like a statue.

"What the...?" Akira muttered to himself, but that's when he started to hear the countless people that populated this crossing going silent, one by one.

He snapped his head back to the crossing and to his shock, found everybody frozen in place. As if time had come to a standstill.

For a moment, Akira just stared, looking at the hundreds of people in utter disbelief. He did a double take, but that only confirmed that the entirety of Shibuya Crossing had frozen. And it wasn't only the people. The billboards, the cars, and even the birds in the sky had come to a complete stop.

Was he...was he still asleep on the train? Was this a dream...?

No, everything had felt too real to be a dream. He knew that he stepped off that train, he knew that he had walked into Shibuya Crossing and he knew that right now, everything had been frozen in time.

Wait...something was moving!

He squinted and peered into the distance, trying to see what was happening. In the faraway spectators' section, he saw something blue and flickery, almost like flames. Before the countless still spectators, blue flames congregated and towered above them with a whoosh.

These were no ordinary flames; they had some kind of form and structure. They danced about as if alive, but also seemed as though it was not entirely under their control. Akira didn't know what to do but watch in astonishment.

Was it him, or were those flames...taking shape? They moved sluggishly at first, linking together like building blocks, each a different shade of blue depending on how hot it burned. The fire coalesced into an amorphous pyre and rose into the sky crazily.

It was...growing more solid, straightening out into a humanlike figure. Akira could make out a broad-shouldered humanoid outline made of flames that seemed to glow from within, but with arms hanging low.

And at that moment...a face stared out from the azure conflagration. It was smiling manically as it stared forward with golden, unsettling eyes.

Eyes looking straight at him...

And within a blink, everything returned back to normal. Shibuya restarted like time hadn't frozen at all and that strange entity was nowhere to be seen.

"The hell...?" Akira whispered to himself. What on earth was going on? Was he the only one to see what just happened?

He didn't even have the time to think about anything before he was barged into by some random guy.

Hey-" Akira began to say. But his aggressor hadn't even had the decency to stick around to say sorry and vanished into the crowd within a second. The tides of the crowd took him, and if Akira didn't want that to happen again, he needed to get moving himself.

He forced his legs to move, one step in front of the other. All the while, he was looking all around, trying to find a glimpse of that strange fire, and that weird being that emerged from it.

He found nothing...

Was that just some kind of weird hallucination then? It had to have been, right? Time stopping, plumes of fire appearing with weird creatures as their heralds.

Maybe he hadn't got as restful of a nap on the train as he thought, or maybe he was just super stressed. He certainly had a surplus of things to be upset about.

Yeah, nothing like that could ever happen in reality. Forget about it and move on...

---

"A... cafe?" Akira questioned aloud as he stood out the front of a quaint little establishment. The sign up top read 'LeBlanc Coffee and Curry'

According to the delivery person that he spoke to out the front of Sojiro Sakura's house, this was where Akira would find the man.

He had been given the runaround when it came to getting here. He missed the first train to Yongen-Jaya and had to ask when the next one would be. A helpful staff member set him on the right path, so he was only about half an hour late in getting to his new neighbourhood.

Tracking down Sojiro's address was easy, but when he knocked, he received no reply. He tried looking into the windows, but the only one that he could find had the blinds drawn, though now that he thought about it he felt a curious gaze aimed at him from that window...

But it was hardly the time to pursue his instincts. One helpful delivery person later and now he found himself in front of this cafe.

This was where he'd meet his caretaker for his year of probation. Akira couldn't help but wonder what kind of man Sojiro Sakura was. He did agree to shelter a "delinquent" like him, so he was either confident that he could keep Akira in line, or he really needed the money.

Well, it was time to meet him.

Akira placed his hand on the door and pushed it open. A bell above the door jingled as he walked inside. In doing so, he was immediately assaulted by the scent of brewing coffee and the almost intoxicating smell of spices. It made his stomach immediately yearn for a bite of whatever could produce such a delightful smell.

He hadn't had a proper meal for a long time. The past couple of weeks had been prison food, consisting of an apple, a bread roll and slop that tasted like wet paper.

Akira stood firm. He wouldn't make a bad first impression by asking for food. He already knew that he wouldn't be getting handouts.

To distract himself, he looked around the cafe. It was pretty much what he expected, with complicated gadgets that he could only assume were for coffee brewing. There was a doorway in the back that led to a small kitchen. Jars upon jars of coffee beans lined the shelves behind the counter, and there was even an old television tucked into the corner of the place, droning on about a news story involving a traffic accident.

The counter was lined with barstools and to the left there were several tables where people could sit and eat. Standard expectations for a cafe.

A cafe that didn't have too much business from the looks of it. There were only two seniors, presumably a couple, who were actually dining. Aside from a man leaning on the counter, reading a newspaper, there was no one else.

That man looked pretty old himself. Probably older than Kiryu. Definitely middle-aged. Based on the fact that he was wearing an apron, Akira assumed that this was the man he was searching for. Sojiro Sakura.

He looked pretty unassuming. Slicked back hair, a goatee so spiky that it could take an eye out and short-sighted if those spectacles were any indication. Cream pants and a pink shirt definitely didn't place this man as threatening, but Akira knew that this guy was responsible for his livelihood for the next year. It was best not to piss him off.

"Um...excuse me!" Akira asked.

"Hm?" The man looked up from his newspaper and took a look up and down Akira who was trying to look as polite and formal as possible.

"Are you Sakura-san? My name is Akira Kurusu." Akira didn't go into any detail concerning why he was here. He didn't want to create a scene when this guy still had customers around.

The man's grey eyes stared at Akira before widening in realisation.

"Ah, that's right. That was today, wasn't it?" He muttered, placing the paper down on the counter. "You were supposed to be here earlier. I was starting to think you wouldn't come." The man told Akira, crossing his arms. Based on his body language and the unwelcome tone of voice, Sojiro definitely didn't sound pleased to see him.

Well, a supposed juvenile wouldn't have many people jumping for joy.

"Urk...! S-Sorry about that, sir. I got a bit turned around when it came to the subway lines." Akira quickly apologized, bowing his head, hoping he appeared humble.

"Hm, well you seem to be polite, at least..." Sojiro grunted.

"Thank you, for the coffee, Sakura-san. The payment's on the table." The old man interjected as he and the woman stood up and began to shuffle out of their seats. It was clearly difficult for them.

"Would you two like a hand?" Akira found himself asking before he could stop himself.

"Oh, we're just fine, dear. But thank you for offering." The old lady smiled at Akira sweetly. Akira would be lying if that didn't make him feel kind of happy. He hadn't got a lot of kind smiles for a while. That happiness was quick to wilt when he caught Sojiro giving him the side-eye.

"I must say, Sakura-san, I always feel very cosy here. The atmosphere and the meals you provide are quite splendid, not to mention, there's no risk of a car crashing in here, haha!"

That...was a weird thing to say.

"What?" Sojiro asked, clearly thinking the same.

"Well, what with all of those strange incidents happening recently, it's rather concerning. I hope that nothing so terrible happens around here."

"That kind of stuff doesn't really matter to me," Sojiro said as he gave his shoulders a light shrug.

"I see...well, we'll see you next time." The elderly man said. Both he and his partner then started making their way out of the establishment, eventually leaving LeBlanc with another chime of the bell.

As soon as they were gone, Sojiro's seemed to deflate, and Akira likened it to him taking his customer service face off. Sojiro then looked to Akira, who was now quite conscious of the fact that he was alone in this place with his caretaker.

"Not even here for a minute, and you're already trying to endear yourself to my clientele?" Sojiro asked him in an accusatory tone.

"What? N-No! Not at all! I-I was just-"

"Forget it." Sojiro interrupted Akira's frenzied and scrambled defence. "Just don't bother the customers, got it?" He asked.

Akira silently nodded.

"So, you're Akira, right? My name is Sojiro Sakura, and you're going to be in my custody for the next year. I have to say though, I wasn't expecting you to be so...well, average. I expected someone more unruly. Tattoos, piercings, a rebellious haircut." Sojiro said, smirking a little. "But you look pretty normal."

"I...uh...well I'm glad that I...exceeded your expectations?" Akira asked more than replied. Was this guy messing with him? Just who was he expecting to take in?

"Hm..." Sakura grunted. "Well, I'm very distanced from your situation. One of my customers knows a guy, who knows a guy, who knows someone involved with your case. That news eventually made its way over to me. I'm about as random a pick as random can get."

Akira quirked his head. So this man was completely unconnected to the case but had volunteered anyway to be his caretaker?

"Now, follow me, I'll show you to your room." Sojiro turned away from Akira and waved his hand passively. He looked to be heading to the stairway at the opposite side of the cafe from the door.

