Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Tohru Adachi had never been a patient man.


He had always been cunning and shrewd, but his impulsiveness had always been his fatal flaw, seeing as he often made woefully foolish decisions in his haste, decisions which more often than not led to serious consequences. Whenever things started deviating from his intended plan, his go to solution had always been to charge headfirst and forcefully remove whatever may have been in his path. And as a result, the universe usually found a way to make things come full circle and bite him in the ass.


So, it sort of came as a wonder to him that he had not yet strangled the blonde man who was currently sitting across from him and regarding him with a pensive stare, as he had been doing for the past half hour.


"How curious," the blonde man finally remarked, putting an end to the long and awkward silence, "I would have thought that you'd be more pleased to hear this."


The former detective let out a derisive snort in response. "Oh trust me, I am. I just can't help but wonder why you and your folks went through all the trouble of bailing me out."


"Come now, is it really that hard to believe we helped to release you from the goodness of our hearts?" the other man asked with a mock hurt expression, yet still maintaining a polite smile on his lips.


"Oh please, get real. Nobody pulls this kind of shit just for kicks. You obviously want something from me. So tell me, Theo, what's the catch?"

"And here I was wondering how someone like you could have become a detective," the blonde, Theodore, chuckled, ignoring the vicious glare Adachi shot at him. "To be quite frank, there is no catch to this. We require your assistance, yes, but we didn't plan to use your freedom as a bargaining chip," he explained, "You could consider it as a show of good faith."

Adachi simply stared at him with a scowl that could have smashed concrete for almost a full minute. He opened his mouth slightly to say something, but stopped himself. Instead, he reached towards the liquor cabinet to his left and grabbed the bottle nearest to him. ‘Jack Daniel’s’, he allowed himself a small grin. He'd always been fond of that particular brand.

Foregoing the need for a glass, he quickly unscrewed the cap and took a hearty chug before turning back to Theodore.

"See, that's what I don't get, It’s barely been four months since you all pretty much told me to go fly a kite and I got thrown in this shit hole, but already that miserable old bastard sends you—the goddamn driver-"

"Actually," the blonde interrupted, with that irritatingly polite smile still plastered across his face." My position as the… chauffeur for the velvet room was only temporary. I'm currently acting as an assistant to master Igor."

For a brief moment, Adachi seriously contemplated taking his whiskey bottle and repeatedly beating his 'gracious host' over the head with it.

"Alright, so—the hunchback of Notredame sends you — his chauffeur turned home attendant, to tell me that I can cash in a 'get out of jail for free' card out of the blue, free of charge, with no repercussions. After all of you very clearly left me to fend for myself. And you just expect me to buy that bullshit? Stop jerking me around and tell me what the hell is going on already!"

“If you insist,” Theodore’s smile broadened, much to his guest’s irritation, and wordlessly withdrew a thin folder from the inside of his blue jacket and slid it across the table, revealing its contents to Adachi.

Even in the dim blue lighting of the Velvet Room, it was easy to see how all the color drained from the former detective's face. His eyes rapidly darted back and forth across the paper, hoping against all hope that the letters would suddenly rearrange themselves to deliver different message.

But despite that, it stubbornly refused to change. The numerous faces that blankly looked back at him were still there. Forensic analyses, dates of birth and death, and the official information made available to the public were all there. Just like that, all his fears had been confirmed.

The Rules of this world had changed once more.

Instead of barraging him with obscenities or trying to jump across the table to pounce upon him, as Theodore had expected, Adachi... just began let out a series of choked sounds from his mouth.

For a moment, Theodore mistakenly thought that the man was suffocating, but soon realized that he was actually laughing at him. That choked chortle slowly grew into a full-blown cackle, accompanied by a mocking applause.

It took a few minutes before his laughter slowly wound down and he met Theodore’s eye once more. "So that’s it, then," he snickered, taking another sip straight from the bottle, much to the blonde's chagrin. "I just wanted to do my goddamn time quietly, you know. I was seriously ready to just stay here for the rest of forever, ‘atone for my crimes,’ that kinda stuff... Shit, I guess that ain’t happening anymore, is it, Theo?"

"This is only the beginning, Master Adachi. Many more will be lost in the coming days, and you yourself wouldn't live for more than a week without our assistance. They'll find you, and you will meet the same end as the others." Theodore's sharp gaze met Adachi's, and the polite smile on his face vanished almost immediately.

He grit his teeth in frustration.

He’d just started getting comfortable in his cell, looking forward to a boring and predictable life sentence in prison, and now he, a convicted killer, of all people, was being recruited into a goddamn war.

That goddamn hunchback had really put him between a rock and a hard place with almost no effort.

If he accepted, he’d be forced back into the game, right under the decrepit little dwarf’s thumb.

If he refused their terms, Theodore would just smile, again, give him his condolences, and Adachi's mutilated corpse would be found hanging on top of an outhouse a few days later, and so would end the life and times of him.

Hell of a Catch 22.

"So," Theodore said, placing an ornate pen on the table, right beside the folder, and replacing his smile, "are you prepared to assume the responsibility for your actions, Tohru Adachi?"

The ex-convict simply shook his head, and deciding that he might as well, gulped down the

remaining half of the whiskey. "Right, like I even have a damn choice," he scoffed as he sloppily signed his name on the contract, and effectively relinquished what little control he had over his own destiny.

Still, he couldn't help but feel a small mixture of relief and gratitude towards Igor and his servants for not just leaving him to die. Now, with this revived power he would actually have a chance to survive in the world.

Chapter Text

Chapter Text

Chapter Text

Kei’s eyes slowly creaked open, and stared at a plain white ceiling. As he rose with a yawn—which made his jaw briefly ache—he realized that he’d woken up in what looked like an infirmary cot, but the room he was in didn’t look like an infirmary at all. It looked… well, interesting would be one way to put it. Eccentric was a bit closer to the mark. But straight up just bizarre would be a perfect description for it.

The not-infirmary was littered with vials on most of the tables and desks, some of exuded faint smoke and fruity scents. Propped up at one corner of the room was a model skeleton, and several posters with pentagrams, hexagrams, and other outlandish symbols were on virtually every surface of the walls, giving him pause.

‘‘Talk about taking a wrong turn at Albuquerque... How did I end up here?’

From beyond the curtained partition, he heard a pair of voices. Leaning forward, Kei peeked through the curtain and saw two other students, one a girl with red hair, and the other, a guy with Orange-ish hair, sitting at a table in the middle of the room. Now that he got a good look at him, Kei realized that this was the very same dude who had knocked him out and damn near broken his jaw.

“...Looks like Edogawa still isn’t here,” the girl groaned. “Figures that he wouldn’t be around when you actually need him.”

"Just our luck, I guess." Fauxhawk plopped down on a chair and shrugged. “Anywho, what should we do about this guy? Do we wait for Edogawa-sensei, or stay here ‘till he wakes up, or what?”

“I guess we should probably stick around for a while,” the girl shrugged, leaning back on her chair. “That being said, we can’t afford to miss out on the afternoon classes. Specially not on the first day.”

Deciding to break his silence, Kei spoke up. “No need to wait on my account, guys, I’m already up.”

The two flinched and looked at him in surprise, before Fauxhawk rushed over and bowed in apology. “Oh! Oh, man, dude, I’m so damn sorry about punching, man! Dude, I didn’t know that you were walking inside, man, I—”

“Hey look, it’s fine, uh…”

“Oh, right. My name is Shaojie Feng, nice to meet ya.”

“Naomi Shiranui,” the redhead spoke up with a nod. “Nice to meet you.”

Kei nodded back to both of them. “Kei Kamiya. Nice to meet you guys too. Anyway, I’m fine, Feng-san. It doesn’t really hurt anymore or nothing, so just forget about it, yeah?”

Feng looked ready to argue, but he backed down. “Well, if you say so.”

“Still,” Shiranui cut in, “you should wait here until the nurse comes by to check on you. Feng might have given you a concussion with that punch, or something.”

“Did somebody ask for the nurse?” A voice drawled from just behind Feng and Shiranui, prompting all three students to jump in surprise.

Kei's breath caught in his throat.

An eerily casual, lazy drawl. Lifeless, roving eyes, hidden almost entirely behind opaque glasses. A sloppy slouch that bespoke complete exhaustion. A blank expression that does not change at all.

'No way...' Kei's body reflexively retreated as he contemplated the possibility. 'No way in hell... is he...?'

Was this man... a pedophile?

“Hello, Zhang-kun, Miyamura-kun, and…” The nurse trailed off when his eyes landed on Kei. “I don’t believe we’ve met. I’m Mr. Edogawa. Who are you, young man?” he said, rubbing at his neck with his right hand.

“Uh... I-I’m Kamiya. Nice to meet you, sensei.”

“Kamiya-kun, eh? Nice to meet you too.” Edogawa stepped around the three students and walked towards a desk at the corner of the room. “Well, what brings you three here? Were you perhaps planning to volunteer to sample one of my new concoctions?”

Shiranui quickly interjected before the man could continue on that train of thought. “No, not at all, sensei! Kamiya-kun here because he passed out during lunch, so we brought him to the infirmary” she said, turning and subtly winking at Kei.

“I see. And do you have any idea why you suddenly fainted, Umehara-kun?”

Kei briefly debated on whether he should go along with the redhead’s story, then with a shrug, decided to play ball. “Oh, y’know… Uh, heatstroke.”

“Heatstroke,” the nurse asked, with a tone so flat that the question mark was audibly absent.

The boy nodded. “Yep. I was just feeling really hot and sweaty all of a sudden, and then, boom; I’m at the infirmary."

Edogawa looked at Kei with a bland, unimpressed gaze. You know, the kind that people usually wear when they go out shopping for a while, then return to find their car covered in pigeon crap. “So you’re telling me that you suffered from heatstroke, inside a room-temperature building, in early April, at the very start of Spring, while it’s four degrees outside.”

Kei’s gray eyes met Edogawa’s opaque glasses, and gave him a deadpan “Yes.”

“Well, I don’t see why not,” the man shrugged.

“That’s right,” Kei grinned, standing up from the cot. “But I’m completely fine now, so I should just head back to class, yeah?”

“Not so fast, I’ll be the judge of that,” Edogawa said as his hand snapped forward and seized the boy’s wrist. “Don’t worry, I’ll just give you a quick look-over and send you back before the lunch period is over.”

Kei sent a pleading look to his classmates. Edogawa followed his gaze, and looked at the two as if he had just noticed them for the first time. “Oh, are you two still here?”

Shiranui opened her mouth to speak, but Feng beat her to the punch, laying a hand on her shoulder. “Ah yeah, sensei, we’re just sticking around so we can walk Kamiya-kun back to class. I- if that’s alright with you,” he added, shooting the girl an apologetic look.

“That’s quite alright, Teng-kun,” he said, gesturing at the table. “You and Mirai-kun can just sit and wait if you want.”

The other two students did so, the redhead glaring daggers at Feng all the while.

“Now then,” Edogawa began, still rubbing at his neck with one hand—‘Seriously, did somebody put superglue in this guy’s hand or something?’—and pulling a pen light from a cabinet with the other. “Look straight at this light, Kamiki-kun.”

“That’s Kamiya, sensei,” Kei corrected.

The nurse nodded. “That’s what I said, Kazama-kun.”

“Wha- How does that even—Let’s just get this over with, yeah?” He sighed, and did as the man asked.

“Alright, your eyes seem to be fine. Now, nod your head up and down a few times, then…”

After running through a basic check up, Edogawa simply stared at him for a while, before saying, “Interesting…”

“What?”

“There doesn’t seem to be any form of excessive heat. In fact, it seems that you are completely fine.” Edogawa scratched at his beard and looked pensively off to the side. “...Which could only mean one thing…”

Kei furrowed his brow and leaned in. “And that would be...?”

Feng and Shiranui too perked up, listening with interest.

“Hmm…” the nurse turned back towards Kei, his mouth set into a thin line, and spoke: “I have no idea whatsoever.”

All three teenagers regarded him with their best impression of Keanu Reeves.

“Well then, you seem to be fine,” Edogawa said, cracking his knuckles, and returning his instruments back to the cabinet. “You three can go and head back to class. Lunch break’s almost over.”

The three students hurriedly bolted out of the infirmary and into the first floor hallway, sharing a mutual sigh of relief at their escape. Then almost immediately, Shiranui rounded on Feng, cornering him against the wall. “Okay, what the hell was that about?”

“What was what?”

“Don’t play dumb, Feng! Why did you make us stay in there?”

“Cool it, Naomi-chan, I didn’t wanna leave Kamiya in there all alone,” the Chinese boy said, putting his hands up in surrender. “Edogawa-sensei might have freaked him out a lot, you know?”

“What, you mean even more than he already did?” Kei asked with a skeptical look.

“Well, he doesn’t do anything bad, really, but he’s super weird. He might have offered you some lessons on Wiccan, or made you drink one of his ‘remedial potions,’” Feng said, making very exaggerated air quotes. “I’m telling you man, those things are definitely not WHO approved.”

"You didn't need to involve me in it," Shiranui sighed as backed down and checked her watch. “I’m heading back to class. Try not to run into any more accidents, Kamiya-kun,” she added to Kei as she walked away.

Kei gave the redhead’s retreating form a sidelong glance as he turned to the other boy. “What’s with her?”

Feng gave him a nonchalant shrug. “Ah, that’s just Naomi-chan being herself. Don’t take her at face level. Anywho," he said, glancing at his phone, "we oughtta head back, too. Kiyomi-sensei's the kind that really gets on your ass when you're late."

The last hour of school was blessedly painless. No sudden extra hour of class, no running into weird students and/or faculty members, and no more people punching him out of nowhere. All was well.

Despite the chilly weather, the day was cloudless and bright, and Gekkoukan’s students exited the school with a generally cheery mood. Kei walked amongst the crowd, almost anonymous in the mass of students laughing and joking with their classmates, as they all made their ways home.

As he approached the front gates, Kei heard someone call out to him. “Yo, Kamiya-kun, wait up!”

Turning, he saw Feng walking towards him. “Oh, hey, Feng-han,” he greeted with a nod. “You’re, uh, gonna keep your hands to yourself this time, yeah?”

The Chinese boy faltered in his step, and winced in embarrassment. “Oh, uh…”

“Bad joke, forget it,” Kei said with a shrug. “So, what’s up?”

“You’re heading home, right? Wanna hang out for a while?”

"Huh?" Kei barely managed to contain his surprise. "What for?"

"Hey, just think of it as a way of saying sorry. Y'know," Feng leaned in with a conspiratorial tone, "for punching you back there. Hell, you even covered for me even when you didn't have to, so I really owe you one, man."

Ah, now it made sense. A way of apologizing and saying thanks at the same time. Regardless, he shook his head in response. "Nah, that's alright. I gotta get going."

"Aww, you sure?" Feng said with a disappointed frown. "Just think about, dude. We could head over to the mall, they've got this huge arcade there, and..." he trailed off as his eyes landed on the cast covering Kei's arm, and he realized his faux pas.

A brief moment of uneasy silence passed between the two of them.

Feng scratched awkwardly at his chin. “...You any good at House of the Dead?” He finished lamely.

“Right,” Kei said, running his hand through his hair. “I’m, uh, just gonna head back now. See ya Monday, Feng-san."

“Uh, yeah, sure. See you, Kamiya-kun," he said, as the other boy walked back into the crowd.

“...This marks the third disappearance in Nagoya, and the seventh overall that has occurred in Chūkyō since January.” A grim look came over the news anchor’s pretty features as she spoke. “Even though these incidents are so far localized entirely within the Chūkyō Metropolitan Area, parents are advised to watch over their children at all possible times, and to not allow them near strange individuals.” The seriousness in her face faded as quickly as it had come, and her expression returned to normal.

“In other news, US President Michael Wilson has announced his intention to——”

She was cutoff mid-sentence when the channel switched, and he came across a re-run of Train Man.

He switched the channel again. This time it was a showing of the last Bayside Shakedown movie. The really crappy one.

Switch.

The Hero Yoshihiko, season one.

“Eh, good enough,” Doi Soma muttered as he threw the remote onto the table and sprawled himself on the couch.

About halfway through the first episode, the door to the apartment opened and he heard his cousin enter the apartment exhaling a sigh of relief.

“Yo,” Soma greeted, as Kei stood at the genkan and took off his shoes.

The kid walked around the couch and plopped down next to him. “Hey, Soma.”

“What, no ‘tadaima?'" He ask with a grin.

“Hey, I’m just staying here ‘till the dorm situation’s figured out, remember?”

“I remember. Regardless; 'okaeri,'” he said with a yawn. He moved his legs out of the way, to give the kid more room to sit. “Anyhow, you sure took your time getting here. Were you hanging out with some friends, Kei-kun?”

Kei shook his head. “Nah, I was just... exploring the city a bit. Seeing the sights, getting familiar with it and all that, yeah?”

“Sure, sure,” Soma nodded. He switched the channel again, and this time ended up with some quiz show. He then playfully nudged Kei in the side with his foot. “You got lost, didn’t you?”

The kid looked flustered for a moment, before running his hand through his hair and slumping back. “Super lost,” he admitted with a sigh.

“Why am I not surprised… So, where’d you end up?”

“Well, I took the wrong bus and wound up at the south end of Port Island.”

“Oh. Well that sucks, but it doesn't sound—”

“Then I took the right bus," Kei continued, "and got off at the right stop... And then I went in the complete opposite direction."

“Uh-huh. So where did that take you?”

“Well…" A small blush appeared across his cheeks, and he glanced away as he muttered, "I might have accidentally walked into the red light district.” He looked back at Soma and groaned, "Just go ahead and yuck it up, you tool."

And yuck it up he did.

"H-hey, I'm sorry, man," he gasped out in between his laughter. "It's just—How does anyone fuck up that bad, dude? S-so, how'd you even find your way back here, anyway?

In response, Kei took out his cell phone and gave him a slight grin. “Even if they’re trying to steal all our info and go full ‘Big Brother’ on us, Google Maps is a freaking life saver.”

He let out“I’m surprised you didn’t screw up yesterday and get on a train all the way to Kyushu, or something.”

“Hey, I’m not that bad."

“Dude, you literally got lost in a straight hallway once.”

A small half smile played Kei’s lips as he argued back. “Cut me some slack, I was ten and that hallway was super long! Anyone couldda gotten lost in there!”

"That right?" Soma smirked back at the kid. “Apparently Megumi-chan managed well enough.” He realized he'd made a mistake the moment he finished the sentence. As quickly as it had come, Kei's smile packed its bags and fucked off. He glanced away and muttered a small, "I guess."

Soma quickly began to apologize. “Sorry, Kei-kun, I—”

The kid gave him a dismissive wave. “It’s fine, Soma. Don’t worry about it.” And with that, the two just sat watching the tv, but not quite paying it attention.

After several long minutes of channel surfing in awkward silence, his cousin finally spoke up again. “So, what’s the word with in the dorm? How much longer’s it gonna take?”

“Aww, you’re bored of me already, Kei-kun?" Soma whined, sniffling and exaggerating a pout. "Is that how you treat your dear cousin? Who happens to be generously letting you crash at his place? Without making you pay for rent?”

"Dude, I'm just asking, no need to get so melodramatic."

“Right, right… Anyway, I just got word from the people handling the dorm a little while ago. They're just getting the paperwork through, so you should be able to move in soon." He thoughtfully scratched his chin, then added, "Soon-ish."

Kei gave him an askance look. "Not exactly what I'd call reassuring, buddy."

"I mean—Tomorrow's Sunday, and I don't think anyone's gonna be working then," he clarified. "Meaning the paperwork might go through on Monday, so... they should be ready 'round Tuesday. Or Thursday, tops. Maybe."

"Just my luck, then," the kid sighed.

"Hey, look on the bright side," Soma said nudging his side again, "you get to hang out with me 'till then!"

His cousin rolled his eyes and let out an easy chuckle. “Oh goodie. Maybe we can spend the night watching movies, painting our nails and talking about boys.”

Soma guffawed back. “That’s the spirit, sistah!”

Just at that moment, Soma's phone rang. He grabbed it off the table with an irritated groan, and accepted the call. "Soma speaking."

"Soma, do you have a minute?"

His eyes nearly bulged out of his head when the woman on the other end spoke. "It's a call from work!" he told the kid, as he jumped off the couch and rushed towards his room. Once alone, he stood ramrod straight and took on a more proper tone as he addressed the caller.

"Hey, hi! Sorry about that, miss!" He almost bowed, before remembering that she wouldn't be able to see that through the phone. "What can I do for you?" 'Please, oh God, please don't ask about the debt,' he silently prayed to himself. But what the woman asked completely threw him for a loop.

"Is your cousin there with you?"

"O-oh, Kei? Yeah, he just got back from school a little while ago. He's a second year, in Kiyomi's class," he quickly added. 'Divert the attention, divert the attention, divert the attention!'

The woman hummed in acknowledgment. "Have you spoken to him anything about the orientation?"

"I—No, but he has been asking about it. He doesn't show it, but I get the feeling he's getting impatient about, too."

"Yeah," she said with a sympathetic tone, "that's the usual reaction. Regardless, I've got good news."

He frowned and quirked his brow. "Now... when you say good news, do you mean that as actual good news, or is it 'good news' for people who love bad news?"

"Oh? Did I just hear you volunteer to fill out this week's exercise reports, Soma-kun?"

"N-no, ma'am. Sorry ma'am."

"Good!" she chirped. "Then be a dear and listen; I've had time to re-schedule, and we should be able to have a briefing for him on Tuesday, after school."

"Tuesday? That's a bit late, isn't it?"

"Sorry, it can't be helped," she heaved a heavy sigh. "Akihiko-san's been running me ragged lately, what with the team placements coming up tomorrow."

"Hey, I hear you." 'And now, time to serenely skedaddle—!'

"By the way," she added, just before he was about to hang up, "I heard that you've been making bets with a certain somebody."

'Fuck! So close!' "Yeah," he cringed, "just... tell him I'll have the cash ready for him on Friday."

"Wednesday," she stated.

"...Thursday?" Soma tried, with a weak tone.

"Wednesday," the woman repeated, a bit more firmly.

"Wednesday," he relented.

"Good!" she chirped again. "And don't let me hear about you and Shinpai gambling again, got it, Soma?"

"Don't need to tell me twice, Kotone-san..."

Chapter Text

Brushing a strand of blonde hair out of her eyes, Jeanne quietly shut the door to her room, before quietly closing her eyes and holding her breath. Nothing but silence greeted her ears. She then hunched over and lit the candlestick in her hand, lighting the hall with its dim orange glow.

“Today’s the day,” she whispered, reaffirming her will as she took the first step forward.

Her heart beat with both apprehension and excitement as she slowly snuck through the halls, careful to not step too heavily on the wooden floorboards as she passed by her parents’ room.

Three more times she paused and listened, before she finally reached her sister’s room. Catherine looked so peaceful as she slept now, tucked away in her blankets and breathing softly. She was fifteen, just a year younger than Jeanne herself, but her small frame and height had always made her look much younger. She stood there, simply observing her sister’s sleeping form for some time, and looking back on simpler days.

The days when her father had first taught her how to ride a horse, the days running through the house alongside Catherine, shrieking with delight as their brothers chased them. She remembered days spent beneath the warmth of the sun, days of spinning wool by her mother’s side. She remembered the day when Domrémy was burnt to the ground. When bold Jean and shy Pierre, along with many other young men of the village, left behind their old lives and families to join the Duke’s army.

And she remembered the day when the Lord’s messengers came to her and spoke in their beautiful hymns.

She pulled away from Catherine’s side with a sigh.

It pained her to part like this, stealing away from her home in the dead of night. She longed to bid a proper farewell to her sister and to her brother Jacquemin, and to her mother and father. God... She could only imagine how they would react come morning, only to find an empty room. What would they think? That she hated them? That she would rather take her chances alone in the war-torn countryside than spend another day in their house? Just thinking about it made her heart ache...

But she had spent enough time watching over Catherine. Time was of the essence, and she needed to reach Vaucouleurs by dawn.

With a final wistful sigh, Jeanne kissed her sister’s brow and placed the letter she had written beneath the girl’s pillow. “Au revoir,” she whispered, as she exited Catherine’s room and softly closed the door. Until we meet again.

Again the girl crept through the house, descending the stairs, then leaving through the front door. It was just an hour after midnight, and the crescent moon hung high in the starry sky. She walked towards the stables at a more relaxed pace now that she was out in the open, with the moonlight illuminating her way.

Jeanne had been planning this night for almost a year now. In her satchel she had packed all she would need for the journey to come; A change of men’s clothes much like the ones she wore now, enough food to last her a week, and a dagger. It wasn’t much, but she knew it was all she would need.

If she mounted up quickly and kept an even pace, she should be able to cover the four leagues between Domrémy and Vaucouleurs in a matter of hours. She would need to take care, however, for whatever highwaymen and deserters may be prowling on the roads.

When Pierre and Jean departed for the war, they had both taken their horses with them, leaving the stables with only five. Two which her father used for general labor in her family’s homestead, two of which belonged to him and Jacquemin, and Maggie, her mare.

Setting the candle down on the floor, far from any stray bits of hay, Jeanne roused Maggie from her sleep and began to set up her saddle.

“Maggie,” she groaned, as the horse refused to stay still. “Maggie, please, just let me put on the saddle!”

The mare just snorted in response to her pleas.

“Perhaps you should try stroking her neck,” someone said from behind her. “She does seem to love that.”

With a gasp, the girl whirled towards the voice, and came face to face with the last person she wanted to see. “Father!?”

“Bonsoir, Jeanne,” her father, Jacques, replied as he set his lamp down. “Did I interrupt something?” Tall and brawny, with blue eyes and fair hair, her father had always been her hero. Despite his low birth, Jacques D'arc was a rather wise man, even more so than many so called scholars. He had a lot to say of just about everything, from old Greek tales to the details of voyages to far-off lands. And at times of distress, his eyes always burned with determination, as if he knew exactly what he needed to do to resolve any situation.

“I…” She cast her eyes towards the ground, her cheeks burning hot with shame. “I’m leaving, father.”

“I can see that. Off to the war, then?”

“What? How did you—!?”

“I’m not a fool, Jeanne. I know. I’ve known for a long time.”

She kept her gaze firmly to the ground, not daring to meet his eyes. “Then… I… I have to go. I—”

“Then go.”

“W-what?”

“Jeanne." Despite his calm, even tone, Jeanne could see the tension in her father's eyes as he spoke. "I don’t know why it is that you wish to participate in this. And I don’t know if I’ll ever see you alive after this. By God, I wish I could keep you here, but I know I can’t. There’s absolutely nothing I can say or do that will stop you… So the least I can do is give you my blessing, and give you these gifts, so that they may protect you.” He took the cloth-wrapped bundle from under his arm and placed it in her hands. The girl gave him a confused look, before unwrapping the bundle and nearly dropping it with a gasp.

What she held in her hands was a one-handed sword. Its curved blade was long and thin, ending in a sharp point. The crossguard was oddly shaped, however, unlike any she’d ever seen before. It extended downwards from the top of the hilt to the pommel, forming a sort of shell that could protect the wielder's sword hand.

"I... I can't take this," she whispered.

"Would you rather travel alone and unarmed in the middle of the night?" His voice took on a serious edge that he rarely ever displayed. "I gifted a sword to Jean when he left, and one to Pierre as well. Please, Jeanne, take it."

She hesitated for a moment, before nodding and strapping the scabbard to her side.

No more words were spoken as the man stepped towards Maggie and began saddling her.

She watched him work in silence for a few minutes before she found herself speaking. "Why?"

He turned and raised an eyebrow.

"Why... Why are you doing this?" She elaborated, "why aren't you trying to stop me?"

He chuckled humorlessly. "What am I to do? Would you prefer it if I married you off to some merchant's boy? Or perhaps I could lock you away in your room until your madness is gone." He shook his head with a forlorn sigh. "There's nothing I could do or say that can stop you, is there?"

Silence was her answer.

He sighed again, stooping down to pick up the lamp. "Jeanne... just where is it that you plan to go? Jean is in Burgundy—"

"I'm not going to Jean," she interrupted.

Her father furrowed his brow for a moment, before his eyes suddenly widened. "Pierre!? By God, Jeanne, Orleans in under siege!"

She shook her head. "That's not it either."

"Then where...?"

"To Vaucouleurs. From there, I will go to Chinon."

"Chinon? For what purpose?"

She smiled but did not respond, instead walking around him and mounting up on her horse. "I have to go now, père. Catherine, Jacquemin and Mother... please, tell them..."

"Don't worry," he nodded. "I'll tell them." He grabbed hold of Maggie's reins and led them outside the stable. "This is it," he announced. Then suddenly, his hand reached out to grasp hers, and his eyes met hers. "Jeanne... Please come back to us."

She squeezed his hand back. "I will. I swear I will."

He nodded back. "Then go."

With her father's gift and blessing, Jeanne mounted up and rode away.

Just a short distance away from the main road, she stopped and turned to look back at her home, illuminated by the full moon. The house she had grown up in was not a particularly impressive building. Only two stories high, and with a slanted roof, it was a far cry from any of the grand castles or châteaux of nobility, but it was home regardless. This was where she and her siblings had been born. This was where they had been raised. This was where she had received her divine mission.

And now, she would leave it behind —like Jean and Pierre, like the dozens of young men who had gone alongside them— in order to protect it all.

"Today's the day," she whispered again. With one last look at the house, Jeanne turned back towards the road and rode away, never to return.

Naomi's blue eyes opened, as she lifted her head from her pillow with a sleepy yawn. "That's odd," she muttered to herself. "I've never seen that one before..." Yawning again, the girl checked the clock on her nightstand and grimaced when she saw that it was six-twenty, a whole half-hour before her alarm was supposed to ring.

'Oh well,' she thought to herself, might as well not let the extra time go to waste.'

Naomi Shiranui hopped out of her bed, adjusting her red hair into a ponytail to keep it from getting into her vision. She reached for her phone and set a countdown timer for thirty minutes. She then stood in the center of her room stretching her neck with audible pops a few times before speaking aloud, “Well, it’s still morning, so I shouldn’t go overboard. Three sets should be alright.”

And with that, she let herself tip forward, put her hands beneath her and began her first set of push ups.

After fifteen reps, she switched to doing a set of sit ups, also fifteen reps, after which she moved on to squats and planks, before starting from the top with fifteen more push ups.

Naomi repeated this process two more times and then began performing static stretches for the next ten minutes. By the time she finished, the alarm she had set rung, indicating that it was already six-fifty.

With her morning exercises done, the girl stepped into the bathroom to clean herself up before preparing for the day.

Coming out after a shower, the girl began to dress herself in casual clothes; A warm set of pants, a long-sleeved shirt, and a leather jacket. It was a cold day, cold enough she could even see her own breath indoors, so it was only prudent that she dress warmly. She undid her hair from the ponytail it was in and allowed it to freely fall all the way down to her shoulders.

Satisfied with her appearance, Naomi exited her room and stepped out into the living room and called out, "Good morning, mother! I'm up!" Silence greeted her back. "Ah... Mama's probably left for work already, then," the girl sighed to herself. 'That is, if she even came home at all last night,' she did not add. Sure enough, the western-styled apartment she and her mother lived in was empty save for herself.

Regardless, Naomi couldn't find it in herself to fault her mother for her diligence. As an expert in both psychology and psychometrics, her work was highly valuable to the Organization. It was only natural that so much of her time would consumed by her it.

'Still...' She sighed again as she walked into the kitchen and prepared a quick breakfast of miso soup and tamagoyaki.

As she ate, Naomi glanced over at the clock and found herself disappointed to see that it was barely half-past seven. "The meeting's at ten... Maybe I woke up too early? Ah well, a couple hours isn't much of a wait." She'd been eagerly awaiting this day for almost a year now. Soon, months upon months of constant training, drilling and examinations would come to bear fruit. An excited grin spread across her lips. "Who knows? They might even make a leader."