He actually got a room? He was half convinced that he was just going to be made to sleep on the floor. Maybe a couch if he was lucky. But he had a room?

...

...

Wait. Show him his room?

In the cafe?

---

Well, Akira's expectations were low, but geez, this place was filthy!

Upstairs had led straight to a large attic area that was beyond filthy. There were tarps haphazardly thrown over a shelf and what looked like a workbench, spiderwebs everywhere he looked, boxes and trash bags were strewn about the place, mould growing in the corners, paint chipping off the walls. And the dust! The floor, the walls, everything was covered in what could have only been many years of dust. It was so musty that each breath caused suffocating specks to enter his nostrils.

Then he saw the window.

Target acquired.

"This is your room. For your probation, I'll have you living-h-hey!" Sojiro was cut off as Akira walked straight past him and reached for the windows.

"Sorry, Sakura-san, give me a second..." Akira replied, quickly unlatching the windows and giving them a tug. It took a couple of tries as they hadn't been used for a while. Eventually though, they opened with a shrill creak, allowing the first bit of fresh air that this room had seen in years to flow in.

"Yeesh...that's gonna need some WD-40..." Akira muttered to himself as he brushed his hands off. He then made his way back to Sojiro.

"Sorry about that Sakura-san. There's a lot of dust in here..." Akira said flatly, as if that was the only thing wrong with this room.

Sojiro had the decency to look a little ashamed at the state of the room that he was putting a kid in, but he brought back his stern face.

"Well, this is the best that you're gonna get. I'm not letting a delinquent like you live in my house." He said with an almost defensive tone. "In fact, I don't want you coming anywhere near my place, unless it's an emergency, got it?"

Akira was a bit put off by the man's reply but nodded his head regardless.

"Yes, sir." He answered. He turned his gaze back to the room he'd be staying in.

"There's a bed over there that I set up for you. I can give you sheets for it, but as for the rest of this room, it's up to you to clean it. You probably prefer a tidy space to live in." Sojiro told him.

Akira looked at the bed and grimaced. The "bed" was a futon rolled over some milk crates. It hardly looked comfortable. It'd be slightly more comfortable than that beat-up couch over there though.

"It...could use some TLC..." Akira muttered a small joke, but his delivery was much to be desired. Sojiro huffed in response.

"Well, you can "TLC" it on your own time." He told Akira. "Now, let me tell you how this is going to work." He held up one authoritative finger and Akira was suddenly reminded of one of Kiryu's lectures.

"Every night, I'll be leaving after I lock up. You'll be here alone, and during that time, I don't want you to do anything stupid. You will not steal anything. You will not break anything, and you will not sneak out. If you cause any trouble, I'll kick you out without a second thought, is that clear?"

Akira nodded. Sojiro was really laying down the law. That was expectable when you were bringing a juvenile into your home...well, place of business in this case.

"Good. So, how about we go over your situation?" Sojiro changed the subject. "You tried to protect some woman from being assaulted by a man, and the man sued you because you injured him. Right?" Sojiro recounted as he shifted his weight onto one foot. "That's what you get from trying to play white knight. You were expelled from your high school, got an assault on your record and you transferred here, all from trying to stick your nose where it didn't belong." Sojiro said.

"I barely did anything." Akira interjected bitterly "The ground kicked that guy's ass way more than I did."

"I don't care. The point is that you were sued and you were transferred here to live out your probation, and your parents are travelling so they don't even know what happened to you. What if they came home right now, only to learn that their son now has a criminal record?"

Akira had to hold back a small snicker. Yeah, that wouldn't be happening. Though, he could only hope that Morning Glory would continue to stay in the dark. They were a better match for Sojiro's query.

"Look, I don't wanna have to call up the people handling your case and tell them to throw you in juvie, so keep your head down, stay out of trouble, and come next year, your probation is lifted and you can get out of my hair," Sojiro explained.

"I got it. Um..." Akira raised his hand. "I was also supposed to go to a school here, right?" He asked.

"Yeah, Shujin Academy. It's the only school that would take you, so if you mess up there, you don't get any more chances. As a matter of fact, we're actually meeting with the staff tomorrow. Try not to make a bad first impression, alright?"

"Got it, don't worry. I'll behave myself." Akira replied.

"Yeah, yeah," Sojiro said before looking past Akira and down the stairs. "Now, you should probably get to cleaning this place up, you might need the space when the rest of your things arrive."

"My what?" Akira asked.

"Your luggage. It hasn't been delivered yet, but it should be some time today. You'll need space to put it, right? I hope it gets here before I have to close, I want to get home quick today." Sojiro commented with a sort of smug expression. That didn't amount to much though when Akira looked down at the ground silently and murmured something.

"What was that?" Sojiro questioned.

"Um...you don't need to bother with that, Sakura-san...I have all my luggage...right here..." Akira pat his canvas shoulder bag with a look akin to embarrassment.

"What...?" Sojiro replied, with widened eyes. "Don't tell me that you only brought enough stuff to fill that one bag!?" He asked incredulously. "You're supposed to be living here for a year!"

"I know. I know, but there were some issues at home and I had no choice but to buy just the bare essentials. A few outfits and some toiletries, and that's it." Akira replied with a grimace. It was clear that he wasn't proud of the fact.

"Christ, kid...you had to buy it? How much money do you have on you right now?"

Akira frowned at the closest Sojiro had come to looking concerned and dug into his pocket for his wallet. He opened it up and counted the coins inside before pocketing the wallet once more.

"217 yen..." Akira answered quietly.

"Oh for the love of...!" Sojiro palmed his face. The older man then took a deep breath and sighed. "There's no way to bring anything from your home?" He asked.

"No. B-But was planning on getting a few part-time jobs anyway. If I need anything else, I can just buy it with the money I earn."

Sojiro stared at Akira with a harsh look before he dug into his own pockets and took out a 1,000 yen note

"Here."

"Sakura-san?"

Sojiro handed Akira the note. "Look, it'll buy you a couple of uses with the laundromat and the bathhouse. Don't expect any more handouts though. As soon as you find a job, I expect you to pay me back. Don't go spending this on anything other than those two things, understand?" Sojiro told him.

"Y-Yeah. Uh, thank you..." Akira said, looking at the note. That was actually kind of thoughtful of Sojiro, despite how unwelcoming he'd been thus far.

He was wondering how he'd bathe or wash his clothes when he was living in a cafe that would presumably not have a washing machine or a bath.

"Now, if you're going to clean, I suggest you start now. You'll find everything you need in the bathroom downstairs. Then you can wash your uniform and have a bath before I lock up." He told Akira. "And try to keep the noise down. I'm still running a restaurant down here, and I don't need you bothering my customers."

Sojiro deemed that the conversation was over and turned on his heels to retreat down the stairs, leaving Akira alone.

Akira slowly walked over to the bed and he sat down. The motion caused some dust to kick up, which Akira waved away.

A whole year living here, of laying low and living out a probation that he didn't deserve. A year to earn as much money as he could to eventually pay off his lawsuit. A whole year...

And for what?

Even if he did survive this year in a new city, pay off the lawsuit and not draw attention to himself, it wasn't like he was aiming to get back what he lost. He wasn't allowed to. That was the choice that he made when he used the Florist to make him disappear from the only home that he'd ever known.

When his probation ended, there was nothing waiting for him there, nothing that he could come back to. What would happen then? Would he have to go back to living on the streets of Okinawa? Or maybe he'd need to travel so he didn't run into Kiryu or the others at Morning Glory at all.

Maybe Fukuoka? It seemed like a good place to disappear...

Or Yokohama? That city was vast and had options for homeless people.

Possibly Onomichi? He could probably find unorthodox ways to work there.

Or maybe he'd just find a cabin in the woods and live there for the rest of his life. It wasn't like he had anything else to look forward to.

That fucking drunkard. He really had ruined his life...

...

Well, he had a whole year here to consider his options, no point in spending the first hour of it sulking.

In any case, he had some cleaning to do. It should get his mind off these grim thoughts...

He stood up, walked downstairs, and entered the bathroom to collect the necessary tools. A mop, a bucket, some rags, a duster, a coarse brush and several solutions to make that room really shine.

He carried everything back up to the attic that was now his room, missing the glance that Sojiro shot at him before the man returned to brewing a cup of coffee.

If Sojiro had any expectations, he put them rather low. After all, how well could a delinquent like Akira clean?

Maybe he should have aimed his expectations a little higher, because if there was one trait that Akira shared with Kazuma Kiryu...

It was that they both had NEVER been able to take anything lightly, no matter how mundane.

110% OR BUST!

---

About two hours later, Sojiro decided to check on Akira. He had heard shuffling and clattering from upstairs, so the kid was obviously trying to clean.

He'd be the first to admit that how he'd set the kid up wasn't the greatest, but it was the only space that he had that he wasn't currently using. And setting him up in his own house was not in the cards at all. Not with all the issues that would come from it...

Sojiro looked at the floor behind the counter, where there was a small cardboard box. It had arrived a couple of days ago, and the guy who delivered it said that it was for the kid that he'd be taking on. He'd already checked the contents himself, and while initially confused about what was inside, the delivery person made some good points as to how these items would help with Akira's probation.

Well, he should probably give this to the kid before he forgot. There weren't any customers right now, so he had time.

Sojiro picked up the box and made his way to the stairs. "Hey, kid!" He called. "I've got something that I need to give you!"

He proceeded up the stairs to what he expected would be the same filthy attic.

He couldn't be any more wrong.

"Wh-What the hell!?" Sojiro gasped as soon as he laid eyes on the room. What had once been an amalgamation of dust, clutter and trash was now... unrecognisable from the one he had left just hours before.

The windows, once grimy and opaque, now shone with a brilliant clarity, letting in streams of late afternoon sunlight. The miscellaneous crap that had been shoved up here was gone, either neatly tucked away in one of the shelves or outright disposed of.

And the dust that had covered this room, he couldn't find a speck of it now, not on the table, not on the floor, not on the windowsill, nowhere! The place obviously needed some serious dusting but this went beyond thorough!

The tarps that had covered both the workbench and the other shelf had been removed. The shelf in particular had all the books that were previously loose in there stacked up on the bottom shelf with plenty of space to spare. The plant that would normally be buried under various pieces of junk now stood out as a decoration piece for the immaculate room.

Every speck, every stain, everything was clean all the way down to the railing for the stairway.

"The hell...were you a maid before you became a delinquent?" Sojiro asked with wide eyes. This place has gone from disgusting to cleaner than his own room!

That's when he noticed something missing from this scene. Namely Akira. He was nowhere to be seen in this room.

"Kid? Akira?" He called out. The hell he'd gone?

"Oh! I'll be done in a sec, Sakura-san!" A voice came from above.

"No way..." Sojiro thought. With a face that quickly twisted into one of disbelief, the man looked to the rafters...

Where he saw Akira standing on a beam, brushing away stray spiderwebs.

"What the hell are you doing up there!?" Sojiro cried in alarm.

"I'm getting the last of the spiderwebs?" Akira replied as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. He scraped along a corner to dust away a hard-to-reach web.

"Just...just get down here before you hurt yourself..." Sojiro groaned in an exasperated tone. Akira stared at him for a moment before he finished the job with a final swipe of his duster. Then he scooted off the beam and landed on the floor with a crouch.

"I don't want you doing that again. It's dangerous." Sojiro said sternly. "Get an extendable duster next time." He sighed. God, he barely started his probation and already he was being a problem.

Although, the room did look really nice...

"Sorry, Sakura-san, I was just confident that I could keep myself safe," Akira admitted. That comment caused Sojiro to raise a brow but he ended up dismissing it.

"Still, I'll give you credit where it's due, the room looks amazing," Sojiro admitted, a small smirk on his face.

"It's not done yet..."

"Huh?" The smile dropped from Sojiro's face. How could it not be done yet? Look at it, it was perfect!

"The beams on the wall have splinters and look worn, I'm going to need to sandpaper them so they look presentable."

"Er..."

"And the floor's covered in scratches, I can buff them out with some varnish. Maybe even do the beams too."

"Kid...?"

"There's also mould growing that I can't remove right now. I'll need some mould killer for that...oh, and some dehumidifiers to make sure that the dust stays gone..."

"Oh for the love of...!"

"Then there are the walls. I can get rid of the old paint and put on a fresh coat of waterproof paint that-"

"Alright, that's enough!" Sojiro interjected. Jeez, if Akira kept going he might talk about breaking down walls next. There was a passion in the teen's eyes that Sojiro didn't know if he wanted to be a part of.

"For goodness sake kid. You're here on probation, not to renovate my place of business!" He told him with a harsh voice. "That kind of stuff would cost ¥20000, easy. I'm not paying for it!" He told him.

"Well, yeah, I was. Once I get a job and save up enough, I can pay for that stuff myself." Akira answered.

Sojiro almost lashed out at Akira, but just by looking at the boy's face, he knew that Akira wasn't trying to get under his skin. He genuinely just wanted to improve this room as much as he could.

And would having him do so be such a bad thing. Maybe when he went back home, he could use the revitalised space for more customers?

Eh, food for thought.

"You know what you're doing with that kinda stuff?" Sojiro sighed.

Akira visibly hesitated and gave a small and nervous grin. "W-Well, they'll have instructions on the back?"

Sojiro was silent, and the only reason that he didn't palm his face was because he was currently holding the box.

Oh yeah. The box!

"Look, just...put that thought aside for now, I've got some things to give you..." Sojiro said as he put the box on the table. He then reached into it and grabbed the first item which was a small black book.

"This is a diary. Make sure you write in it." He ordered. "There's no particular limit to what you can and can't do during your probation, as long as you're following the law, so having a log of what you do daily will make it much easier for me when I need to report to your probation officer," Sojiro said. Akira nodded his head. "Alright, I'll do that." He replied

Sojiro tossed the book on the table and reached in for the other item in the box.

"Now, I can't begin to imagine why they gave a delinquent like you something like this, but they wanted to make sure that we could be in touch with one another as efficiently as possible."

With that, Sojiro withdrew the second item. And Akira's jaw dropped.

"Is that...a smartphone?" He asked.

"Yeah. It's supposed to have already had a plan put on it. You should be able to make calls, send messages, even play music and browse the internet, but you won't get a replacement if you lose that one. So be careful."

Akira stared at the phone in utter bewilderment. They were giving him a smartphone to use? Wow...nobody at Morning Glory even had a flip phone. Except for Kiryu, of course.

"That's an...oddly generous upgrade," Akira replied.

"You're telling me." Sojiro nodded. "I thought they made a mistake when they sent it, but all the paperwork says that it's official. So it's yours now. You should take some time to get used to it. Set it up and everything."

"I...okay. I'll do that then." Akira replied. He couldn't deny his excitement. After all, these things were all the rage nowadays and having one to play with sounded pretty awesome. Shiro would be so jealous.

"Now hold on, before you start fiddling with that, you should get cleaned up and wash your clothes for tomorrow. I close in an hour and a half. Take care of yourself and your clothes and be back here before then, understand?"

"Yes, Sakura-san." Akira gave an obedient nod. "Um, where is the bathhouse and the laundry?"

"Just down the road, on your right. The laundry is right next to the bathhouse. You can't miss it." He answered. "And don't stay up too late. I won't be taking care of you if you end up getting sick from not getting your eight hours." He told him.

"Er, yeah. I'll be careful, Sakura-san." Akira replied.

"Good. Now go." Sojiro stepped aside and allowed Akira to leave his room. The curly-haired teen quickly dug into his bag and took out a small bag of toiletries and a shirt and pants pair for pyjamas. Sojiro took an opportunity to peek inside the bag whilst Akira was doing so.

He...really didn't have anything other than what was in this bag. As if this kid's probation couldn't have been more gruelling...

Before Sojiro could say anything else, his phone began to ring. He dug into his pocket and looked at the Caller ID.

"I've gotta take this. Go on, get moving." He told Akira. He then answered the call. "Hey, what's up?" He asked, the stern voice that he'd been using all this time suddenly bleeding away to reveal a genuinely soothing and kind voice that took Akira by surprise.

"Sojiro...! Can't...go...on!"

"Hm? What's wrong?"

"The Featherman Kingdom is desolate...supplies running low. If this keeps up, we won't survive the winter!" The person on the other end gasped in a dramatic voice, feminine in tone.

Sojiro rolled his eyes at the goofy declaration.

"Seriously? That's what's wrong?" He asked with a grin. He vaguely registered Akira retreating downstairs with his bath stuff.

"This is serious! The Doriyaki veins have run dry and the only thing left in my inventory is half a bottle of soda and two pocky sticks!"

"Alright, alright. I'll pick something up on the way home, don't worry."

There was silence for a few seconds before the young voice spoke once more.

"Hey, Sojiro?"

"Yeah?"

"That guy that you were supposed to be taking in for the probation, he came today, right?"

"Yeah." Sojiro nodded.

"He hasn't, like...hurt you or broken anything, has he?"

"No, he hasn't. But you don't need to worry about him. I made sure to law down the law. If he messes up, he's gone." Sojiro assured her.