The image was clear in Naomi's mind. She saw herself standing tall and strong, alongside her friends and comrades. She almost giggled at the thought.

After washing the plates and utensils she’d used for breakfast, the girl put on her shoes and exited the apartment complex. Despite the unusual chill for an April morning, the day was still bright and sunny, with not a single cloud to be seen in the sky. A perfect setting for the first day of the rest of her life.

A determined look settled across Naomi Shiranui’s features as she looked up at the clear morning sky. “This is it, Jeanne. Today’s the day.”

She wasn't really sure what the story behind it all was, but she still found it impressive that the local French community had not only survived, but thrived, despite Japan's history of xenophobia.

She was halfway through the Moonlight Bridge—Called the 'Pont léger de lune' in French—when someone called out to her. “Hey! Mornin’, Naomi-chan!”

Naomi turned and nodded back at the boy who greeted her. “Good morning, Feng-kun.”

The boy wore a warm black and yellow jacket, dark jeans, and a pair of expensive-looking sneakers, which were probably exported from overseas. Most notably, he had decided to go against common sense and didn't wear a hat, putting his bright fauxhawk in display for all the world to see. “Say, you look like you’re in a good mood, Naomi-chan," he classmate said, as he caught up and fell in step beside her.

“Do I? Well, yeah… I’m just pretty excited about today.”

“Yeah, me too!" He chuckled with a broad, almost infectious grin. "You’ve been a trainee for about six months, too, right? Think we’ll make the cut?”

“Definitely.” She couldn't help but smile back. “I know I’m gonna make it to one of the teams. You, though… Can’t say I’m so sure, Feng.”

“Damn, Naomi-chan,” he said, laying a hand to his heart. “You’re cold!”

“Good morning, Naomi-chan! Good morning, Shaojie-kun!” A third voice called out from behind them. An auburn-haired girl strode up next to them with a beaming smile. She was about an inch or so taller than Naomi, and wore a knit cap over her loose hair, along with a coat, jeans, and boots.

"Good morning, Sayaka-chan," Naomi greeted back.

Feng's greeting was much more enthusiastic. “S-sayaka-chan! Ah, hey, mornin'!" He declared, his grin somehow growing even wider than it had previously been. "You, uh, you psyched for the placements, too?”

“Mhmm! ...Say, Shaojie-kun, I heard that you got into a fight yesterday." Sayaka put her hands on her hips, her green eyes narrowing in a mock glare. "What’s that about?”

A small blush settled over the Chinese boy's face as he scratched his neck. “Oh, uh… Well, it wasn’t really a fight. I was just messing around, and then this guy—one of our class’s transfers—walked in, and… uh, I accidentally... punched him...?”

Sayaka gaped at him. “You got into a fight with a transfer student!?”

“Wha- No! It was an accident, Sayaka-chan! I even brought the guy to the infirmary and apologized, and everything!”

The girl sighed and hugged one of his arms, prompting a bright blush to light up Feng's face. "Jeez, Shaojie-kun, it's not cool to just go around throwing punches."

"R-right. Sorry 'bout that, S-sayaka-chan."

They talking amongst themselves as they made their way towards the east coast of Port Island, eventually coming to a stop in front of the Headquarters. Standing at thirty stories in height, the building was easily the tallest structure on Tatsumi Port Island, though not quite as tall as the skyscrapers in the mainland. At a glance, most people probably would never think that this particular building was easily the most important location in all of the city.

“Well, this is it,” Naomi said, turning to the other two.

They both nodded and followed her through the lobby. "Feng-kun, I hope you didn't forget your ID card again," Naomi said as they walked towards the receptionist.

"Come on, Naomi-chan, it was one time! Get off my back already!"

After flashing their IDs and making their way into the elevator, Naomi took a moment to heave out a sigh, while Feng and Sayaka continued chatting. Her heart beat with both excitement and apprehension as the elevator ascended towards the fifteenth floor. Her mind raced as she imagined what her team would be like. Would she be the strongest? Would they be members of different classes, or only her classmates? If so, who would they be?

Naomi briefly glanced at Feng, who was animatedly recounting some story to Sayaka. Even if he wasn't the smartest person, the boy was definitely one of the best trainees she'd seen. He'd be a welcome addition to her team. And who knew? Maybe he could learn to act more seriously with some experience as an Operative.

"...And then Miura boosted off Ishiwatari's back and dunked the crap out of it! It was awesome!"

'Pfft, yeah, wishful thinking.'

Her thoughts then turned to Sayaka. As a healer who could also double as a Navigator, she would be invaluable to any team lucky enough to have her. Naomi sincerely hoped that teams weren't restricted to only classmates. It'd be nice to be on a team alongside her friend.

"Naomi-chan?" the other girl's voice brought her out of her thoughts. "We're already here. Aren't you coming?"

Indeed, the elevator had finally stopped and opened into the fifteenth floor. Naomi nodded at Sayaka with an apologetic smile. "Right, sorry. Let's go, Sayaka-chan, Feng-kun." The three of them walked down the hall and towards the open doors near the end. She could already see about a dozen or so other trainees inside the small conference hall, sitting and talking as they waited for everyone else to arrive.

And as they walked inside, Naomi steeled herself and silently repeated the mantra in her mind: 'Today's the day.'

Chapter Text

The shrill whistle in the air was his only warning, prompting Kei to duck under the incoming slash just before his head could get lopped off.

The next strike came from above, a diagonal slice meant to cleave through him. He wasn't fast enough to dodge out of its way, not completely, so he did the next best thing, and put his blade up to block while he sidestepped.

The force of the impact nearly made him fall, but Kei managed to right himself just in time to watch the enemy zooming in on him with absurd speed, sword poised in front of him, ready to turn the boy into a shish kebab. The boy let out tiny yelp as he pushed himself back, letting himself fall on his ass, while the sword passed where his head had just been.

Right behind him, the swordsman let the momentum from his missed Stinger die out before turning and leaning on his sword, granting Kei the courtesy of waiting while he got back up.

As Kei stood on shaky legs, the swordsman tilted his head, his silence implying a question. Anything funny to say, wise guy?

"I, Uh... You... Ahh..." Kei tried a few more times, before shaking his head. "Nope, sorry. Can't think of anything clever to say."

His enemy shrugged again, before charging back into the fray.

Kei ducked again under a horizontal swipe, back-stepped away from a kick, and just barely managed to roll away when the swordsman tried his crazy front flip.

Five minutes. At five whole minutes, tonight's duel was the longest Kei had survived against the swordsman. Though, to be honest, calling it a "duel" was an overstatement. It was more of a chase, a very one-sided, very lethal, game of cat and mouse. And in those five minutes, Kei hadn't managed to land a single hit, though not for lack of trying. He'd realized that trying to strike back was a fool's errand, so he decided to switch it up; His strategy now consisted entirely of dodging the enemy's attacks, waiting for an opening.

He felt as if he had become familiar with the swordsman's fighting style now. The attacks, the angles, his aggressive behavior... Slowly, it all started to become natural for him, like some sort of instinct that had been forcibly beaten into his head after countless battles.

But even with that extra edge, tonight's duel wasn't easier in the slightest. He still misjudged just what the enemy would do at times, where the next attack would come from, and he still fell for feints. The handful of attacks that had been able to connect already left Kei in pretty rough shape, not to mention that he was feeling pretty winded after just five minutes of constant dodging.

Trying to turn this into a battle of attrition was a mistake—A mistake he quickly began to pay for.

The next attack was aimed at his right leg, Kei could practically see it coming from a mile away. But even though his eyes could follow it clearly, his body simply couldn't respond fast enough. He tried to step out of its range, but the slice still managed to tear through his thigh. Tears blurred his vision as he found his footing, with his teeth clenched so hard his jaw ached.

His opponent didn't give him a single moment to recover, rushing in once again with an overhead swing. Clumsily, Kei tried to duck away, but the wound on his leg was too much of a hindrance, causing him to trip——

"Gah! Aargh!"

——And land on his broken left arm. The sheer pain from his arm nearly made him pass out, but someway, somehow, Kei managed to soldier through it. With a low snarl, he ignored the searing pain and pushed himself onto his feet, bringing his sword in front of him and...

He stared blankly at his bare hand, which was most definitely not holding anything at all.

'...Wait, where——?'

With a soft thud, the sword landed blade-first behind him, impaling itself on the ground. It took him a split second to process this and begin to scramble for the sword, but by then it was already too late. The enemy had already plucked his fallen weapon from the ground, and began analyzing it with mock interest for a moment. He then carelessly tossed it over his shoulder and turned his attention back to Kei.

And just like that, he was back at square one. Some deep seated frustration bubbled up within Kei as he clenched his fist. He had no real idea what he was thinking, that maybe if he kept on fighting, trying to figure out new tactics, he'd eventually be able to succeed. That the insurmountable wall that was the swordsman would break one day under his constant pressure.

But it was impossible, nothing short of a pipe dream. No matter how hard he tried, Kei would never be able to defeat the swordsman.

But even knowing that... he didn't want to give up, despite knowing there was nothing he could do. Somehow, he found himself unable to say the words "I quit." Instead, he sucked his teeth and glared defiantly at his invincible enemy. "I'll get you next time," he said, waiting for the silent taunt and finishing blow that would send him back into the waking world.

But it never came.

Instead, almost hesitantly, his opponent lowered the sword away from the boy. And then he said, "This just isn't working out."

For a moment, Kei's mind completely ceased working. At last, after over two weeks of silent battle, his enemy had spoken. The boy stared in sheer incomprehension for several long minutes before his mouth managed to stammer out, "Y-you... can talk...?"

The swordsman shook his head, the movement barely visible against the gray landscape. Even though Kei couldn't see his eyes, he still could feel their judging gaze on him. "We're running out of time, and you still don't remember my name," he growled out in a terse, frustrated tone, very unsuited to his usual nonchalant body language. "I can't keep protecting you forever."

"Time? Protecting me?" Just what was it that he was running out of time for? How was he being protected? None of it made any sense. "What the hell are you talking about...? Who even are you?!"

And then suddenly, he was right there next to Kei, somehow clearing the distance between the two of them in the blink of an eye. "Listen to me," the swordsman whispered, "you need to remember. If you want to survive, if you want to know the reason..."

"——Ugh!" A sharp pain spread across his chest. Kei hadn't even seen it coming. One moment the sword was at the swordsman's side, and the next it was embedded in his chest, piercing his sternum.

Just before his conscious blacked out, the swordsman grasped his shoulder and pulled him close. "You need to stop running and remember."

And the gray world faded.

Kei awoke with a grunt, placing a hand on his aching chest.

'Wait, what?'

"It... still hurts?" That... that wasn't normal. Usually, all the injuries he gained in his not-dreams never carried over at all. Which was pretty fortunate, considering that being down one arm was already enough of a pain. Nervously, Kei lifted up his shirt, and to his immense relief his chest was completely intact. But that didn't erase the fact that he still felt the dull throb where he had just been stabbed.

"What changed?" he muttered. "Why does it hurt?"

"What hurts?" a voice asked from beside him.

Kei's neck snapped upwards so fast he almost got whiplash. Sitting on the other couch was Soma, who watched him with an amused look as he ate breakfast. "W-whoa, Soma! Wha—When'd you get here?"

His cousin rolled his eyes and took another bite of his food. "I live here, doofus. So, you were saying something about stuff hurting?"

"Ah... It's nothing, don't worry about it," the boy said, hopping off the futon and heading towards the bathroom.

"You sure? Your mom would kill me if it turns out you have a heart attack or something."

"Geez, Soma, it's not like I'm just gonna drop dead outta the blue, yeah?" And with that he opened up the door to the... supply closet...? "Uh..."

"Bathroom's behind you," Soma called out from his spot on the couch.

"R-right. I knew that."

After brushing his teeth and taking a shower, Kei joined his cousin for breakfast ("Want some butaniku?" "Sure, thanks.") and watched some foreign show about police investigators on TV.

After watching for a few minutes, Soma suddenly bolted up from his seat. "Whoa, crap! It's ten already?!"

"What's up, you got somewhere to be?"

"Yeah, man! I'm heading to work!" he said, rushing towards his room to change from his pajamas and into his work clothes.

As his cousin struggled to get dressed, Kei closed his eyes and leaned back into the couch, his hand idly tapping at his chest.

Unbidden, memories of last night's fight came to him. ''You need to remember..." What did that even mean? What was he supposed to remember? Something that vague and random didn't do anything to spur his memory in the slightest. Hell, now that he thought about it... hadn't he heard those words before, on the day that he'd arrived? The swordsman might as well have told Kei to find the cure for cancer, or something.

Then his mind flitted back home. And to why he'd agreed to come to Iwatodai in the first place—To find out what had happened back in his home town of Toyono. He'd been promised answers, on the condition that he leave everything behind and show up to this unfamiliar city on the other end of the country. He agreed, he came, and he was still no closer to finding the truth.

With a sigh, the boy opened his eyes and stared blankly at the ceiling.

If nothing else, he at least wanted some sort of closure. To understand why——

"Yo, Kei-kun!" The sudden sound of his cousin's voice—Right next to his ear—broke Kei out of his introspection. He jerked and saw Soma standing over him, dressed in a very messy and haphazard business suit. "Finally got your attention?"

"Ah, sorry, I was kinda thinking," Kei said.

"So you didn't catch the end of the show? Damn shame," Soma grumbled, then began fiddling with his tie. "Hey, you know how tie one of these?"

"Nah. Besides," the boy tapped at his cast. "Can't really do it with just the one hand."

"Oh, right. Duh." He continued to struggle with the tie for a few more minutes before eventually giving up on it altogether.

Kei leaned back on the couch, staring again at the ceiling until the words slipped from his lips. "Why am I here, Soma?"

His cousin, who was trying to tidy his olive hair, paused and turned towards him. "Huh?"

The boy shook his head. "No, lemme rephrase that—I know why I wanted to come, but... The other day, you said that you knew why I was invited here to Iwatodai, yeah?"

"I did. I also said that you'd have to wait to find out, Kei-kun. There's... the stuff you're gonna find out, it's the kind of thing that's best left to professionals, you know?" He sat down next to the boy, throwing the tie over his shoulder. "Listen, I got the call yesterday. You just gotta wait 'till Tuesday——"

"I know!" At some point, Kei had jumped to his feet without even realizing it. A twinge of pain in his left arm brought him back from his sudden rage, and he unclenched the fist, sheepishly dropping his gaze to the floor. "Sorry, I'm just... I'm tired of just waiting for things to come to me, Soma. Ever since I woke up in the hospital, nothing's made any sense. Nobody's explaining what happened in Toyono, some suits just handed me a scholarship for no reason, now I'm here, and I still don't understand anything." The boy sighed and slowly sat back down. "Look, I get it—Tuesday's not that far off, but... Soma, just give me something to work with. Please."

"God..." His cousin sighed, scratching at his stubble before hesitantly nodding. "Alright, kid. I can tell you a few things, but listen—you have to hold it down 'till Tuesday for the full explanation, alright? I'm not just doing this to be a dick," he clarified, quickly raising his hands in an appeasing gesture. "It's just... What I'm about to tell you, it's some pretty serious shit. Okay?"

Kei nodded.

"Okay." Soma hesitated and sighed again, unsure of how to start. "Okay, first off; you know the Inferno of Miyahara?"

Kei nodded again. "That's that little island city up north that got destroyed by a volcano back in twenty-twelve, yeah?" Now that he actually thought about it, he remembered what a shock the disaster had been. The news had been abuzz with details surrounding the events for weeks. From the total number of casualties, to the environmental impact, to criticisms about building a city in the vicinity of a volcano—despite it being inactive. The island city was completely decimated by the eruption, and apparently the air over the area had become so polluted that the government had blockaded the sea around it, preventing anyone from going near the area.

On top of it all, the destruction of such a large city had really been hell on the economy, which had still been recovering from the earthquake just a year prior.

"It's fake," Soma said.

Kei froze. "What?"

A few stragglers walked into the conference hall as ten AM steadily approached. Despite the quiet tension that slowly built up as the time passed, the room was still filled with chatter as the trainees talked with their friends. That being said, there were plenty who sat silently, fidgeting nervously in anticipation and anxiety.

Shaojie didn't really pay them much attention, instead focusing on the brunette in front of him.

"They scouted me back in August," Sayaka said, twirling her hair between her fingers. "But I didn't really start training 'till October."

The boy propped his head on his hand and nodded along as she recounted the story of her recruitment, but wasn't really listening. Slowly, her words faded out, and Shaojie found himself really studying Sayaka. The way her auburn hair seemed to shimmer in the light, the tiny mole under her left eye, the cute way the edges of her lips curled downwards when she frowned...

"...And then I pulled out a knife and stabbed you in the gut," she finished with a flat gaze.

She really was... Wait, what?

"Wait, what?"

"I knew you weren't listening," she huffed and punched him in the shoulder. "Rude."

"Sorry, Sayaka-chan! I just zoned out for a minute!"

"C'mon, Shao-kun..." The girl sighed and pouted at him. "What were you so focused on, anyway?"

"Oh, uh... Y'know," he muttered, a blush lighting up his face. "Things. And stuff."

She raised an eyebrow. "Uh huh. Is that why you were staring at me?"

"Ah... well... y'know, I just kinda... ehm..." Shaojie tried to explain himself, tripping and stumbling over his words like a drunk man.

Then thankfully, Naomi came to his rescue. "Feng-kun," she said, stopping the boy from making an ass out of himself, "it's about to start. Please quiet down."

Shaojie promptly stopped talking and mouthed "Thanks for the save," to Naomi, who responded with a shrug, before turning his attention towards the front.

All around him, the sounds of conversation slowly died down as the doors at the other end of the hall opened and a few adults walked inside. At their head were two people Shaojie recognized; his homeroom teacher, Niko Kiyomi , looking dapper as ever, and a silver-haired man wearing a gray suit, Akihiko Sanada. He wasn't sure that he'd ever met the others who followed behind them; a portly man with graying hair, and a tall brown-haired woman dressed in a business suit.

All trainees in the room stood almost simultaneously as Kiyomi walked up to the raised podium at the front of the room, flashed a genial smile, and spoke. "Good morning, everyone. Thank you all for coming today." They all fixed their postures and listened with rapt attention. For all intents and purposes, the man standing before them now may as well have been the Buddha spreading his gospel.

All trainees in the room stood and fixed their postures almost simultaneously, as Kiyomi walked up to the raised podium at the front of the room. They all listened with rapt attention, because for all intents and purposes, the man standing before them now may as well have been the Buddha spreading his gospel.

After a few seconds of silence, he flashed a genial smile and spoke. "Good morning, everyone! Thank you all for coming today. Now, before we begin, I'd like to congratulate every single one of you present in this room. The fact that you're standing here means that you have successfully completed your training. As of this moment, you are no longer trainees, but members of the Specialized Extracurricular Execution Squad. Or 'SEES' for short," he added with a laugh that some shakily returned before he continued. "Now then, there are some amongst you who have more than distinguished yourselves during the course of your training. Those particular people will now selected and placed into specific specialized teams suited for their skills."

And with that, Kiyomi produced a tablet from under his arm, and the tension in the room suddenly increased tenfold. "First," he said. "Will be SEES Team Ten. Its members are as follows; Ishiwatari Yoshikage."

Suddenly, a small mountain made its presence known by letting out a loud whoop. Despite having already known the guy for a while, Shaojie still couldn't help but be amazed by his sheer size. Ishiwatari was a positively massive dude, dwarfing everyone else in the room with his height and width. His dark brown hair was styled up into a pompadour, and he wore a brown bomber jacket and a graphic t-shirt with the word "Sabaton" on its front, along with faded jeans, and heavy brown boots. With his hands raised high into the air, Ishiwatari swaggered towards the podium to the half-polite, half-intimidated applause of everyone in his vicinity.

"Miura Gen." Ishiwatari then doubled back and reached down into the crowd next to him with his massive paw, lifting up Miura, a lanky young man with shaggy black hair. He wore a black hooded jacket, jeans and sneakers, and let out a groan as he allowed Ishiwatari to carry him forwards.

"Huh," Shaojie heard Naomi mutter beside him. "So they're not based on what class you're in..."

He turned towards her with a raised eyebrow. "Naomi-chan?"

The girl shook her head. "It's nothing, Feng-kun. Don't worry about it."

The rest of the team was called out, consisting of Shaojie's friend Taiji Ono, and Shouya Hirata, a freckled pretty boy who was, frankly, kind of a dick.

"You four are now the members of SEES Team Ten," Kiyomi said, as he shook each of their hands and ushered them towards Sanada, who whispered something to Ishiwatari before waving them all away. Again, they were met with polite applause from everyone else as they made their way out of the conference hall.

Everyone quieted down once more when Kiyomi cleared his throat and began to call the next team. "Next—SEES Team Eleven. Its members are as follows; Inafune Koichi, Kojima Asuka, and Kojima Haruka."

Inafune, a tall blonde boy with rimless glasses, stood up from his seat down in front and sent a friendly wave and a smile towards his two teammates, who were both sitting together at a corner in the back. The two girls were identical twins who shared their facial features, dark purple hair, and magenta eyes, but that was where their similarities ended.

Only one of them stood up, the one with straight hair pulled into a ponytail, and wore a black coat over a red turtleneck and a pair of tight black pants. She turned and looked expectantly down at her sister, who in contrast to her, had her hair cut short, with bright green high-lights going through it, and wore a cropped leather jacket over a graphic t-shirt and a pair of distressed black jeans.

She sat there with her legs crossed and her arms folded, returning her sister’s expectant look with a stern glare of her own, before eventually, she relented and stood up as well next to her.

"Just the three of them, huh?" Shaojie mused out loud. "Guess those guys must be pretty good to have a team all to themselves."

"They are," Naomi nodded. "They're the team from Miyahara."

"Whoa, hold up, what!?" His eyes suddenly widened, flitting back to look at Team Twelve's members. "Those are the guys from Miyahara?"

She let out a quiet chuckle. "Not what you expected?"

"Not really... I was thinking that they'd be more of the grizzled veteran types, you know? Big ol' scruffy beards and scars, instead of just..." He tried to make some vague gesture with his hands. "Three normal people."

And then a goose bump suddenly broke out across his spine, as he felt some primal instinct within him screaming in horror. Shaojie turned and caught sight of one of the twins—the punk-looking one—staring directly at him with a cold, malignant gaze. Apparently, he'd been loud enough that she—and probably her other two teammates—had heard him.

The boy very carefully did not move, did not blink, did not even dare to breathe, as the girl's pink eyes bored directly into his. And then he was saved from a terrible fate by the other twin, who placed a hand on the girl's shoulder and whispered something in her ear. The punky twin rolled her eyes and marched off towards the front of the room, while her much more courteous and less murderous sister politely smiled at Shaojie.

"Please excuse my sister, Feng-san," she said with a bow, before turning and walking away. The moment she did, Shaojie finally allowed himself to take deep, shuddering breaths, trying to keep his heart calm.

Sayaka reached over and placed a hand on his back. "Hey... you alright, Shao-kun?"

"Y-yeah," he managed to stammer. "Just... Do me a favor, and remind me not to shit-talk them again."

Chapter Text

"Most people," Soma elaborated, "think that the Inferno happened because of the Tōhoku earthquake. Aftershocks triggering an eruption, and all that. It's all bullshit. The volcano at Miyahara's extinct. Hell, no natural disaster happened there at all."

Kei stared at his cousin in disbelief. The very idea sounded absurd. Practically every media outlet had spent months talking about the event, how the entire city had just been wiped out in the blink of an eye. Short of a nuclear bomb just being dropped out of the blue, there was nothing else in the world that could cause that kind of destruction. "Then what happened there? Did everyone just pretend the city went up in smoke just for the hell of it?"

"Not exactly," Soma said, shrugging slightly. "I guess you'd have to go back in the timeline a bit. Around spring of that same year, strange things started happening in Miyahara. A bunch of people started disappearing, then turned up dead." A grim look crossed his features as his eyes met Kei's. "Sound familiar?"

'People disappearing? Why would——'

The boy's train of thought came to a crashing halt when he caught the implication.

"Kei-kun?" Soma said, giving him an expectant look.

Kei could do nothing but nod numbly for his cousin to continue.

"Then shit starts getting weirder over the next few months," Soma continued. "Gas explosions, more disappearances, way too many 'car crashes,' perfectly happy and normal people losing their minds and committing suicide for no apparent reason." The list went on and on, and Kei could feel a pit growing in his stomach as he listened. This... This was hitting way too close to home.

"Pretty much all hell was breaking loose for months. And then you get to December twenty-first, and it all came to an end."

"So... that's when..."

"Yeah, that's when the Inferno happened," Soma said. He then leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees and steepling his fingers in front of him. "Now just think about that—The whole city's in ruins, a huge chunk of the population's dead, the whole area's locked up tighter than Chernobyl, and everyone thinks that it was just some volcano."

"Soma... what are you trying to say? What does this have to do with me?"

"What I'm trying to say..." He sighed and rubbed at his forehead. "What I'm saying is that it's a good thing you came here, Kei-kun. Otherwise, Toyono would have ended up going through something like Miyahara." Soma paused and gave him an unreadable look. "Even more than it already has."

Kei didn't really know how to respond to that. He just stared back, trying and failing to form words.

Soma quietly cursed. "Shit, okay. Maybe that was too much to just drop on you—"

"N-no, it's... I'm alright," the boy shakily managed to say. "It's just..."

"A lot to take in?"

He shrugged. "Y-yeah."

"Alright, well..." Soma reached over and awkwardly patted him on the shoulder. "Take it easy, okay? And don't dwell on it too much—Things'll clear up on Tuesday. So, uh... cool?"

"Yeah..." Kei eventually responded. "Cool."

Soma gave him one more awkward pat, then turned to leave. "Oh, by the by," he said, pausing at the door. "Uh... don't go telling anyone about this, please? I wasn't even supposed to tell you in the first place. My boss would kick my ass if she found out." And with that, he was gone.

The boy stared after him for a minute, before sighing and slumping back, trying and failing to comprehend it all. The thought that Toyono, his home, could have ended up destroyed like Miyahara shook him.

'And then there's the swordsman, with his whole remembering thing...'

Then a thought popped up in his head. What if they were linked? The swordsman, and Miyahara, and Toyono?

He shook his head. "No, that doesn't make any sense..." There was nothing at all that implied any connection with his dreams, but... Kei tried to dismiss the crazy idea, but his morbid curiosity just wouldn't go away.

His dreams had only started after the day he'd been injured. The very same day in which the events in his hometown—the disappearances, the suicides, the sudden, inexplicable deaths—had all come to an end. But instead of turning into a ghost town like Miyahara, Toyono's crisis had wound up being way smaller in scale. But what exactly was the connection? Sure, Kei had the effect, but he didn't have the faintest clue of what the cause could possibly be.

He closed his eyes, and suddenly, some half-forgotten words came to his mind. "Thou art I, and I am thou..." Kei whispered. He repeated the sentence a few more times, trying to spark some far-off memory, but nothing seemed to click.

As the newly-formed Team Eleven exited the room, Kiyomi waited for the applause to subside before speaking up again. "Next is SEES Team Twelve. Its members are as follows; Ten'ō Ryu." This time the cheering went beyond polite applause and broke out into loud cries of acclaim. Shaojie's class representative strode up towards Kiyomi, while the other trainees shouted out their congratulations and patted him on the back as he passed by.

"Ten'ou..." Sayaka muttered. She leaned over beside Shaojie to whisper to Naomi. "Hey, Naomi-chan, isn't Ten'ō-kun supposed to be super strong, or something?"

Naomi looked at her with genuine surprise. "What, you mean you don't know? Ten'ō-kun's practically the trainee of the year. I mean, he's not exactly on the level of, say, Sanada-san or any of the veterans. But with his ability, if he's given even a few months of experience... Who knows just how strong he'll grow?"

"Whoa... So the class rep's a bonafide badass, huh?" Shaojie couldn't help but gape in amazement alongside Sayaka as he glanced again at the boy. Ten'ō smiled and nodded his thanks at all those who cheered him on. He was tall and broad-shouldered, with fair blonde hair, blue eyes, and a defined jawline. He wore a long beige coat and a blue scarf across his neck, alongside brown slacks and formal shoes. Compared to him, Shaojie feel somewhat underdressed in his track hoodie and jeans. Overall, 'heroic' was the only word that came to Shaojie's mind as he watched the boy walk up and shake Kiyomi's hand.

Shaojie nudged Naomi with his elbow. "Sounds like the kind of guy whose team you'd wanna be on, eh, Naomi-chan?"

She seemed to consider that for a second, and to his surprise, she actually frowned and shook her head. "No... not really."

Sayaka gave her an askance look. "How come? Didn't you want to be in a really strong team?"

"Yeah, but..." Naomi trailed off with a shrug. "Ten'ō-kun's pretty much guaranteed to be the leader. Hell, he's probably better than the three of us combined. If I was on his team, I'd——Ah!" She suddenly cut herself off. "We missed the announcement for the rest of his team!"

Shaojie turned towards the newly-christened team at the front and found that Naomi was right. He didn't recognize any of the other four members of Team Twelve, who all seemed like really tough-looking upperclassmen. Well... all except for the shortest guy, a blue-haired freshman who looked caught between excitement and pants-crapping nervousness. His name was... Harada, or something. Shaojie couldn't quite remember his given name.

Apart from Harada, the class rep was actually the second youngest in his team, but despite that, everyone else looked to him with respect.

Shaojie turned back to Naomi and offered her a sheepish grin. "Oh... whoops?"

"Sorry," Sayaka whispered too.

The girl heaved an exasperated sigh and shrugged. "Whatever. Just... Try and keep it down, would you? I wanna hear when we're called up."

The minutes passed, and more ex-trainees were called forward by Kiyomi. Five more teams had been formed when he suddenly paused and frowned at his tablet for a moment. He turned to Sanada and the other two people beside them, and after exchanging a few hushed words, he turned back towards them. Finally he said, "I will now announce today's final team; Team Seventeen."

The moment the word "final," left his lips, a collective "what?" rang out in response. Shaojie looked around the room, a brief headcount telling him that around twenty-something people were still left in the conference hall. So what the hell did the guy mean by "final?" Were they all about to get lumped together into some big super-team? Or... were they just not going to be placed into one at all? A brief pang of fear struck the boy then. The thought had never even crossed his mind before then. What if he, Sayaka, and Naomi didn't make the cut? Kiyomi had said that they were all already part of SEES by default, but what did that even mean without a team?

As hushed conversations broke out throughout the hall, Kiyomi cleared his throat and regained everyone's attention.

To his left Sayaka stood slowly rocking back and forth on the balls of her feet. To his right, Naomi folded her arms, trying to keep a cool look, but she gave away the act by incessantly drumming her fingers on her elbow. Shaojie, for his part, just shoved his trembling hands into his pockets and hoped. Most teams had around four to five people on them, not counting the veteran trio from Miyahara. Which meant that, at best, the three of them had a chance to make it onto this final line up. But the odds were, what, three to twenty-five? Realistically, they sure as hell didn't look promising.

After a few seconds of deliberation, Kiyomi spoke up again. "Mikami Rin," he called, and a pale, green-haired boy whom Shaojie just kinda recognized walked forward. Mikami's clothes were pretty simplistic—He wore a white jacket over a black turtle neck, beige pants, and black formal shoes.

"Inoue Mana," a pretty blonde girl, wearing a cream parka and jeans, followed closely after him.

"Suda Dokuro," this time, a dark-haired boy with pale gray eyes walked up, decked out in entirely black clothing.'What the hell?' Shaojie almost scoffed at the name. 'Who names their kid "skull?"'

And finally, there was Honda Issei, a jock-looking guy with undercut copper hair, who wore a green field jacket over a white tee and jeans.

Shaojie heaved out a sigh he hadn't realized he was holding, allowing his shoulders to slump. Damn, it felt like he'd just gotten punched in the stomach. And by the looks of it, plenty of the twenty-odd remaining rookies also seemed pretty bummed out about not getting into any teams, either.