"I just... don't want him to do anything to you..." She whispered. That brought a small smile to Sojiro's lips. "He won't. I promise." He replied

He turned to look at the practically sparkling attic. "He doesn't seem like he'll be too hard to handle. He cleaned up the LeBlanc attic in only a couple of hours."

"No way, that pigsty? His stats must be maxed out!"

"I could send you a picture if you want."

"Pleasies~!"

Sojiro chuckled and snapped the requested pic before sending it to her.

"Holy crap!" The girl practically squealed. "His stats really ARE maxed out!"

Sojiro chuckled. He didn't understand the gaming lingo that she likes to use, but it was easy to tell that she was amazed, not unlike how he was.

"Well, once he comes back, I can lock up. Then I can offer support to the 'Featherman Kingdom,' he told her in a teasing tone. "Just outside your door, like always?"

"Y-Yeah. Yes please..."

The near-silent response made Sojiro frown. It seemed that she had reached her level of sociability today. All two minutes of it. She'd soon return to that sad little girl that he wanted to heal so desperately.

"Well, I'll be there soon. Hold out a little longer." Sojiro said.

"Okay. Bye, Sojiro..."

And with a small chime, the call ended.

Sojiro sighed as he pocketed his phone. Business as usual with her...

He was about to go downstairs and start tidying up, but before he did so, Akira's new phone suddenly gave a small buzz. Sojiro looked at it curiously. Was it supposed to do that?

There was no notification box to speak of and no one who should be calling Akira. Sojiro decided to take a look. The phone was new so there wasn't a password on it.

It had all the usual apps that you'd expect from a new phone, News, Clock, Weather, Ominous red and black eye.

...

That last one didn't seem normal...

Ah well, it was a newer version than his own phone, they probably added an app or two.

Unable to find the cause of the notification, Sojiro soon gave up and left it on the table. The intricacies of technology would forever elude him. It's not like he had time to waste on this anyway, he had cleaning of his own to do.

He took a bit of sadistic pleasure in knowing that Akira, who had never owned a phone before, would probably struggle with the phone just as much as he did...

...

Akira took less than an hour to figure out how to use his new smartphone.

---

Akira groaned and shifted around on the bed that he was given. "Bed" was a generous term, providing only minimal comfort. It was better than nothing though. Unfortunately, he was just going to have to get used to it. He didn't want to piss Sojiro off.

He hated this feeling, walking on eggshells around someone. He felt like everything that he could do would be scrutinised. It wasn't like Sojiro was trying to make him feel comfortable, both socially and environmentally. Akira was not going to squander the little goodwill that Sojiro had shown him. The bath that he had paid for actually felt awesome. It was probably Akira's favourite thing that he found in Yongen-Jaya, nay, Tokyo, so far. And with the laundromat, his clothes were going to be more presentable and comfortable.

That was two points of credit that Sojiro had that a more callous custodian who would take the money and throw Akira to the curb had.

He just wished that Sojiro lay on this bed himself. Maybe that would have given Akira a chance at getting something that wouldn't have him tossing and turning.

All this bed did was make Akira yearn for his futon back in Morning Glory.

But the complications with the bed were nothing compared to...

GRRRRRRR...!

His hunger situation.

The last time that he had eaten anything had been before he got on the train to Tokyo, and already he was starving. With his training came a physique that needed food to sustain itself. Akira could really put it away. But now, he was stuck with a tiny amount of money that Sojiro had specified to only be used for laundering and bathing.

He needed a job, fast. Otherwise, he'd be nothing but skin and bone before the end of his first week. Akira did not want to return to skulking the streets, living in houses with cardboard roofs and dining in back alley dumpsters. Morning Glory had given him too much to return to a life so pathetic.

Between that, the bed, and the sheer anxiety that he was feeling, it was no surprise that he couldn't sleep. If he didn't get some kind of rest though, he'd probably sleep through his orientation at Shujin tomorrow.

So, out of desperation, he tried to lie still, forced his eyes shut and tried to ignore all his problems. They were for Future Akira to deal with.

Then, he started to count sheep.

He got up to ten sheep before he switched to Mames'

"Twelve Mames'

"Twenty-three Mames'

"Forty-six Mames'

He could really use...

"Ninety-one Mames'"

Something small...

"Two hundred and fifty-three Mames'"

Warm...

"Four hundred and seventy-seven Mames'"

Furry...

"Seven hundred and fourteen...Mames'"

Something that he could cuddle...

"Nine hundred...and twenty-one...Mames'"

Something that he could hold...just so this cold night would feel just a little warmer...

---

"Wake up, Inmate!"

CLANG!

"ONE THOUSAND AND SIXTY-EIGHT MAMES' JESUS CHRIST!"

Akira sat straight up, vaguely registering the clinking of chains and wood creaking from underneath him.

He immediately recognised that he wasn't in the attic anymore...

Instead, he found himself awakening within what looked to be some kind of...cell?

Bewildered, he tried to get up off this wooden slab that he was lying on, but struggled in doing so. A reason for which he quickly discovered once he looked at his wrists. He was cuffed. Thick manacles were clasped around his wrists, connected by a chain that made handcuffs look wimpy.

But that wasn't the only weird thing. His clothes had been changed too to a ratty, black and white striped jumpsuit that was commonly associated with criminals in cartoons.

Further inspection had him realising that there was something cuffed around his leg and-

Was that a goddamn ball and chain?!

Where the hell was he?

"Face forward, Inmate!"

A young, haughty voice, presumably the same one that had woken him up spoke once more. Akira slowly turned to look through the cell bars, and his confusion only magnified tenfold.

Beyond the bars of his cell, there was a large, circular room, with additional cells similar to his own lining the walls. It looked uncomfortably dreary, yet somehow ornate. This place has a weird feel to it. But the layout of the room wasn't the only thing that was peculiar.

Standing on either side of his cell were a pair of girls, both wearing matching outfits resembling those of prison wardens. If it weren't for their differing hairstyles of a braid and twin buns and their accessories of choice being a clipboard and a prison baton, Akira was pretty sure he'd have a hard time telling them apart.

The weird part was that both girls seemed to be children. Like, neither of these girls seemed older than thirteen. Wasn't it past their bedtime? And what was with the eyepatches?

He got to his feet and shuffled over to the cell bars. Both girls stared at him impassively, as if they had no sympathy for his situation. It was a chilling stare that seemed to look past Akira's eyes and straight into his soul.

"Nice to see that you come to your senses quickly enough," the twin-bunned girl eventually said. "Now stand up straight. You're in the presence of our master!"

With that harsh command, the girl pivoted to face away from Akira, with her twin following suit. It seemed too militaristic of a motion for a pair of young girls to be used to. It was almost like they were soldiers.

Akira then looked up from the pair to the centre of the room. There he spotted a simple wooden desk. And sitting behind it was a man who blew the weirdness of the twins out of the water.

Seriously, what kind of man was this guy? He was well dressed, but between his wide, bloodshot eyes, his creepy pointy ear-to-pointy ear smile and a thin nose that was longer than the average pencil, he did not look anywhere close to human.

With nary a change in expression, the man extended a hand.

"Trickster... welcome to my Velvet Room."

Akira was completely flabbergasted at this point. With the girls, the man and this... Velvet Room, there was really only one answer that he could come up with that explained all of them.

"I must be dreaming..." He muttered to himself.

"This is no mere dream, Inmate. The you in reality is fast asleep, but your soul has made its way here to convene with us about matters most grave." The braided girl spoke this time, with a soft voice that was almost there polar opposite of her twin.

Not that it mattered to Akira.

He simply did an about-face and shuffled right back to his wooden cot.

"H-Hey! What are you-?" Twin Buns gasped, as if in disbelief that Akira had chosen to turn their back on them.

The teen climbed back onto the bed, closed his eyes and tried to drift off once more. He wasn't spending one more second in this creepy-ass dream.

"Hey! Don't go back to sleep! Get your butt back over here, now!"

CLANG!

CLANG!

CLANG!

Yeesh, that girl with the baton had quite the temper. And a decent swing. Every strike against the bars made it feel like the cell was rattling.

"Turning his back against our master who has decided to grace him with his audience. Such insolence." Braid Hair sighed. She wasn't openly irate like Twin Buns, but there was a certain cold anger that permeated her sentence.

Akira just raised his hands up to his ears and tried to ignore the whining of the pair. Honestly, stubborn dreams that didn't let you end them even though you knew it was a dream sucked.

"...n't ake...ome...in...there!"

"Ow...issa...ting..."