He was about to comment to Sayaka when he heard a quiet, monotone "What?" right next to him.

Shaojie turned and nearly flinched when he caught sight of Naomi. At a glance, there was nothing unusual about her expression. But when he really looked at her eyes, he noticed the way they remained fixated solely on Kiyomi. She may not have been flying off the handle and slinging curses at him, but her cold, emotionless stare spoke volumes.

For several months, every trainee had been looking forward to this day, when they would officially be inducted into SEES. But no one had shown the same level of enthusiasm as Naomi. For as long as he'd known the girl, she had been focused on her training with an almost religious fervor. Whenever she wasn't busy maintaining her grades in school, Naomi spent countless hours training, preparing her mind, body, and soul for the sole purpose of joining the ranks of the Shadow Operatives. It was clear to him, and to practically everyone else who knew her, that this was her life's goal. He couldn't even to imagine the anger she must be have been feeling, now that everything she'd worked for was dashed away in a single stroke.

Against his better judgement, Shaojie spoke up, hoping to calm her down. "H-hey, Shira——"

"Shut up," she cut him off immediately, her eyes fixated solely on their teacher, who continued his speech unaware of her unwavering gaze.

"Those of you who haven't been placed on a team, don't be discouraged. Instead of being part of a specific team, you will placed into the Provisional Corps. Make no mistake," he said, raising a hand to appease the groans of confusion and disappointment. "By no means does this mean that you're in any way inferior to your comrades, nor is this meant to punish you. The Provisional Corps is meant to help you further develop your skills. I'm more than certain that once you've earned enough time and experience, you will eventually find your way into a team," he said with an encouraging smile that seemed to raise most people's spirits. "That's all for now. You are dismissed."

The moment Kiyomi had stopped speaking, Naomi promptly turned on her heel and began weaving her way through the crowd.

"Hey, Naomi!" Sayaka tried to call out to her, but the other girl ignored her as she continued her steady march towards the exit.

Sayaka moved to follow after her, but Shaojie grabbed her by the arm, stopping her. "Sayaka-chan, she looked pissed. D'you really wanna go after her?"

The girl sighed, her lips pursed and face cutely pinched in worry. '——Gah, no! Bad lower brain! Now's not the time!'

"Naomi's probably gonna be pretty heated for a while," Sayaka said. "Still, we should probably try and catch up with her soon. She... Well, you know how she gets when she's worked up."

"Yeah, I sure do..." He grimaced and absently rubbed at his side. "Are you sure this is a good idea? It doesn't sound like it's gonna be very healthy for either us."

Sayaka gave him a stunned look, as if he'd slapped her. "Shao-kun, she's our friend. I know that Naomi puts up a tough act, but we can't just leave her alone, not when she's like this."

"I... Ah, hell." Whatever argument Shaojie was about to make died in his throat when he saw the serious look in her green eyes. With a sigh, he shrugged and relented. "Lead the way, boss. Let's go find her before the building gets blown up, or whatever."

A positively beatific smile broke out across Sayaka's features at that. "I knew I could count on you, Shao-kun!" she said, giving him a quick hug before grabbing him by the wrist and pulling him behind her, damn near dislocating his wrist.

'Man,' Shaojie groaned, as he was almost literally dragged around by the petite girl,'The things I do for this chick...'

Every step she took felt stiff and mechanical, as if she wasn't in full control of her body. Naomi's legs simply kept moving with no real goal in mind. She just wanted to get away and be anywhere but here.

"Don't be discouraged," Kiyomi's words echoed like a taunt in her mind as she walked down the hallway. "You'll eventually find your way onto a team." She caught herself scowling at the thought, before she schooled her expression and shoved shaking hands into her pockets. A dull, aching sensation spread across her spine, running down her shoulder blade to the middle of her back.

She couldn't let anyone see her like this. She needed to be calm, collected. Just like Jeanne would be.

Naomi paused when she found she'd already reached the elevator. After pressing the call button, she crossed her arms and stood leaning against the wall.

She could hardly believe anyone had bought it at all. Kiyomi had sugarcoated it and made it seem as if it were some great boon, a chance to further improve themselves. But she'd seen his eyes, and recognized his speech for what it really was: a lie. The truth was that they'd already been judged, measured, and they'd all been found wanting. And as a result, they were all being sidelined.

Ishiwatari, Ten'ō, Mikami, and those other lucky few who had actually become part of SEES would rise high, while the rest would be left behind to wither, ignored and tossed away like yesterday's garbage. The very best they, the Provisionals, could hope for was that someone would take pity upon them, and perhaps grant a promotion onto a team. Then, and only then, would a Provisional have any form of mobility.

The mere thought of it nearly made her blood boil. Naomi bit her lip in frustration and nearly jabbed at the button again, only stopping when she heard the soft digital note announcing the elevator's arrival.

The doors opened, and for a split second, Naomi almost felt her heart stop beating as she met the gaze of the woman inside. A face much like hers looked back from behind a pair of glasses, before the woman stepped aside to allow her entry, and returned her attention to her tablet.

With her anger completely extinguished, Naomi shakily stepped inside and stood next to her as the doors shut and the elevator began to descend.

The ride felt infinitely long and awkward as the girl stared directly at the floor, trying to find the courage to speak up. Her stop on the ground floor passed by, followed by the first, second, and third sub-levels. And with every moment that passed, she hated herself more and more, desperately wanting to say something. Anything. But the words just caught in her throat.

Meanwhile, the woman didn’t spare a single glance at her.

It was only when the elevator slowed to a halt at sub-level five, and as her opportunity was slipping away, that Naomi allowed the words to slip out.

“Mother.”

Atsuko Shiranui paused halfway out the door, without turning, and gave the tiniest incline of her head to indicate she was listening.

Naomi licked her dry lips, uncertain of how to proceed now. The aching slowly intensified into an almost unbearable feeling of burning. At that moment, a myriad different questions ran through her mind. A silent and empty home. Nights spent alone. Bleeding, sweating, and breaking bones, all for the purpose of bettering herself. So many missed moments and so many questions, all demanding answers...

But then and there, only one thing mattered to Naomi.

“I — Did... I didn't make it into a team today... did you...?" She couldn't bring herself to finish, 'Did you have something to do with that?'

“Yes,” the woman said, and moved to walk out, but stopped when Naomi spoke again.

“...Why?”

“Your abilities are limited,” her mother responded simply, before stepping out of the elevator and allowing the doors to shut behind her.

Naomi wasn't sure how long she stood in the elevator, staring blankly at nothing. Eventually, some sense of clarity returned to her, and she slumped against the wall, barely suppressing a shuddering breath that might have turned into a sob. She tried to compose herself, to muster up the simmering rage and indignation she'd felt just a minute before, but... She just couldn't find it in herself to be angry anymore. Everything just felt numb and drained.

"Limited..." she repeated. The word felt disgusting in her mouth, like some sort of insult against her very existence. It implied that she was weak, that she had ceased improving, that everything she was, and ever would be, was meaningless. "I'm not limited," she whispered again.

She almost didn't notice her hand moving towards the elevator's console and pressing a button, almost as if of its own will, until the elevator smoothly began to ascend once more.

The more he thought about it, the more Kei's head felt like spinning. He had no real reason to believe any of it. Hell, any normal person would have dismissed Soma's claims as some crackpot conspiracy theory, but it was just way too damn real. Everything clicked, and it clicked too well.

On top of that, the very idea that someone out there had the resources and sheer balls to make up a disaster like the Inferno of Miyahara—Lying not just to a nation, but literally to the world at large—was terrifying.

It raised the question... How many other events could have been faked? And just what was Soma's role in all of it? For that matter, why had he even told Kei about any of it in the first place?

"Man," he let out a humorless chuckle, running his hand through his hair. "Next thing I know, I'm gonna be running around screaming about how Nine-Eleven was an inside job."

The sudden ringing of his cellphone broke through the silence, nearly making him jump in alarm. Chuckling again, Kei picked up the phone. “Moshi mo——”

The responding shout of "KEI!" damn near burst his eardrum.

He yanked the phone away, and his eyes widened in realization when he read the caller ID; ‘神谷 猛.’

Takeshi Kamiya.

"You wanna try screaming a little louder, dad?" He hissed, bringing the phone back to his ear. "I think some of the folks over at Okinawa didn't quite hear you."

"Don't give me that sass," his father continued. "It's been two whole days since you left, and you haven't even bothered to call us at least once? What's your deal?"

"Oh." Now that he thought about it... he never did get a chance to call his parents when he'd reached Iwatodai. Or rather, he'd just forgotten to do so. Between everything that had happened in the past two days—The exhausting trip from Osaka, his long day at school, getting lost, and his conversation with Soma just now—his parents had completely slipped his mind. They must have been sick with worry.

Kei felt like he should probably say something, to apologize for his lack of attentiveness and for making them worry about him.

"Yeah... My bad."

Nailed it.

His father snorted in response. "Really? That the best you can do?"

"Well, yeah," Kei shrugged, even though his dad couldn't see it. "I could mail you an apology card, if you wanna have that instead?"

Takeshi laughed at that. "Right, whatever. So, how are things, Kei? You doing alright?"

"Eh, getting by," Kei said, lifting his feet onto the coffee table.

"Good to hear. How's the ol' arm holding up?"

“Well…” He glanced down at his left arm and tried to clench his hand. He managed to twitch his fingers a bit, before he felt a sharp sting of pain. “It ain’t fallen off yet, so I guess that’s something, yeah?”

“Hey, quit that,” his father suddenly said.

“Quit what?”

“Quit poking at your arm. It's not gonna heal any faster if you keep screwing around with it, you know.”

Kei's eyes widened in confusion. “Wha—? How’d you know?”

"Oh, I—"

The boy cut him off mid-sentence. "If you say something lame like 'I have my ways,' I'm gonna hang up."

"...I can spontaneously develop mind-reading powers whenever you do something stupid," his dad finished.

He chuckled. "Okay, sounds legit."

Then, there was a pause in the conversation. "So, uh..." He trailed off, trying to find something to say. "How're things on your end? How's mom doing?"

"Everything's okay, the missus's doing fine." His father sighed. "She misses you, you know. You and Meggie, both."

"Oh..." Yeah, that sounded about right. His mom hadn't been at all happy to see him go. Specially not so soon after... He shook his head, trying to dispel the thought. "So, you missing me, too?"

"Hell no!" Takeshi laughed. "Having you out of the house is the best thing that's ever happened! Now I can store all the crap I don't need in your room. Also: your bed is comfy."

Kei snorted. "Wow. Reeeeally feeling the love here, pop. So if you don't care, how come you're the one calling me instead of mom?"

"Hey, I've got a quota to fulfill, kid. If I get enough 'good dad points' this week, your mom's gonna let me put——"

He nearly gagged at the mental image. "Okay, eww! Tee-Emm-Eye, dad! Tee-Emm-Eye!"

They shared a laugh, before falling into silence again. After a few moments, his father sighed and spoke up. "But, seriously though, are you holding up alright? We... we didn't really get to talk much before you skipped town."

Kei shrugged again on reflex. "I'm surviving, I guess."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah."

Another pause, before his father sighed again, and his voice took on a more serious tone. "Listen, Kei... I know it's been... rough for you, this past couple of weeks. Yuri's——"

"Dad," Kei interrupted, "let's... not talk about that. Please."

"I... alright." His father relented, with a touch of concern in his voice. "But I'm here to talk, if you want to. Your mom, too. You know that, right, Kei?"

The boy nodded. "Sure."

"So don't hesitate to call either of us whenever you need, alright?"

Kei nodded again. "Yeah, alright."

"Right. Well stay safe, son. Don't do anything I wouldn't do."

That got a laugh out of Kei. "...So, you want me to go get a girl pregnant at eighteen and bumble my way through med school, oyaji?"

There was a brief silence on the other end. "Ooookay, lemme rephrase that; Don't do anything I would do. Smartass."

"Gee, wonder where I get that from."

And with one more shared chuckle, they ended the call.

Kei picked up the TV remote and idly began channel surfing, not really paying any attention to whatever was on. His mind was filled with thoughts of home, his duels with the swordsman, whatever the hell was up with Miyahara, and all sorts of unpleasant and wildly confusing stuff. After a few minutes he announced, "I'm bored," to no one in particular. If he just kept himself shacked up and alone with his thoughts, he'd probably drive himself nuts within the hour.

So against his better judgement, Kei put on his coat, got his shoes from the genkan, and headed out for a stroll to occupy his mind.

"So, you think she's gonna be in here?" Shaojie asked, as they stepped off the elevator.

"Pretty sure," Sayaka said, leading the way through the short hallway. "If there's any place Naomi-chan would go to to blow off steam, this is it."

"Alright, cool." He nodded. "So, uh, you got a game plan for this?"

She rolled her eyes. "Shao-kun, we're just gonna talk to her. It's not that complicated."

They then reached the door at end of the hallway, which led into the gym. The Headquarters' gym encompassed the majority of the building's third floor, giving it more than enough space for accommodating dozens of people. It's perimeter was lined with all manners of workout gear; punching bags, free weights, power racks, treadmills, and much more.

At the center of the gym was a boxing ring, flanked on two sides by a pair of large dojo mats, suitable for sparring. It was there that they found Naomi, flipping about with a bō staff in her hands. Even from this distance, the muffled heavy metal that blasted from her headphones echoed across the empty gym.

Shaojie couldn't stop himself from staring as Naomi flowed from motion to motion, the staff becoming a blur in her expert hands as she jabbed and swept it to and fro. Her red hair was tied up in a loose ponytail, with strands twisting and trailing after her as she moved. She wore a cropped black tank top, which gave him a good look at her toned navel, glistening with beads of sweat from her workout, and yoga pants.

The two most perfect words to ever exist: 'Yoga. Pants.' God damn, the name itself sounded like poetry in motion. It was like a physical manifestation of beauty, God's latest gift to this cruel, cynical world. Somewhere out there, Shaojie knew, the Ode to Joy was being sung in celebration of this very moment. 'YOGA! PANTS!' That slim, black, and oh so tight, piece of fabric clung around Naomi's lean waist, emphasizing her hips, her thighs, and her——

Then, a tiny voice of reason in the back of his head reminded him of the girl he was standing next to. And the fact that neither she nor Naomi would have any issue with murdering him and dumping the body in the bay. Thus, Shaojie wisely stopped ogling and shut his mouth.

"Naomi-chan!" Sayaka called out, waving her hands to get the other girl's attention.

Naomi spun around again, stabbing at the air as if she were skewering an enemy with a spear. He caught sight of her eyes then, unfocused and far off, as if she wasn't really paying any attention to what she was doing. She spotted them from the corner of her eye then, bringing down the staff and pulling down her headphones. "Oh hey, Sayaka-chan, Feng-kun. What are you guys doing here?"

"What's it look like? We were looking for you."

"What for?"

"Well, you looked kinda down earlier, so me and Shao-kun figured we could cheer you up, so... here we are."

Naomi seemed surprised by that, but she quickly composed herself and shook her head. "Thanks, but you guys don't need to bother. I'm fine on my own."

"Oh," Sayaka stumbled, lost for words at her quick dismissal. "Uh... You sure?"

"Yep. Positive," Naomi responded, as she turned around and slowly began to resume her kata.

Shaojie turned to Sayaka. "Sooooo... That didn't work out. Any other ideas?"

She sighed and looked back at their friend. "Naomi... I know that you really wanted to be part of the Operatives."

Naomi paid her no heed, steadily increasing the speed of her movements.

"I... We all saw how hard you worked at it. Hell, I'm pretty sure no one else put in as much effort as you did. And I'm disappointed we didn't make it, too. But it's not the end of the world, you know? I'm sure that if we just stick together, we can——"

Then, Naomi abruptly stopped, slamming the tip of her staff onto the mat. "That's not what it's about," she said, turning around slowly to face Sayaka. "I don't care about SEES, I don't care about the Shadow Operatives, and I could give two shits about the damn teams!"

"Then what is it about?"

"I..." She frowned and shook her head. "Forget it. Just go home, both of you."

"Nuh-uh," Sayaka said. "You're my friend, Naomi, there's no way I'm just gonna leave you sulking here all by yourself."

Naomi shrugged again. "Well, maybe I want to be alone," she said, turning her eyes down to stare intently at the floor.

"C'mon, talk to me," Sayaka pleaded as she took a few steps towards her.

"Just go home," Naomi repeated.

A tense, uncomfortable silence fell between the two girls. Things were getting nowhere, fast. So Shaojie decided to throw caution to the wind and cut in. "Aren't you bored, Naomi-chan?"

Both Sayaka and Naomi turned towards him, with confusion written clearly across their faces.

He gestured vaguely around the gym. "I mean, you're just standin' around here, just doing boring old katas. You call that a workout? Why not kick it up a notch? Whaddaya say to a little spar?"

"You want to spar," Naomi repeated, raising an eyebrow. "With me."

Sayaka's eyes widened at that, and she opened her mouth to interject before Shaojie silenced her with a wink. "Yeah...?" He said, turning back to Naomi. "That's what I said, wasn't it? Or was I speaking in Chinese accidentally?"

Naomi scoffed and folded her arms, with her staff propped up against her shoulder. "You do remember how that end up for you last time, right? How're your ribs holding up?"

Shaojie barely suppressed a wince, forcing a confident grin onto his face. "D'aww, you're worried about me, Naomi-chan? Don't fuzz over it, I'm A-okay!"

"Uh-huh. Anyhow, I'm not interested."

"Not interested?" He repeated with a mocking tone, mirroring her arm fold. "Or... afraid?"

Naomi looked at him with an unimpressed glare. "...Dude, are you serious?"

"One-hundred percent cereal. I might not be a boxer like Sanada-san, but I can still pack one mean punch." He threw a few jabs and a straight for extra effect. "You're not gonna win this time."

The girl rolled her eyes and heaved an exasperated sigh. "Not buying into it, Feng."

"That's exactly the kind of thing someone who's afraid would say."

Her glare intensified. "Shut up already."

Shaojie tactfully and eloquently responded by blowing a raspberry at her.

Their stare down dragged on for several long, tense moments. Shaojie almost lost his composure, but luckily, Naomi backed down first. The girl closed her eyes and slowly exhaled through her nose. "Fine, I'm outta here," she finally said, hoisting the staff onto her shoulders.

"I... Wait, what?" Shaojie stared after her as she casually started walking towards the locker rooms.

"Next time you wanna piss someone off, try not to be so obvious and lazy about it. I'm not that easy to rile up, you know." She then turned and gave him a wide, twisted grin that Shaojie knew would haunt his nightmares for the rest of his life. "'Sides, I'm sure Sayaka-chan wouldn't be too happy if I broke anything important."

While Shaojie recoiled in fear for his life, Sayaka stepped up with a hopeful smile. "So what do you think, Naomi-chan? I'm sure that if we work hard at it, we can move up from the Provisional Corps together, like Kiyomi-sensei said. Maybe even as a team."

Naomi met Sayaka's smile with another sigh. "To tell you the truth, I don't think it's gonna happen. We'll be lucky if we don't get stuck doing drills forever. But thanks for coming, anyway, guys," she said, giving them both a small smile. "I... I appreciate it."

Chapter Text

Going outside was a mistake.

It had taken Kei just about ten minutes to realize this fact. And then another half hour for him to realize he wasn't going to have an easy time finding his way back. At first he'd just put that worry in the back of his mind and spent some time just wandering around, poking in and out of random shops, and catching a meal at a fast food restaurant.

He idly wondered why on Earth he'd left the warmth and comfort of the apartment to go get himself lost in an unfamiliar city.

Oh, right. Because he was bored, and hadn't learned his lesson last time.

Iwatodai wasn't exactly Osaka or even Tokyo, but it was still a pretty big city nonetheless. Big enough for a country kid like himself to get very lost, very quickly. Kei passed by shops, restaurants and parks, through crowded streets and quiet little alleyways. After a while, the sky began turning orange and his shadow grew larger, indicating night would come in just about an hour or so.

He stopped walking in the middle of a sidewalk and yanked off his earbuds, replacing the tune of Band on the Run with the hustle and bustle of Iwatodai's evening. Craning his neck to look around, Kei searched for some sort of landmark. All around him were several small business—restaurants, electronics shops, and the like—surrounded by massive office buildings and chain stores. Across the street was a tall building with a large sign advertising foreign cars on its side. Which, now that he really thought about it, actually looked vaguely familiar... 

He groaned with a mixture of terror, annoyance, and a hint of embarrassment as he was struck with the dawning realization of, 'Oh my God, I just walked in a circle for six hours.'

His phone had given up the ghost a while ago, so he didn’t have GPS to save his hide this time around. He'd even tried to read a couple street signs every once in a while to try and find his way. Unfortunately, “Via Laterale de Fleuve" didn’t really give him much to work with, even with the katakana translation helpfully provided just underneath.

He sighed again. Going outside had been a huge mistake. And so was the French language. And every other language, for that matter.

“They shoulda just made the whole world stick to Japanese and dumped the rest into the garbage…” He grumbled as he turned towards a random direction, his breath visible against the cold air. He kept on walking for a long time, taking random turns here and there, hoping against all hope that he'd get lucky and somehow end up right back at Soma's.

Eventually, he reached a shrine tucked away in a small area surrounded by trees. He couldn't help but chuckle when he realized that this was the very same shrine he'd ended up at just after getting off the bus.

Deciding that he might as well, Kei walked up the steps to the shrine, taking the sights. At one corner there was a little park area for children to play in, filled with a jungle gym, swings, slides, a seesaw, the works. At the end of the footpath was the shrine's main building. It was actually pretty surprising how big the place was, considering it was smack-dab in the middle of a big city. As far as he knew, inner city shrines were supposed to be tiny, practically able to fit into an alley. The place was deserted, but that wasn't really all that surprising, considering how insanely cold it was that day—A whopping negative one degree Celsius.

The Shrine wasn't really all that far from the road, but the city’s noises—The loud roar of cars, the bustling sounds of people going to and fro—all seemed to be washed away, if just for a few moments. It was... actually pretty chill.

“Oh,” someone called out from behind him, breaking the silence in the shrine. “Hello, Kei-kun.”

Sitting on a bench behind him was a pale boy, with shaggy green hair tied into a ponytail, who looked back at him with a serene smile.

"Oh, hey. You're, uh... you're Mikami-han, right?"

The boy's smiled widened just a bit as he nodded. "I'm glad your remember me, Kei-kun."

Kei nearly frowned at the casual use of his given name, but managed to turn it around into a polite, if strained, smile.

An awkward silence fell between the two of them before Mikami spoke up again. "Would you like to sit here, Kei-kun?"

Under normal circumstances, Kei would just have made up some excuse and kept on walking, but... right now he was cold, his feet hurt, and he sorta wished he was at home playing video games. So against his better judgement, he shrugged and took a seat. The other boy gave him a brief smile before staring off into the distance.

Kei, for his part, just sat there uncomfortably, trying and failing to recapture that cool, relaxed feeling from just a moment ago. After a few minutes of silence, he finally cracked and tried to strike up a conversation, just for the sake of ending the awkwardness. "What're you looking at, Mikami-han?"

"Hmm? Oh, nothing in particular. I was just looking at that robin over there," Mikami said, pointing toward the shrine's main building.

Kei followed his finger and caught sight of a small bird resting on the roof. It was... a bird, like any other he'd ever seen. Two legs, two wings. There wasn't really anything out of the ordinary about it that he could see. "Uh-huh. And what's so special about it?"

Mikami shrugged. "Like I said, nothing in particular. But I just saw it, and I started wondering... How did it feel the first time it flew? Was it scary to fall high up from its nest? Was it exciting to spread its wings and soar for the first time? How far has it flown since then? Was it born here, in Iwatodai? Is it the same bird I saw this morning? I like to think it is, and that it decided to spend its day following me because it liked the color of my hair.

"I wonder how it feels about flying now? They say that once you do something enough times, its novelty will wear off, and it won't seem so special anymore. Maybe that's true. But I don't think flying could ever lose its splendor. I think that it still feels thrilled every time it opens its wings and kicks off." Mikami smiled again and closed his eyes, as if the bird's image was somehow clearer in his mind. "If I could fly, I don't think I'd ever stop being amazed."

Oh. So Mikami wasn't a weirdo, he was just insane. That actually explained a lot. "Huh, that's..." Kei struggled to think of a word for a moment. "Deep...?"

Mikami didn't seem to hear the doubt in Kei's voice. "Hah, is it really? I'm glad to hear you think so, Kei-kun."

This time Kei wasn’t able to stop himself from frowning. "Yeah, listen, Mikami-han, don't take this the wrong way, but... You mind not calling me that? It's kinda weird to be called by my first name by someone I don't really know, yeah?"

Mikami didn't seem fazed by his request at all. He just nodded and kept on smiling. "That sounds perfectly reasonable, Kei—Sorry, Kamiya-kun."

He sat in thoughtful silence for a few moments, before he turned back to Kei and spoke up again. "Do you believe in gravity, Kamiya-kun?"

Kei raised an eyebrow and pulled a coin out of his pocket, held it in front of him, then let go. It bounced off the ground and skidded out of sight. "Gravity confirmed for real," he said. "More news at eleven."

Mikami laughed and shook his head. "Hah, that's not quite what I meant. I mean 'gravity' as in... there's a reason why events happen as they do, why people meet. If the factors were to change, the end results would still be the same. I believe that 'gravity' is the reason why that robin has been following me all day, and why we happened to run into each other here."

"Huh... that sounds a lot like what most people would call 'fate' or 'destiny,' Mikami-han."

"I suppose," his classmate shrugged. "I think you in particular have strong gravity around you, Kamiya-kun. Like interesting events and people are drawn to you."

Kei scoffed and rolled his eyes. "Chyeah, 'interesting' is one way to put it... Waiddaminnit, did you just call me fat?"

The polite smile Mikami gave him in response was almost infuriating. "I'm sure I have no idea what you're talking about, Kamiya-kun."

"Uh-huh, sure you don't." Kei shook his head and leant back on the bench.

A shrill screech cut through the air right then.

He raised his eyes to the sky and spotted a dark form circling overhead. His mind barely had enough time to realize that this was some sort of bird before the figure tucked in its wings and fell straight down. Its speed was absurd, making it seem less like an animal and more like a bullet as it cut through the air. Within moments it had closed in on the robin Mikami had just been gushing about, its talons poised forward to pluck the smaller bird out of the air.

By some miracle the robin managed to catch sight of the falcon diving towards it, and flew out of the way just in time. But the failed dive wasn't enough to deter the bird of prey. While the robin began fleeing for refuge in the canopy of trees surrounding the shrine, the falcon was already in hot pursuit.

The two birds soared through the air together, and every time the falcon tried to approach the robin, the smaller bird just barely managed to move away and escape its grasp. The precision of their movements almost made the seem elegant, like a dance. But eventually, that elegance came to a sudden end.

It only took one mistake, just a split second of delay for the falcon to catch up, snatch the robin and start tearing into it. The robin struggled and shrieked out in panic as the claws began to shred its flesh and began to carry it upwards.

With a wince, Kei turned to Mikami. "I think your robin's about to go the way of Jason Todd, man."

For once, the boy wasn't smiling; instead, his lips were pressed into a thin line as he watched the hunt intently. "No," he said with a shake of his head. "It's not over quite yet, Kamiya-kun."

Kei turned back towards the hunt and saw that the robin had somehow managed to slip free of the falcon's clutches. But even with its regained freedom, the situation was looking beyond dire for it; it was wounded, steadily losing blood and struggling to remain aloft. Kei frankly couldn't see any outcome to this situation that didn't end with its death.

The falcon flapped its wings and took off into the sky, its eyes never leaving the robin. Eventually the predator reached what it deemed to be an acceptable altitude, folded its wings, and began to swoop back down.

But the tiny robin had not sat idly by as its death raced towards it. In spite of its injuries, it took flight and began to move. Only... instead of trying to flee towards safety, it began flying up, towards its hunter.

There were fifty feet between the two of them.

Fifty feet became forty feet.

Forty became Thirty.

The distance between the two birds practically disappeared in a fraction of a second, and despite himself Kei was sitting on the edge of his seat, watching it all with anticipation.

Twenty feet.

Ten.

Five.

Four.

Three feet.

They were almost close enough to touch when the prey finally made its move.

Just as the falcon got into range, the robin closed a single wing, destabilizing its flight and sending itself into a wild barrel roll. But that last-second juke was just enough to avoid the talons and guarantee its victory. The falcon had dived too fast, too steeply and too close to the ground for it to possibly avert its course before colliding. It died immediately on impact, while the robin flew off, battered and bruised, but alive.

The silence that accompanied the aftermath felt staggering.

Kei was standing—he hadn't even noticed when he'd gotten up—with his hand clenched tightly, and his mouth agape as he watched it all unfold. He licked his dry lips, unclenched his shaking fist, tried to slow his wildly beating heart. Eventually he managed to compose himself just enough to whisper, "That's rad!"

A chuckle came from his right. "It certainly is, isn't it?"

Mikami's interjection reminded Kei that he was not alone, and a self-conscious blush colored his cheeks. "Oh... uh... Well, I- I guess you were onto something with the whole flying thing, Mikami-han. That bird was pretty boss."

Almost as if on cue, the robin fluttered down and landed just a few feet away from them, exhausted and just barely standing.

Mikami calmly walked over, knelt and held his hands out in front of him. The robin recoiled away from him, but did not take off. After a few moments of deliberation, it jumped into his waiting hands. Holding the bird close to his chest, the boy then turned to Kei and raised an eyebrow. "Jason Todd?"

Kei shrugged. "Well... yeah, he was Robin in the comics." Mikami regarded him with a silent, confused expression. "...Y'know, Batman's sidekick? He got killed by the Joker. With a crowbar." The silence continued. Kei groaned and shook his head. "Look, my g— a friend of mine used to be really into American comics, so I just kinda picked some stuff up."

A shiver ran down his spine. Kei looked up and noticed that the sun had already set. Suppressing another shiver, he stood up from the bench. "Anyways, I should probably get going," he told Mikami. "Last thing I need is to get frostbite, or something, yeah?" With a parting nod, he began to head out of the shrine. His stride slowed down as he recalled the many hours he had spent that day, wandering in circles up and down the city.

With a sigh, Kei turned and walked back towards Mikami, figuring that asking for help couldn't possibly get him any more lost than he already was. "Actually... I'm, uh, kinda lost. Think you could help me find an address, Mikami-han?"

The boy nodded. "Of course, I'd be happy to, Kamiya-kun."

"Perfect, thanks. See, I need to find a place between, uh..." He trailed off, trying to remember the pronunciation. "'Avenue De Bouleau Blanc,' and Kaname Square. Any idea where that is?"

"That won't be a problem," Mikami said, pointing to the thoroughfare just outside the shrine. "That street is Avenue De Bouleau Blanc. And right there," he added, moving his finger towards to the block right across from them, "is Kaname Square."

"Oh." Kei stared off towards the block for almost a solid minute. When he spoke again, his voice was tiny and flat, devoid of all emotion. "So... you mean it's right there."

"Yes."

"This whole time, it was literally right over there, in walking distance."

"It sure was," Mikami helpfully supplied.

"Huh..." He turned back to Mikami and let out a weak chuckle. "W-well, I'm from a small town and all, y-yeah? Can't really expect a country bumpkin like me to get around the city, yeah?" He tried to force a smile, but it felt stiff and awkward, so dropped it almost immediately. "...Anyhow, I'll see you at school. Thanks for the help, Mikami-han."

It was a straight shot to the apartment complex from there, so Kei managed to reach the apartment without getting lost again.

"Yo," Soma greeted as the boy walked inside, shivering and chattering his teeth as he kicked off his shoes. "Dude... how long were you out there?"

"Long enough that I shoulda known better," he mumbled, taking off his jacket and practically face-planting into the couch. "What a mess... I'mma just go to sleep now."

"Don't you want any dinner?"