Again, Akira tried to ignore them. He tried to ignore the clanging, the yelling, and the subtle killing intent being directed at him. It felt strangely real. He was no stranger to killing intent, so a dream being able to replicate it to such an extent was weird.

Maybe he should hold his breath? He heard that was a way to wake yourself up from bad dreams. Shock one's body awake due to lack of oxygen and all that.

He took a sharp breath in and then took no more, holding it for ten seconds...

Twenty seconds...

Thirty seconds...

And then his instincts screamed at him to MOVE!

Akira's head shot up, narrowly missing having it caved in by Twin Buns' baton. She was in his cell? How? Akira didn't notice any door.

Questions for later.

The strike made the cot he was lying in crumple like aluminium foil, and Twin Buns glared at him dangerously. Akira's heart raced as he threw himself off the wood slab. This had just gotten dangerous!

"Feeling awake yet, Inmate?" Twin Buns asked him in a challenging tone. She whipped her baton, ready for a throw down. Such a scenario was less than ideal for Akira. With the restrictiveness of his restraints, the narrow dimensions of the cell, and the fact that he wasn't going to just hit a little girl really limited his options.

"Well, I'm still here, so no!" Akira quickly snapped back at the girl. He found himself naturally setting into a stance. At this point, it didn't matter if he was dreaming or not. He could not flee from this fight.

"Hah! Looks like you need to be taught some manners!" Twin Buns scoffed before she took another swing at him. It looked like a casual effort, but the sheer essence that swing had behind it made it undeniable as to how dangerous this strange girl was.

Akira leaned back, taking a step away from the girl, hitting against the wall with his back. There was no way he could dodge her indefinitely in this cramped space.

"Tch! Think you're slick, huh? Well, slick your way out of this!" Twin Buns declared as she swung the baton down straight towards Akira's head. It was amusing that she had to jump to do so.

There was nowhere to run, and catching it seemed like a bad idea. Akira's brain raced to find a solution. A solution was not found.

Panicking. Use instincts!

He violently jerked his leg...

CLAAAAAAAANG!

"Wh-What!?"

"Gnnngh!"

In the path of Twin Buns' baton was the iron ball that was clasped around Akira's leg. In the last moment, Akira had managed to kick it up to use as a shield against the strike.

It didn't completely block the impact though. The strike caused Akira's arms to tremble, and his ears were ringing from the collision. Plus, the ball itself was obviously heavy. He forced himself to hold on to it though just in case he had to weather another strike.

"The hell...are you trying to kill me!?" Akira snarled at the girl. Twin Buns looked appaled, like she was offended that Akira dared to defend himself. With wide eyes, she opened her mouth to reply-

"That's enough, Caroline." That deep, wizened voice of the long-nosed man at the table had the girl standing ramrod straight. "Cease this skirmish with the Trickster at once." He ordered calmly, still sporting that creepy grin.

"Skirmish" he says..." Akira muttered to himself. Still, he was thankful that this whole thing seemed to be over. He sighed as he let the iron ball fall from his hands and fall to the stone floor with a crash. If any of these people cared about that, they didn't show it.

Almost robotically, Twin Buns, or Caroline, walked away from him and out of his cell. As in walked straight through the bars as if they weren't there at all. Akira reached out to touch them, but his fingers clasped around the bars.

So, others could come and go, but he was stuck in here? How'd that work?

"S-Sorry Master. I didn't mean to act out..." Caroline quickly apologized, bowing her head, a sight that caught Akira off guard. Just who was this guy that turned this fiery girl with such strength into a meek child with a single, calm command?

Akira then saw that the man's unsettling eyes were trained on him, with his fingers interlocked. There was no visible change in expression, but Akira could not shake off the fact that he was being scrutinized.

"Please forgive Caroline's rashness. It was not our intention to force you to defend yourself." The man said. "I hope that we can properly acquaint ourselves with you, despite these shaky first impressions..." The man said. It was hard to place whether he was actually apologetic or not.

"Um, sir," Akira spoke up. "Please understand. I've had a very stressful couple of weeks, and I haven't had the opportunity to have a decent sleep that whole time. I don't know if this is a dream or whatever, but I don't need...all this." Akira gestured to everything.

"Ah, you wish to escape from reality, even if for but a moment. A completely understandable notion." Long Nose said. "Yet, for now, I must insist you stay."

"...Must I?" Akira asked. He was half tempted to just crawl back into the cot again but remembered that Caroline broke it.

"This is a matter of great importance. It's no exaggeration to say that the future of the world may hinge on this..." He told Akira.

The teen was skeptical at best. The whole world?

The braided twin proceeded to flip through her clipboard for a few seconds.

"You have that cosy family in Okinawa, don't you? Morning Glory? Even apart from them, you wish to keep them safe, correct?"

And Akira's blood froze.

"H-How the hell do you know about them...!?" He hissed. How had these people found out about Morning Glory? And if they could do it, what was to stop others from doing the same?

"Please remain calm. This place exists between dream and reality, mind and matter. As such, we are privy to many secrets, no matter how well they are kept." Long Nose held his hands up in a placating manner.

"Dream and reality...?" Akira parroted in confusion.

"Yeah, like the fact that nearly two years ago, you were a homeless bum. We know about that. You're an open book to us, Inmate!" Caroline said. She seemed to take that as a small victory after her earlier actions.

"H-Hey, that's a low blow. Those years were hard!" Akira grumbled at Caroline.

"Rest assured, we've no interest in Morning Glory, and even if we were, we don't have any means to encroach upon it. You are the one that we care about." Braid Hair told him.

"So... Morning Glory will be left out of this completely?" Akira asked.

"It will...if you can prevent the coming ruin." Braid Hair said with a minute furrow of her brows.

"Coming ruin?" Akira asked.

"Perhaps we should start from the beginning." Long Nose said before he leaned forward and began to drum his fingers upon the table.

"As I mentioned before, this is a room that exists between dream and reality, mind and matter. Only those who are bound by a contract may enter it. My name is Igor, and I am the master of this place."

Igor then gestured to the two twins in front of Akira's cell. "You've met the wardens. Caroline stands to your right. Justine to your left. They are an eccentric pair, but as your wardens, they will be assisting you. They, as well as I, inhabit your Velvet Room.

"My Velvet Room?" Akira asked. "Didn't you just say that you were the master?"

"I am the proprietor of this place, yes, but in truth, the Velvet Room is shaped by the hearts of those who enter it," Igor answered as he looked around. "Yours seems to have taken the form of a prison. Considering your circumstances, I suppose that's hardly faultable."

Again, Akira couldn't tell if there was sympathy in his words or not.

"A prison of your own making. There is no doubt that as long as you continue down this path, ruin awaits you." Igor said.

"This ruin...what is it exactly?" Akira asked.

"It is unknown as to what the ruin's shape will take. The only clear thing about it is that it is the end of everything. Humanity, the world, and you."

Akira swallowed. The end of everything? Was he in some kind of video game or something?

"However, that is not to say that ruin is inevitable. Should you be rehabilitated, you will gain the strength to break your shackles and avert the danger the world will face." Igor's grin seemingly grew wider. "Do you have the resolve to challenge the distortion of the world?"

"I..." Akira looked down. "...I don't think I can, Igor."

"Hm? May I ask why?"

"You know my situation, right? I was just a homeless kid who was given the chance of a lifetime before I threw it all away in a childish attempt at playing hero. Now I'm living out a probation, need to earn a huge sum of money and have to go to school on top of that. If I screw up in any of those areas, then my very flimsy cover story could fall apart and put my family at risk. I don't have the time to be some kind of superhero with all of that going on." Akira explained.

"Pah! Spineless Inmate! Don't you care about your precious Morning Glory? Would you really leave it to ruin because you're being a wimp? You're the only one who can protect it and you're falling short at the first hurdle?" Caroline scolded, tapping her baton against her shoulder in irritation.

"You're wrong. There is someone else who can protect Morning Glory. Someone who could defy this coming ruin far better than I could."

"You speak...of Kazuma Kiryu, correct?" Igor replied. "That man is indeed strong. Relative to humankind, his strength is almost incomprehensible. However, he has already reached the peaks of his potential, while you are just beginning to tap into yours."

Akira couldn't help but be a bit creeped out that this guy knew Kiryu, but if he truly was somewhat omniscient, then it was hardly impressive.

"I wouldn't underestimate Uncle Kaz if I were you." He warned. "It's the last thing that a lot of bad people ever did."

In particular, Akira was talking more about the thugs that he'd seen Kiryu beat up in Okinawa. If he only knew how broad that declaration really went...