"Nah, I already ate. 'Sides, if I get hungry—" Kei cut himself off with a yawn before resuming, "I can just get by with cookies and soda."

Soma chuckled. "Cookies and soda. Textbook definition of a wholesome meal, right there." He could almost feel, taste and smell the sarcasm dripping from his cousin's voice.

"Hey, I'm still alive, aren't I?" With that, he closed his eyes and quickly drifted off.

Chapter Text

When his eyes opened again, Kei saw a world of endless gray.

He did the usual routine, grabbing the sword that materialized in front of him and then performing a full turn to face the swordsman, silently walking towards him.

"You can talk," Kei said flatly. It wasn't an accusation or a question—simply a statement.

His opponent ignored him and continued his advance.

"Hey, drop the act and answer me."

The swordsman didn't slow his stride in the slightest. So Kei improvised. Flipping the sword in his hand, the boy placed the edge against his own neck.

That actually gave him pause. The swordsman stopped and stared at him for several long moments. "...Are you serious?"

"Glad I got you attention," Kei said, giving him a wry grin. "You ready to talk this out like a normal person? Or should I swing by tomorrow?"

The swordsman planted his weapon on the ground, folding his arms. "And what exactly is it you wanna know?"

"Whaddaya think? We've been at this for seventeen days now, every single night. What's this all for? Why am I here? Just what is it you want from me?"

The swordsman shook his head and scoffed. "That's it? I'd say I'm disappointed, but this is pretty much par for the course when it comes to you. At any rate, I don't see why I should tell you anything."

"You sure about that?" Kei pressed the sword a bit closer to his jugular. "I don't have to play ball with you either. A flick of the wrist, and I'm outta here."

"You wouldn't do that," the swordsman stated simply.

Kei looked directly into his blank face, right where he imagined the eyes would be. "Wouldn't I?"

" No."

They held that stare down for a long, tense minute, until Kei finally sucked his teeth and slowly let his arm drop to his side. "See, here's the thing; You tell me I'm running out of time, and don't mention for what. You say I need to remember your name, and don't even drop a hint. Now we're both here, we have a chance to talk it out, but you don't even have the common decency to explain any of it." Kei gave him an exasperated look. "You can see why I'm not exactly bouncing off the walls with excitement here, yeah?"

"Gravity..." he began, unfolding his arms. "'The reason why events happen as they do, why people meet...' Sounds like a bunch of weird philosophical nonsense, doesn't it? Thing is, that guy, Mikami? He wasn't exactly off. There's something headed your way. Something big. And it's my job to make sure you don't wind up getting yourself killed," he said, emphasizing his words by pointing directly at Kei.

"Okay, cool." Kei nodded. "Big mysterious threat on my life, gotcha. Now, you mind explaining what exactly that is? Did I accidentally watch a videotape last week or something?"

The swordsman stood there deep in thought, fingers idly drumming on the hilt of his sword. After several moments of deliberation, he finally shook his head. "Always with the dumb questions. Why ask something you already know the answer to?" He then took a step forward, and disappeared.

Kei's eyes were unable to track his movement. It was sheer instinct, honed by constant battles, that prompted him to roll out of the way, saving his life as a sword slammed down on the very spot he'd been in just a split second ago.

His enemy stood back up. "Day after day after day, I've been trying to help you, to give you the skills you need to survive. This isn't even entertaining anymore, man." He heaved a tired, almost mournful sigh.

"Yeah? Well, why don't we get back to normal human communication?! That felt way more educational than whatever this wax-on, wax—Oof!"

All air was expelled from his lungs in a single instant. He doubled over as the knee removed itself from his gut, the sword falling from his grasp. A hand grabbed hold of his hair, and with a pull, he was forced to look up into the featureless gaze of his opponent.

"You don't understand," he said in a flat, scornful tone. "I've done all I can, but this isn't something that can simply be learned through words." He let go of Kei's hair, allowing the boy to fall onto his knees. Dusting off his hands, the swordsman walked back to where he had landed, and yanked his sword from the ground. "And from what I've seen so far, you're a terrible learner."

"...I—" Kei tried to stand up, form some sort of retort, but his shaky knees failed to support his weight. He sucked his teeth. Using the sword to prop himself up, Kei managed to get back onto his feet. "Th—They say… They say there's no such thing as a bad student," he managed between wheezing breaths. "So… I guess that means you're a pretty lousy teacher."

He was met with sheer silence for a few moments. Eventually, his opponent chuckled. "Oh, 's that right? Then let's test that theory, see if I can't bear a lesson or two into ya." He cracked his knuckles and grabbed his sword, bringing it to its usual spot at his shoulder. "What say we kick things off with 'Getting Your Ass Kicked One-oh-One?'"

For all his bravado and flippant attitude, Kei held no delusions of being able to win. Seventeen consecutive nights—defeat after defeat after defeat—had proven just how outmatched he was. In every single one of their duels, the swordsman's victory was already a foregone conclusion. The gap between them was too wide for any other result to be a possibility.

In a way, all the lost duels from the past two weeks were suddenly to his benefit, as his opponent fell into a set pattern. Through the accumulated experience of each battle, he'd learned 'prediction.' If he disappeared in a burst of speed, he would reappear less than a second later within a set distance of ten meters. If he gripped his sword in a certain manner, he was about to perform a specific attack. If factor X, then result Y. It was strikingly similar to playing a videogame—trial and error led to knowledge which could be used in the future.

The enemy had the advantage in speed and strength, yes, but he had no variation in his behavior.

But he was exhausted and bleeding, just barely standing on swaying feet. In such poor condition, along with his skinny and unathletic physique, Kei had no way to use this knowledge to its fullest potential.

A horizontal slice came to take his head. He tilted back slightly, letting it pass by his chin. He batted away a strike to his wrists, a strike to his legs, and one to his waist, but was unable to do anything about the one that sliced through stomach.

"Ah—hh…! C-crap!" Kei bit down hard on his lip, distracting himself from the pain just enough to strike at the enemy's exposed shoulder.

But his retaliatory attack was futile, parried away with a casual flick of the fingers. Having all his momentum redirected so quickly made him trip and fall. He managed to twist and land on his back, but just before he could get up, a foot pressed down on his right arm and a sword was placed against his throat.

The enemy stood over him, practically radiating smugness. "Hey now, what's the matter? Why the glare? You were talking all that hot mess just a minute ago, man, I thought you were about to do something impressive. Say," the swordsman removed his foot from Kei's arm and bent down closer to his face. "What was it you called me again? A… lousy teacher, was it?"

Before he had a chance to continue his taunt, Kei seized the moment and swiped at his head. Predictably, it was avoided, as the swordsman backed away with a laugh. But it was enough to give Kei some breathing space.

"Y'know what," the boy said as he staggered back up, "I think I liked you way better when you were nice and silent!"

" What, can't take a bit of friendly banter?"

Kei shook his head, pressing his broken arm against his wounded stomach, hoping to staunch some of the bleeding. "I don't like anybody who has a mouth bigger than mine."

" Funny, I was about to say the same thing."

And with that, they both rushed back in.

Kei hadn't entered this battle with any sort of gameplan beyond 'don't get hit,' but despite that, he was somehow doing better than he ever had before. It must have been, what, seven minutes by now? He'd never survived that long in any of the previous nights.

But he couldn't find it within himself to be pleased at that fact. He had to fight tooth and nail for every precious second, and it wore on him.

He felt nausea building in his throat. A fierce headache throbbed with every heartbeat. He spared a brief glance towards the ground at his feet, painted almost entirely red just by having him stand there. Kei was certain that if he looked into one of the many cuts covering him, he'd be able to see all the way down to the bone.

' Thank God I won't have to feel these in the morning.'

The knowledge that this wasn't real, that he would be completely fine once he left the gray world, was the only thing keeping him calm, and even then just barely.

And so, they raged on.

Kei parried and evaded blows upon blows, guided by his mind's pattern. He'd long since lost count of how many times. The headache intensified with each rhythmic clash of steel, to the point where his vision began to blur. He almost didn't see his enemy rear back, bringing his elbow all the way past his shoulder, his sword pointed directly towards the center of Kei's chest.

Everything stood still for a moment. A strategy developed in his mind, so quickly he could barely even understand it. But he knew all he needed to know—this was his opportunity. He knew exactly what would happen next. He could end it.

Then time resumed its flow, and the enemy closed in, thrusting forward. Kei improvised once more, already pushing his legs as hard as he could to throw his weight towards the left.

He was just a split second too late to evade the thrust. Instead of piercing through his heart, the sword impaled itself up to the hilt into his side, just barely missing his liver. But it didn't end there. The swordsman's charge had produced insane speed, propelling him—and by extension, Kei—forward like a missile.

But that was fine. It was exactly what Kei intended. After all, he was a robin flying towards a falcon that had dived too steeply.

He didn't try to struggle, instead letting the stinger's momentum carry him along with the enemy. It knocked the breath right out of him. The pain was almost overwhelming, spreading through his entire being, almost making him pass out.

But that was fine. He was exactly where needed to be, and the enemy had over extended and left himself wide open. While the swordsman's sword was occupied keeping Kei in place, he rendered himself completely undefended, practically begging to be attacked.

So the boy obliged.

Kei raised his own sword, and with what little air remained in his lungs, whispered, "Jackpot!" He swung forward as hard as he could, aiming for the enemy's head. The sword sliced through the air, closing in on his target—

—And then the enemy broke out of the pattern.

"—How?"

Kei stared incredulously at the hand that closed around his sword, bringing it to a complete halt. By the time his mind was able to process what had just happened, it was already too late. The sword was yanked from his grasp, the swordsman brought up his leg, and smashed it into Kei's broken left arm.

The kick tore completely pulverized the cast, shattered the still fractured bones, and for an instant his mind went completely blank.

When he came to, the gray world had not faded. He was lying on the ground. His throat felt sore, but no sound was coming out. He supposed that was because there was no air left for him to scream out. Kei saw a figure standing before him, a black silhouette against gray sunlight.

It began emitting sounds, and it took him a moment to realize that it was speaking. "I'll admit, that was… impressive," the swordsman said. "You're not the kind of guy who'd make that kind of crazy stunt. But hey, you get an 'A' for effort, hombre."

Kei almost couldn't comprehend it. Impressive…? The enemy was congratulating him? For what, looking cool while failing? 'Hey, man, I kicked your ass super hard, great job!' That was the dumbest thing he'd heard in his entire life.

Without any conscious input, Kei began to move. He placed his right arm—hell, he could barely even feel it—against the cold ground, and pushed. He was barely able to lift himself a few inches before giving in and collapsing again.

" The hell are you doing?"

Kei paid him no attention, instead rolling over onto his right side. He took a few moments to bring air into his burning lungs then tried to push again, using his shoulder for leverage. He heard something break somewhere, but didn't feel it in the slightest—his body was too numb right now to even register pain. Despite that he still managed to get onto his knees. He looked down at himself and saw an ugly mess. His torso resembled ground meat more than it did human anatomy. His left arm hung limply at his side, and there were strange bumps all over it—likely fragments of bone pushing against his skin. He was honestly surprised it was still attached to the rest of him. The swordsman's weapon was still sticking out of him, lodged just under his ribs.

'Oh, man.' A quiet snicker left his lips. 'Dad would have a freaking heart attack if he saw this.'

In his peripheral vision he spotted his sword, not even a foot from where he had been lying. He scooped it up and used it once again as a crutch to hoist himself up.

Once he was back on his feet, the boy looked directly at his opponent and raised the sword in front of him. In slow, rasping breaths he said, "I can take you."

He was met with a long silence. Finally, the swordsman shook his head. "No. You can't."

They both knew this was the truth. Kei still tried, anyway. He stepped forward with slow, lame swings that were effortlessly avoided.

" What's the point of this? I know your type. You're the kind of guy who gives up, who turns tail and runs away from conflict. So how come you're still standing? Why is it that you keep trying, after failing every time? You just trying to blow some steam? Are you so pissed off that you went brain dead?"

Kei didn't respond. Couldn't respond. He had no answers to his questions. He was just running on fumes now, and his body could fail at any given moment. But at this point, 'winning' and 'losing' were irrelevant concepts. His instinct told him that he needed to continue fighting. The moment he even thought of slowing down at all, he would lose all momentum and crumble. And he wouldn't simply lose—he would admit defeat. For some reason, that idea seemed unacceptable. So he kept going, swinging futilely until a hand closed around his wrist, restricting all movement with little effort.

" Just what is it that's pushing you forward? Is it the ultimatum? Did I scare you so badly you're actually taking this seriously now?"

The swordsman trailed off, pondering his own words. Kei attempted to free his arm, but it refused to budge. The fingers didn't even twitch. He probably wouldn't be able to use it any further.

So he reared his head back, bringing it forward in a clumsy attempt at a headbutt. His forehead thudded weakly against the swordsman's chest. He brought his head back again, and the enemy wrapped his other hand around Kei's throat, keeping him in place.

The swordsman shook his head. "...No, that can't be it. So, what then? Why keep going? It would be so easy for you to throw the towel, wouldn't it? That's your instinct, your natural state of being."

That was true. The rational parts of his mind wanted to just stop and lay down. Hell, he never needed to be here in the first place. Refusing to fight had always been an option he could have taken. He could have always escaped the dream at any given moment by simply running himself through. It would have been the easiest thing in the world to just throw away the sword, to say 'I give up,' to stop fighting and just run away…

But… some part of him didn't want it to end. Some part of him wanted to stubbornly keep rising up to the impossible challenge, to continue fighting a battle that could only end in defeat.

It was stupid.

It was reckless.

It flew in the face of all common sense.

But Kei obliged that insane wish. He continued fighting, just to satisfy whatever foolishly proud part of his mind was pushing him on.

"I dunno..." he finally mumbled. Kei raised his gaze, looking directly at the vague blur in front of him. He shrugged weakly and smiled through bloodied teeth. "I g-guess... I just don't like you, that's all."

For a brief moment, the world changed.

For a brief moment, Kei saw a memory that was not his own.

/All fear for his life was gone, replaced by an uncontrollable thrill. A roar escaped his throat as he charged. The samurai named Arima looked at him with a shocked expression. He didn't even think to draw the Wakizashi in his hands. The boy leapt at him, knocking them both over into the dirt. Without missing a beat, he lifted his quarterstaff up high before bringing it down, between Arima's eyes. The expression of shock in his face didn't change at all. He brought the staff back up, then down, again and again and again, slowly turning Arima's face into an unrecognizable mush.

The crowd around them was silent as the grave, watching the duel in…/

For a brief moment, the gray faded, and the swordsman's face became distinct. Vibrant blue eyes, a shock of silvery hair, and many other features that Kei's dazed eyes couldn't quite see.

For a brief moment, a name came to Kei's lips.

"That was… you're…!"

The swordsman shook his head and whispered, "Then… I guess we're the same, you and I."

But then the moment passed, and it was all gone.

The hands grasping his wrist and neck loosened, allowing Kei to move his head and his arm to fall uselessly to his side, sword slipping from numb fingers.

The swordsman backed up a step, appraising the boy. "Maybe I was wrong about you," he finally said.

"Glad I made such an im...pre...oh," he trailed off as his legs gave out at last and he began tipping forward.

The swordsman grabbed him and eased him onto the ground. "You're one mouthy punk, anyone ever tell you that? Still, I... you actually surprised me. What I just saw makes me think that you might just stand a chance."

Kei frowned. "Would be nice to actually know what the chance is for."

The swordsman shook his head. "I already told you, it doesn't work like that. I've done all I can. Now you're the one who has to make the effort to reconnect. Remember that; everything that happens from here on out is up to you and no one else." His hand trailed down toward the sword still stuck in Kei's side. "Now, it's about time you head back," he said, grasping the hilt and pulling.

And the gray world faded.

April 7th, 2014

'Man, I shouldda eaten dinner,' was the first conscious thought Kei had when his eyes opened. The sun shone through the window blinds, casting horizontal shadows all throughout the living room. With a yawn, he sat up and looked himself over. No weapons sticking out of him. Ribs still intact. Experimentally, he rolled both his shoulders, tried to tighten both hands into fists. The right did so with no issue, while on the left his fingers barely moved and sent and light twinge up the rest of his arm.