"Be that as it may, it's not Kazuma Kiryu in that cell. It is you, Akira Kurusu. You were chosen for the role of the Trickster. It is not a torch that can be passed along. If you choose not to step up, then ruin is unavoidable." Igor replied.

"To be honest, it's not as if you're completely hopeless. Futile as it was, enduring Caroline's assault as you did is... impressive, considering that your rehabilitation hasn't even begun yet." Justine commented

"Wh- Hey! I was about to crush him!" Caroline quickly snapped

"I'll admit, the fact that my fellow warden cannot subdue an unprepared prisoner is worrying. Perhaps you'd be of more use mopping the floors or cleaning the toilets?" Justine suggested with a tiny smile, the most expressive that Akira had seen her so far.

Caroline's face immediately turned beet red in embarrassment, and she turned to Akira.

"I-Inmate! Tell them it was a fluke!"

"It was a fluke."

"No! Say it like you mean it!" Caroline cried, stomping her foot. It was like the professionalism was melting away and showing the child that she was underneath. It was oddly relieving and made Akira smile.

"Wh-what's that smirk for, Inmate!?" Caroline squeaked, her tough persona crumbling to pieces.

It seemed she was quite literally saved by the bell, as the room was suddenly accosted by a loud bringing, not unlike a school bell.

"Hm, it appears that we have run out of time," Igor informed. "I believe that you need time to come to a final decision. We shall leave the matter for now, and return to it the next time we meet. And we will meet again. Should your answer change, then we shall set you on the path of rehabilitation. If not, then ruin is all but assured..."

With that ominous warning, Akira's eyelids began to grow heavy. He felt tired. Really tired.

He hardly had the time to register his body slumping before his consciousness faded.

---

Akira would be lying if he said that the weird dream he had wasn't resting on his mind. That whole talk about ruin and rehabilitation, the wardens, Igor and the Velvet Room; none of it had managed to slip his mind even a day later, whereas most dreams would fade from memory minutes after awakening.

It would be easy to simply mark it all up as a weird dream as a result of stress, but there was just something about it. Something that indicated that what he experienced that night was no mere dream.

And if it wasn't, then what did that mean for all of the stuff that they had warned him about? Should he have been less hesitant? More patient? Not picked a fight with that Caroline girl?

Well, in all honesty, she started it.

These questions permeated all throughout his mind, from the moment that he woke up, to the moment Sojiro drove him over to check out Shujin.

He had only half been paying attention when they pulled into the dreary-looking school. Half paying attention when they were guided into the principal's office. Half paying attention when the principal whom he could only describe as anthropomorphic bread dough known as Principal Kobayakawa belted on and on about behaving himself and how he'd get expelled if he put a toe out of line.

His attention was won over for a moment when his homeroom teacher, Sadayo Kawakami showed him his student ID. He was about to take it, but the woman quickly snatched it back and removed a slip of paper from it in an almost frantic display.

A part of him felt bad for her. The woman looked beyond exhausted and it was likely that she had accidentally given him upcoming test answers or something when she gave him the ID. The only thing that he remembered seeing was something frilly...

Well, however this woman decided to conduct her life, it was none of his business. He wasn't here to make friends after all, especially not with people that gave him the same disapproving look he had gotten from pretty much every adult who was aware of this situation.

Still, maybe a part of why he wasn't paying attention could be contributed to his own lack of sleep and his empty stomach which yearned for Haruka's cooking.

God, the coming days would be brutal...

After the visit was over, he zoned out again, keeping silent for most of the ride home, which was about seventy percent traffic and twenty-nine percent Sojiro reminding him for the umpteenth time that one screw-up would be the end.

The one percent left over was a radio announcement of a subway derailing or something. Considering that Akira was supposed to start regularly using the subway, it made him feel a bit nervous. Still, he didn't have any other choice. Sojiro was adamant about not driving him.

They had gotten back late in the evening, and with Sojiro irritated that he couldn't open the cafe, he had just left and locked up without giving Akira the opportunity to do his new nightly ritual.

Needless to say, with no bath, and no food, sleep did not come easily for Akira that night...

And now, here he was, ready for his first day at Shujin. And he felt like crap. More than anything right now, he just wanted something to eat. Anything.

Before he started to consider digging into a bin to hopefully find something to eat, his nose was tormented by tantalising aromas coming from downstairs, laden with spices and rich, nutty goodness.

Oh great, must be Sojiro's breakfast...

Trying to hide his misery, Akira dragged himself down the stairs with absolutely zero enthusiasm.

The clomping of his footsteps drew Sojiro's attention to his arrival. "Hey, you're actually going to school?" He asked.

"Yeah...Sakura-san." Akira noticed. "I... might be a bit late getting back. I wanna look for part-time work." He informed the man as politely as he could in his current state.

"Hm, wanting to establish an income early. I can respect that." Sojiro nodded in approval. "Make sure you try to find something that won't interfere with your schooling and will keep you out of trouble."

"I hear ya..." Akira nodded. He slowly shuffled towards the door. "I'll see you later, Sakura-san."

"Hey! Wait a minute, I just made you breakfast. You don't plan on going to school on an empty stomach, are you?" Sojiro asked as Akira's hand reached for the handle.

Said hand froze in place, and flint eyes widened behind faux glasses. Slowly, Akira turned his head towards Sojiro with a face of disbelief, and then towards the plate on the counter, laden with fluffy rice and a delicious-smelling curry. Next to it, an innocuous mug filled with dark coffee with a heavenly aroma.

"Y-You're messing with me, right? I don't find that funny, Sakura-san." Akira replied quietly as he furrowed his brow.

"Huh? Why the hell would I mess with you? Just eat it before the other customers come in and we won't have a problem." Sojiro replied. He gestured to the meal.

"But...I was told that I wouldn't be getting handouts..." Akira replied. He couldn't break eye contact with that meal.

"Handouts?" Sojiro asked. "I don't know who told you that, but I for one am not going to let you starve, even if you are a delinquent," Sojiro said. The man proceeded to pick up a mug and used a towel to polish the inside. "You've had the leftovers I've left for you in the fridge, right?" He asked.

"What do you mean? I haven't gone near the fridge the entire time that I've been here, Sakura-san." Akira replied.

Sojiro didn't expect that response. He was sure that he had given Akira the green light to help himself to the leftovers so long as he didn't overdo it. Or had he not...?

"Wait, if you haven't eaten any of the leftovers then...what have you been eating?" He asked.

Akira suddenly felt quite put on the spot and lowered his head.

It didn't make sense. Akira didn't have the money to buy food and he obviously had no idea about the leftovers...

At that moment though, something clicked with Sojiro, and his expression grew grim.

"Kid...when was your last meal...?" He asked.

"Erm..." Akira hummed.

"Answer the question."

Akira averted his gaze and twiddled his thumbs.

"B-Before I got on the train to Tokyo...?"

"Fucking what!?" Sojiro hissed. Akira had gone without food for two days!? No wonder he looked like death warmed up! "Two days? Two goddamn days!? And what? Were you hoping to survive long enough to buy your own food? Grow a brain, idiot!"

"But I-"

"No, don't talk. Just sit your ass down and eat!" Sojiro pointed at the seat in front of Akira. He was definitely not taking no for an answer. And truthfully, Akira wasn't willing to give it either.

His stomach growled loudly and guided him over to the stool, where he sat down. He then picked up the spoon accompanying the meal before looking up at Sojiro.

"Go on kid, you gotta be starving..." Sojiro sighed.

Akira almost shyly dug into the curry as if it would disappear if he dug in too fast. He took a single spoonful, closed his eyes, and brought it to his mouth.

And in that instant, all that was wrong in the world vanished from Akira's mind. No probation, no drunkard, no judgemental glares he didn't deserve. As soon as this curry hit his tongue, it was like all of his troubles just ceased to be.

The blend of spices, the tender beef, and the creamy texture of the curry that soaked into the rice and created a delicious combination that Akira couldn't get enough of. He took another spoonful, this time with more confidence, and let out a small moan of satisfaction.

As he ate, the spoon began to get faster and faster, and with every swallow, he could feel his hunger cease to be. Within a minute, the plate's contents had reduced by half.

Akira started to notice that his vision was getting blurry, but he didn't care. He couldn't stop eating. Whether it was because of his two-day fast or because the curry was just that good, or maybe a bit of both.

"Kid...you okay?" He vaguely heard Sojiro ask, but he couldn't bring himself to care. Instead, he reached for the coffee cup and washed down the spicy heat with a sip. To his amazement, the two flavours combined perfectly. The subtle flavours of the coffee complemented the spicy goodness of the curry, and he found himself alternating between bites and sips, each one more delicious than the last.

For the first time since his arrest, he was eating a meal that clearly had love poured into every fragment. A refined recipe. If he closed his eyes and chewed, he could almost pretend that he was back at Morning Glory, eating a meal prepared by Ayako and Haruka. He would chat with everyone, poke fun at them. Things that families did.

"Kid...Kurusu, look at me."

And then his eyes opened, and he was right back in the quiet cafe, with Sojiro looking at him, concerned. Why?

"Is...there something wrong, Sakura-san?" Akira asked.

"You're crying."

"What?" Akira yelped in alarm and brought a hand to his face. He quickly discovered that there were two wet lines tracing his cheeks, which acted as the path for further tears to trail down and drop from his chin.

His pants were lined with tear stains and he hadn't even noticed.

He immediately lifted up his glasses and wiped his face with his sleeve, but the tears just wouldn't stop coming. He tried to take a few deep breaths and control his emotions, but it was hard to do so. So hard.

Sojiro watched with a conflicted face as Akira tried valiantly to keep his tears at bay, but failed miserably. On one hand, why should he care? Akira was just a kid from juvie that he had taken in on a whim...

Akira was just a kid from juvie...

Akira was just a kid...

And Akira's reaction to eating his curry for the first time...that look of relief on his face, those tears, even the fact that until now, he'd been starved.

Didn't she go through all of that when she tried her first and only plate of curry?

"I-I..." Akira started to speak up, and Sojiro brought directed his attention back to the crying teen.

Akira swallowed a lump in his throat before his lips slowly curved upwards into a small, trembling smile.

"I l-love it... Your curry and coffee are a-awesome, Sakura-san! Thank you!" Akira admitted. It was visible as to how much he was fighting to keep his face from twisting into an outright bawl, but there was no doubt that his compliment was sincere.

Sojiro was silent for a second. Contemplation upon contemplation piled up as his heart was stirred by Akira's pure expression of thankfulness and relief. Then he simply gave an exasperated sigh, lined with his own smile. "Well, that reaction's one for the record books." He commented. "Now, don't you dare pull that kind of stunt again. I agreed to feed you, so let me do that." He told Akira.

For a moment, he could forget that he was a delinquent.

"R-Right. Thank you, Sakura-san." Akira replied.

Sojiro put a hand on his hip. "Call me Boss. Everyone else does. Now, gimme your plate, I'll give you a second helping."

And that was when Akira decided that, even though Sojiro could be a hardass, his curry would be a favourite of his for life.

---

Akira tried not to think about that moment of vulnerability as he dashed down the streets of Aoyama-Itchome. He was unquestionably grateful to Sojiro for what he did, but to be openly crying in front of someone he'd only known for a few days over food no less, was really embarrassing.

Still, that curry was amazing. He'd been near delirious before, and now he was full of energy.

He had polished off two whole plates and washed his face before he had left LeBlanc to head to school. He was running a bit behind schedule, due to his extended breakfast, and he wasn't fully confident of his route. But that was when his new phone came in to save the day. As someone who was a complete neophyte when it came to getting around Tokyo, having a digital map that could plot a course to your requested destination was a godsend.

Unfortunately, his phone couldn't save him from the torrential downpour that greeted him when he exited Aoyama-Itchome station.

Hence him booking it to the first awning he saw, in hopes of waiting out the rain until the sky cleared up. He hadn't been the only one with this plan in mind, as he saw a few people in Shujin uniforms doing the same thing, huddled underneath any other awnings down the street. They were all either talking among themselves or checking their phones while they waited for the rain to subside.

The streets quickly became slick and shiny under the unrelenting rain, and Akira watched as more students frantically dashed past him with umbrellas, complaining all the way. He even saw some people carrying their own bags above their heads to shield them from the rain, with little success.

Dammit, he should have brought an umbrella before leaving Sojiro's place. His phone even had an application to check the weather for goodness sake.

Then again, it wasn't like he had one of his own. Yet another thing to add to the list of things that he'd have to potentially pay for.

Well, online shopping was a thing. He can't buy anything yet but it wouldn't hurt to browse...

Akira pulled up his phone, intending on looking up places nearby to buy umbrellas, but as soon as he unlocked his phone, he was met with that strange-looking app that he noticed when he was getting the hang of how to use a smartphone. Red. Black, creepy eye in the middle. The icon had taken up nearly the whole screen and trying to tap it didn't do anything. This wasn't... normal for phones, was it?

His thoughts were interrupted when he heard footsteps to his left, and he faced to watch someone scurry under the same awning that he was under.

They looked to be the same build as a potential student, but they weren't wearing a standard Shujin uniform. Instead, it was what he could only assume was some kind of associated jersey paired with long, red tights. So, a girl then.

She did have the Shujin blazer slipped over her jersey though, so that pretty much confirmed that they were a student.

Before he could try and talk to her, she peeled back her hood which allowed two golden, springy pigtails to emerge.

Then came cerulean eyes, pink lips and flawless skin.

Akira could've sworn that the world froze around them at that moment. He couldn't tear his gaze away from her face. She looked so...

so...

...sad...

She stared ahead, gazing down the street, while wiping droplets of water from her outfit. It was the impassive look that Akira would expect from a celebrity or even a princess.

And yet, Akira could see through her blank-faced facade. He noticed that she looked exhausted. With the faintest hint of bags under her eyes, probably covered by makeup. Her rosy lips were pressed tight together, and her hands couldn't help but fidget with each other. And the way she stared at the ground, it was like she didn't even have the strength to look up.

All these factors together created a clear image of this girl's sorrow and anxiety. But then the question was what had happened to make someone who was so pretty so distressed?

The girl seemed to catch his gaze because she looked up to see Akira staring at her face. Obviously, with her appearance, she automatically assumed that Akira was just another hormone-driven boy who was attracted to her foreign appearance.

And when she gave him a smile that didn't reach her eyes, Akira had had enough.

"Are you...okay?" He asked.

The girl's smile faltered for a second, as though she wasn't expecting someone to ask her how she was feeling. But she managed to recover, putting on a mask of indifference.

"I'm fine," she replied curtly, turning away from Akira to look down the street again. "I just got a bit wet. Nothing to worry about."

"I wasn't talking about the rain..." Akira said.

The girl turned back to Akira, her expression confused. "What do you mean?" She asked.

Akira hesitated, unsure if he should really be pushing this conversation further. But something in him told him that she needed help, even if it wasn't his business.

He took a deep breath and decided to take the plunge.

"I mean," he said slowly, "are you okay? You seem...upset."

"What? Upset? Me? No...h-haha, you're probably just imagining things." The girl said with an awkward chuckle. It became obvious at that point that she had a better poker face than a silver tongue.

Akira wasn't fooled at all. He could see the unease etched into her features, even if she was trying to hide it. After all, he knew what it was like to put on a brave face when everything inside you was falling apart.

"Look, I know it's none of my business, but-"

"You're right, it's none of your business." The girl suddenly snapped at him, not too aggressive, but her voice was firm. Crap, he'd annoyed her, hadn't he?

The girl grimaced, her eyes flickering between Akira's face and the ground.

"Look, I appreciate the sentiment, but I don't even know you," she said. "And even if what you're saying was true, it wouldn't be right to just involve yourself in another person's issues. You could get hurt." She said, her voice barely above a whisper.

Akira opened his mouth to respond.

"That young man suddenly attacked him... He shoved this gentleman to the ground. And he got injured."

And his mouth closed with a click.

Nothing good had come from getting involved in the woman and Baldy's scuffle. It was why he was here in the first place. His life was already ruined and he narrowly avoided getting Morning Glory in trouble too. Could he really risk that for every sad or troubled person he came across?

"You're...right. S-Sorry." Akira replied, turning away from the girl.

What followed was an extremely awkward couple of minutes as the pair waited for the rain to stop.

It was only when a white car pulled up in front of the duo that the silence was broken with Ann giving a timid gasp. One that Akira easily noticed.

The window rolled down, revealing a man behind the wheel dressed in a blue tracksuit. Akira idly thought that his face was shaped like a spade.

That wasn't to say that he wasn't on guard though. Ann's reaction to the car approaching was telling.

"Hey there, good morning." The man chirped from the driver's seat, running a hand through his black unkempt hair. "The rain's still coming down like crazy. Need a lift to school? I can take you."

The next thing that set off alarm bells in Akira's head was that this man's stare did not land on him at all, instead laser-focused on the girl, who was steadily looking more and more uncomfortable. He was pretty sure he beat up a thug with the same kind of face this man was making. Back in his homeless days, of course.

On top of that, there was the most damning evidence. There were several other groups of Shujin students either huddled under umbrellas or awnings that could have used a ride to school, but this guy had driven by most of those students to offer one to them? That didn't seem like a coincidence...

The girl was clearly hesitant. She didn't want to get into that car with this suspicious man.

And Akira, he was going to let her?

She had just told him to not get involved.

He knew what could happen if he got involved...

But...

Would Kiryu let this happen?

No... Not in a million years.

"U-Um, if that's alright..." The girl took a single step forward...

And stopped once a gentle hand clasped over her wrist, preventing her from walking any further. She looked back in surprise only to see the boy holding her wrist.

"Sorry sir," Akira cut in. "But I'm not entirely sure how to get to school, I'm new here, see." He explained, with both the blonde and the man looking at him with curiosity. "But this girl offered to walk me there, so I can, y'know, learn the route on foot," Akira said.

He subtly glanced at the girl, hoping that she'd play along.

"Uh...Y-Yeah! I did! Sorry, Kamoshida-sensei." The blonde quickly spoke, lowering her head so the lie couldn't be picked up.

"Sensei?" Akira asked with a raised brow. "You're a teacher at Shujin?" He asked.

"Yeah, Suguru Kamoshida, P.E. teacher," Kamoshida replied. It was the first time that he really focused his gaze on Akira, and what Akira felt from it was...

Malice.

Pure, sadistic malice.

If the girl was unable to hide her anxiety from Akira, then Kamoshida's disdain towards him was almost palpable. Not only was there anger towards him, but a hint of fiendish glee, as if something had been set in motion by Kamoshida's hands alone that would give him a hard time.

Unlike the blonde, Akira obviously didn't comment on it.

"You sure you guys don't need a ride? It's really no trouble, and there's no reason to force yourself to walk through the rain. You're gonna be late if you wait much longer." Kamoshida insisted.

"Eh, don't worry about that. I prayed to my teru teru bōzu before I left today, the rain should clear up any minute now." Akira replied.

He was once again hit with confused looks by both of them, but Akira didn't back down.

"Uh, alright..." The man shrugged his shoulders. "If that's what floats your boat. But don't come crying to me when you arrive at school looking like drowned rats." He replied, before looking at the blonde. A perverted sneer crossed his face and he waved his hand. "I'll see you later, Takamaki~"

Oh god, that was a simple goodbye. How did this guy make it sound so freaking gross!?

The window slowly rolled back up, and the car rolled away with the crunching of gravel. As if to affirm that this was not a simple act of goodwill on the teacher's part, he didn't pull over for a single other student that was caught in the rain.

"You're gonna be late" indeed... The dude hadn't extended his so-called 'kindness' to anyone else.

"Wh-Why...did you do that...?" The girl, presumably Takamaki, asked. Akira looked to her and could immediately see the tension draining from her body.

Akira thought about making a joke, saying that he was securing his guide to Shujin, but he felt that this girl wanted comfort, not a one-liner.

"I could see how scared you were from space," he replied. "I'm not going to pry, but Kamoshida makes you uncomfortable, right?" Akira stated. Not asked.

Takamaki paused, opening and closing her jaw, like she was trying to find the words. So many emotions could be seen in her bright blue eyes. Eventually though, she managed to say something.

"Didn't...didn't I tell you that you could get hurt if you involved yourself in my problems?"

Akira was silent for a second and then took to leaning against the wall. That slip-up was telling. That thing causing Ann grief? It had to be her connection to Kamoshida.

Akira didn't live on the streets for seven years to assume that she was failing Kamoshida's class. It had to be something else.

"Yeah, you did," Akira sighed. "But I could have never forgiven myself if I let you get in that car with him. Call me stupid if you want, but getting involved in other people's problems is sorta why I'm here in the first-"

"DAMN IT, KAMOSHIDA!"

Akira and Takamaki quickly turned to see a dude with bright, yellow hair sprinting towards them. He was also wearing a Shujin blazer and pants but underneath he was wearing a casual yellow shirt with some obnoxious logo on it.

The boy started to slow down, coming to a halt in front of the duo. He put his hand on his knees and crouched down, looking like he'd just run a marathon.

"Grr... 'Eff me..." He muttered to himself between pants. Sweat ran from his forehead and dripped down his nose, or maybe it was rain? Akira couldn't tell. It wasn't hard to discern that he was in pain though. Guy must've pushed himself.

"You...alright, dude?" Akira asked, patting his shoulders. He was soaked through, likely from a rain and sweat combo. "Y-Yeah, give me a s-sec." The guy replied between breaths.

"What lit you up by the seat of your pants, Sakamoto?" Takamaki asked. She seemed to be a bit more emotionally stable now, that was good.

"I saw Kamoshida talking to you guys," Sakamoto replied. "He probably tried to get you into his car, right?" He asked.

Akira nodded his head. "Yeah, dude gave me all kinds of bad vibes."

"Did he?" Takamaki turned to him in surprise. She had been present that entire conversation and to her, Kamoshida played the part of an average teacher perfectly. It was only behind closed doors that he showed who he truly was. But this guy saw through it in one exchange?

Sakamoto managed to stand up straight after his sprint and pocketed his hands with a frustrated grimace.

Was it Akira, or was the guy putting more weight on his left leg than his right...?

"Of course...of course he'd try to get her into his car. That's just what a pervy teacher like him would do..." The boy muttered.

"Does he do that with everyone or just with you, Takamaki?" Akira looked to Ann. Then he remembered that he promised that he wouldn't pry and held up his hands. "Ah! Forget I asked. Sorry..." The last thing that he wanted to do was make her upset.

Takamaki seemed to silently accept his apology, thank god.

"Are you kidding me? You go to Shujin, so you obviously know what an asshole Kamoshida is, right? He does whatever he feels like. Acts all high and mighty like he's the king of a castle. It's bullshit!" Sakamoto snapped, kicking the pavement and causing a small spray of water to follow his foot.

"Just transferred." Akira quickly replied. He gave no more detail than that. They didn't need it. "I didn't know who he was until five minutes ago, but he does give off that kind of attitude."

"Oh, so you're new...yeah, makes sense that you don't know him then..." The blond scoffed. "But you still stopped him, right? Good on you, man!" Sakamoto said, giving Akira a small smile.

Takamaki crossed her arms. "I-I didn't need his help. I could have said "no" and gone on my way!" She told Sakamato. Akira believed that hiding a "bullshit" in a cough was in poor taste.

"Anyway, what's your name? It'd be nice to know someone who can also see through Kamoshida's crap." Sakamoto asked, holding out his hand. Akira looked at it for a second before grasping it. "Akira Kurusu. What's yours?" He asked.

"Ryuji Sakamoto!" The punkish teen answered with a grin. He then looked over to the girl and pointed to her. "That's Ann Takamaki."

"Hey, I don't need you to introduce me!" Ann scoffed. She looked to Akira and shakily held up her own hand. "A-Ann Takamaki. Um...thank you for, you know... helping me out.

Akira smiled at her and gripped her outstretched hand. "You're welcome." He replied. It wasn't as cheery as he was hoping it to be, probably because ultimately, nothing had been solved and they were about to head into a school that had a teacher who was also a total creep.

Ryuji then held up his hand. "Rain's clearing up. We should get to school while it's eased off." He commented.

"Hey, looks like your teru teru bōzu worked!" Ann chimed.

"Oh, I don't actually have any teru teru bōzu. I was just sorta talking out my ass..." Akira admitted awkwardly.

"Teru teru bōzu? Ain't that the shit that you hang up to prevent bad weather? You sent Kamoshida packing with that?"

"It came out of left field, caught him off guard" Akira replied. "Kamoshida could spend his time trying to challenge my beliefs; convince me they don't work, or he could just move on with his day. I don't think anybody would want to be part of that conversation..."

"Well then, I guess that your imaginary teru teru bōzu worked..." Ann giggled. It was a sign that she was feeling better, and Akira would take it. He could see the humour in it.

"C'mon, this way's quicker," Ryuji told the two of them as he walked forward and gestured to an alleyway down the road. "If there's another spill coming, we should at least be at school when it happens."

"Yeah, good point..." Ann muttered as she followed after Ryuji. She looked back to Akira. "You're coming too, right?" She asked.

"Yeah. Wait up!" Akira replied, jogging after the pair of blondes.

Truthfully, Akira didn't know if this was a good idea. He didn't know if this interaction with these two was a good idea. If it could lead anywhere, there was the big question of whether it should, given his circumstances.

But, being smiled at. Being appreciated...it was nice to get that from people his age for once.

Well, whatever happened happened. It was time for his first day at Shujin.

Had his focus been on anything other than the backs of the two blondes, he probably would have noticed the splash of magenta that followed his footsteps...

---

Who found the Shinada reference?