Yep. Working as intended.

Yawning again, Kei lied back down, looking at the light coming from the blinds, and pondering a name that had just been at the tip of his tongue.

Here, but not here, in a place much like this one, but one much unlike this place, a beast stirred in the darkness.

It rose from a twisted and ruined city.

It rose from a twisted and ruined city.

It rose from a twisted and ruined city.

It rose from a twisted and ruined city.

It rose from a twisted and ruined city.

It rose from a twisted and ruined city.

It rose from a twisted and ruined city, until it finally reached the top, untainted of all delusions.

On a man-made island, this intrusion was noticed.

ALERT.

BREACH DETECTED.

SHADOW IDENTIFIED.

Chapter Text

Boredom was the mind killer. Boredom was the little death that brought total oblivion. Boredom was twenty-something years old. Boredom's hair was slowly thinning. Boredom was droning on and on about the advent of Europeans to Japan, all the while trying to ingratiate himself with the younger generation via inserting popular culture references into his lectures.

"...And so, after the first Portuguese explorers landed in Tanegashima…"

Shaojie looked to the clock hanging off the wall. Eleven-fifty. Ten more minutes. Just ten more minutes, and the suffering would end.

He glanced around the classroom, and unsurprisingly, not a single person was paying any sort of attention.

Sitting to his left was the student he'd met the other day, Kamiya, slouched back with his eyes half open, looking like his soul had long left his body. To Shaojie's right sat one of the other transfers, idly drumming his fingers on his desk, his head bobbing up and down to some imaginary beat.

"Say, did you guys know that the Japanese word for bread, 'pan,' is a loanword from Portuguese? Funnily enough..."

Some guys behind him were having a very indiscreet conversation, joking and snickering about something or other he didn't quite catch.

With her back turned to him, Shaojie couldn't quite see what Naomi was doing, but he was willing to bet that she was just about ready to drop dead.

He turned back towards the front of the room, where the teacher kept on talking, blissfully unaware of the fact that the amount of fucks given in the room had reached an all-time low. Shaojie actually felt some pity for the poor guy, watching him lecture with all that enthusiasm, clearly engrossed in whatever it was he was even saying.

"...Anpanman until Yanase-san passed away last year. In fact, there's a manga called 'One-Punch Man,' which parodies Anpanman…"

But he was just so damn boring Shaojie felt like his brain would just shut down if he kept listening. If people could die from overwork, Karōshi, then Shaojie may very well become the first documented casualty of its opposite; death by boredom.

What would the term even be for that? Taikutsushi? Daruishi? Oh-Dear-God-Please-End-It-All-shi?

Regardless, in an effort to stop the spread of entropy into his mind and soul, Shaojie pulled out his phone, half-assedly hid it under his desk, and began watching a livestream of basketball.

The drumming stopped. The student sitting next to him—Miyazaki, or something—craned his head towards Shaojie, raising an eyebrow. "Dude, are you seriously watching basketball?"

"Well, yeah," he shrugged. "Not like we're missing anything important."

"And so!" As if on cue to prove him wrong, the teacher clapped his hands, emphasizing his words. "The Sakoku edict effectively put an end to Nanban trade. Now, can anyone tell me who it was that introduced this edict?"

Much like the rest of the class, Shaojie perked up at that. Twenty-odd pairs of eyes focused on the man standing before them, not in interest, but rather in confusion. 'Sakowha?' Just seconds ago, the guy had been talking about some manga, and now he just bounced right back to history? 'What the fuck is this dude's thought process?'

"C'mon, now, anyone?" His gaze flicked around the room for a few seconds until they finally settled on some unlucky soul, a bright smile lighting up his face. "Ah, how about one of our transfer students? Kamiya-kun, do you know the answer?"

The boy suddenly flinched as if he had been struck. "Oh, I… Uh…" He ran his hand through his hair, eyes flitting back and forth, searching for some type of answer somewhere, before finally blurting out, "Err… O-Oda Nobunaga?"

A few scattered snickers broke out across the room.

"Oooh, nope, sorry, Kamiya-kun!" The teacher grimaced and shook his head. "Oda Nobunaga was long dead by then. The person who introduced the edict was Tokugawa Iemitsu, who was Shogun at the time. But hey, it was a good guess!" he added, giving him a thumbs up.

"Right, yeah." Kamiya slumped back on his seat, his cheeks burning red with embarrassment. Shaojie winced in sympathy.

And then the teacher opened his mouth again. "Speaking of Oda Nobunaga, has anyone ever noticed that he is often portrayed as a villain in fiction. Most people—"

Just before he could go into yet another long-winded tangent, divine providence arrived. The clock struck twelve and the lunch bell rang. He shrugged. "Ah, well, I guess we'll just have to wrap this up next time. Have a good lunch, everyone!" And then he was gone.

After a brief moment of sighs, yawns, and almost palpable relief, the classroom exploded into noise. Notebooks snapped shut, chairs scuffed against the floor, friends got up to talk amongst each other.

Out of the corner of his eye, Shaojie spotted Ten'ō bolting up from his seat, a phone clutched in one hand and a grim expression on his face. The class rep walked over towards Naomi and whispered something to her. After a moment of deliberation, she nodded and stood up. Ten'ō returned her nod, then headed towards Kamiya. "Excuse me, Kamiya-kun?" The boy raised his head to meet his eyes. "I don't think we've been introduced before, have we? My name is Ryu Ten'ō, I'm your class representative," he said, with a polite smile and a bow.

Kamiya bowed his head in greeting. "Uh, yeah, nice to meet you, Ten'ō-han." He then quirked an eyebrow and added, "So, you need something?"

"Right," the class rep raised his voice enough so that only Shaojie and Kamiya could hear him. "I'm sorry to bother you guys, but I've just received a message from Kiyomi-sensei. He wants to see all three of you guys," he said, motioning to include Naomi, who stood by with her arms folded. He then glanced at Shaojie, and added, "He said it was urgent extra-curricular business."

"Oh." Shaojie caught the implication almost immediately. "Well… Guess we'd better go, then, dude."

Kamiya looked somewhat skeptical, but still nodded and followed them out into the hallway. The group passed down stairs and crossed a couple more hallways, eventually arriving before the faculty office. Ten'ō knocked thrice on the door in a certain pattern, then waited for a muffled "Enter," to come from within before opening it. Kiyomi stood at the center of the room, holding a phone to his ear. He raised a finger to his lips and finished his conversation. "They're here. Yes, of course. I'll be sure to let them know, director." With that, he hung up and placed the phone on a nearby desk, next to a plain-looking black bag. He then turned towards them, clasping his hands behind his back. Shaojie couldn't help but feel somewhat unnerved by the expression the man held; No longer a friendly and easygoing smile, his teacher now wore a sharp, almost militaristic scowl.

"We don't have much time," he said, "so I'll keep this brief—Provisional Operatives Feng and Shiranui, you are to escort Kei Kamiya to headquarters immediately."

A stunned silence met his declaration, stretching out until Kamiya piped up, "Wait, you shot who in the what now?"

This prompted Naomi to speak up too. "Why now? Why us?" Kiyomi turned towards the girl, focusing his frown solely on her. She met his glare unflinchingly, without even a trace of hesitation. If he'd been in her place, Shaojie was sure that he'd have backed down in an instant.

"I'm not privy to all the details," Kiyomi said. "I've only been ordered to have Kamiya safely delivered to Headquarters. Since you two," he nodded towards Shaojie, "are already acquainted with him, I thought you would be ideal for the job."

Shaojie fidgeted uncomfortably at that. "Uhh... 'A-acquainted,' sensei?"

"Well, yeah," Ten'ō said, giving him a conspiratorial wink. "You guys did bring him down to the infirmary when he passed out the other day, right? What was the problem again...? Heatstroke, was it?"

Shaojie nodded vigorously. "R-right! Yeah! Absolutely! We sure helped this guy out!" He turned to Kamiya and lightly nudged him in the side. "By the by, how's the ol' heatstroke, Kamiya-kun? You, uh, haven't had any more of that since then, right?"

"Uh… Nah, not really," the boy stammered. "Been trying to keep myself cool and all, yeah? But seriously, though, what's—"

He was cut off when Naomi pushed on. "And just for that, out of all possible candidates, you chose us? I'm not buying it." Her eyes narrowed with suspicion as she continued. "Besides, if there's some sort of emergency, it'd be logical to standby here until the danger passes or the situation is handled. So why send us out?"

Kiyomi shook his head. "We don't have the luxury of just sitting and waiting this out. There's a good chance that the school will be targeted."

That was enough to throw Naomi off. The girl backed up with slow, shaky steps. "Wh-what? How?" Her voice wavered slightly, even as she tried to keep up the illusion of calm.

"Wait," the class rep cut in. "Kiyomi-sensei... you don't mean here on the surface?"

"Of course not." Kiyomi said. "We can't risk that sort of confrontation. Which is why I'll have you in the upper Layers, Ten'ō."

Ten'ō blinked at that. "Me, sensei?"

"You're the best we have," Kiyomi said, and he meant it, too.

Shaojie could see his point now. While Ten'ō had only been inducted into SEES just the day before, it the guy could live up to all his hype... Yeah, Shaojie could definitely see why Kiyomi would want him sticking around. Getting benched sucked hard, yes, but he knew that right here, right now they'd only be a hindrance. And hopefully, Naomi did too.

"You and your team will be the first line of defense in the upper Layers," Kiyomi continued, "I'll have Ishiwatari and—"

"So that's it?" Naomi spat, her fists clenched and a fierce glare on her face. "You just want us to be out of the way?"

Oooor not. 'Goddammit, Naomi.'

The girl stepped forward to stand in front of Kiyomi . "So while SEES does all the work, we get to run away and play babysitter, huh?"

"H-hey, wait," Kamiya weakly protested. "Seriously, what does any of this have to do with me?"

Neither Kiyomi nor Naomi paid him any attention.

She began to open her mouth, but Kiyomi cut her off before she even had the chance to speak. "That's enough. This is neither the time nor the place for insubordination and petty glory-seeking." His stern words made Naomi recoil slightly as if she'd been struck. "If you cannot carry out these orders, then I'll find someone who can. Is that understood, provisional operative?"

Naomi averted her eyes, clenching and unclenching her hands for several silent seconds. Finally, she relented, bowing before their teacher, keeping her eyes firmly on the floor between them. "...I apologize, sir. Feng and I will escort Kamiya."

Kiyomi simply nodded. "Good." He then picked up the bag and handed it to Naomi. She unzipped it, took a look at its contents, then looked back up at Kiyomi, quirking an eyebrow. "The director wanted me to give you these, as a last resort," he explained. "You shouldn't run into any trouble out there, but if worst comes to worst, you should be able to defend yourselves."

She nodded at that and zipped the bag closed again, slinging it over her shoulders. "Anything else... Sir?"

"No, that will be all. Dismi—"

"Hey, just hold on a minute!" Kiyomi was interrupted once more when Kamiya cut in, drawing all eyes to him. "Don't I get a say in this?"

"Kamiya..."

"Dude," Shaojie said, "weren't you listening? We gotta get going."

"Hey, you guys're all going on about insubordination, and directors, and headquarters, but I never agreed to get involved with... Hell, I don't even know what's going on." He ran a hand through his hair. "I'd rather not get wrapped up in something liable to remove several important organs. I happen to like my organs, 'specially when they're in the right spot, without any funny-looking holes."

Kiyomi sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. "In case you missed the entire point of the conversation, Kamiya, you'll be in danger if you stay here. You need to leave."

"Danger?" Kamiya scoffed. "Danger of what?"

Shaojie decided to interject before yet another argument could get kicked off. He stepped over towards Kamiya and put a hand on his shoulder. "Hey, just look on the bright side, dude!" He said, trying to put on a convincing grin. "You get to skip out on half a day of classes!"

The transfer student looked ready to retort, but in the end he backed down with a sigh. "Fine, let's... Let's just get this done," he said.

With that, the two of them followed Naomi out.

The wind was nowhere near as fierce as it had been in the past few days, but it was still more than chilly enough to make Kei shiver. He shoved a hand into his pockets, idly wishing that he had been wearing gloves, or that his coat was warmer, or that Spring would hurry up and finally rear its head. Aside from the biting cold, the day looked perfectly normal. The sky was cloudless, they walked amongst large crowds, and occasionally passed by some police officers, who didn't even bat an eye at seeing three students wandering around outside during school hours. No matter where he looked, everything seemed to be completely fine.

So just what was the great nebulous danger supposed to be?

Confusion and no small amount of frustration ran through his head, but he kept quiet and followed his classmates as they passed through Port Island. Shiranui led the way, red hair flipping to and fro as she turned to glance in a random direction every so often. Kei and Feng trailed behind her, silently walking side by side, though Feng did occasionally try to make some small talk.

After a particularly long period of silence, Kei gave in to his curiosity and asked him, "Hey, Feng, where're we even headed, anyway? Kiyomi-sensei said something about a 'headquarters?'"

"Yeah," his classmate said. "You ever seen that big ol' building at the other end of the island, near the marina?" Kei nodded back, craning his head to look upwards. Even from the street level, it was visible along the skyline, jutting out above the other buildings. "That's where we're going."

"Right, but what's it even supposed to be? And what's it got to do with the school?"

This time Shiranui was the one to respond, stopping her stride to turn towards him. "Kamiya-kun… do you actually not know?"

"Well, wouldn't be asking if I did," he said, with a sheepish shrug. "...So, uh, no."

"Then how are you…?" She trailed off, looking about half as confused as he currently felt. She shook her head and tried again. "Kamiya, do you know anything about something called 'SEES?'"

"'SEES?'" He paused for a moment before nodding. "Yeah, actually. I think I got a scholarship from some program with that name, or something. 'S why I came to this school in the first place, but nobody's really told me what it's even supposed to be."

"I—" Whatever she was about to say next was interrupted by the shrill ringing of a phone. Shiranui reached into the on her shoulder and pulled out a cellphone, much like the one Kiyomi had been using earlier. It was a strange model he had never seen before, glossy black and completely featureless, without any sort of manufacturer logo. Bringing it up to her ear, she answered, "This is Shiranui." Almost immediately, her stance relaxed just a bit as the person on the other end replied. "Ah, Yamagishi-san? Yes, ma'am, he's with us. We're en route to headquarters, just past Avenue D'Lima." Then, abruptly, Shiranui froze, a shocked expression settling on her face. "H-here? But that's... what about the school? I see... Of course, ma'am. Roger, I'll keep you posted," she said, slipping the phone back into her pocket. Shiranui then reached into the bag again and pulled out an earpiece, which she placed into her ear.

"What's up, Naomi-chan?" Feng asked. "What'd she say?"

"The situation's changed," Shiranui said simply. "Feng-kun, Kamiya-kun, we need to get out of the streets." With that, she started walking again, veering towards the right, instead of continuing in the direction they'd originally been heading.

Kei and Feng shared a brief, confused glance, before following in her wake. Shiranui slowly but steadily sped up her pace, bringing the group up to a light jog. They came to a stop at the entrance to an alley, where Shiranui knelt down and opened the bag once more. Peeking over

They came to a stop at the entrance to an alley and walked inside. At its end was a simple wall, with a rectangular steel section. It was so innocuous Kei almost didn't notice it.

Feng walked up to the steely pane and rapped his knuckles against its surface. "The access tunnels? Shit, Naomi-chan, you weren't kidding when you said the situation's changed, huh?"

"Nope, not at all." She then knelt down and opened the bag once more. Peeking over her shoulder, Kei watched her pull out a pair of leather straps, followed by a small, glinting silver object.

A chill ran down his spine, and he flinched away out of reflex. "Whoa, whoa! W-what the hell?!" he shouted, eyes going wide as he realized what exactly she was holding. "Is that gun? Did Kiyomi give you a gun?!"

Shiranui sighed and rolled her eyes. "Keep quiet and calm down, Kamiya-kun," she said, tossing the gun and what he now realized was holster towards Feng. The other boy looked surprised, but caught them nonetheless, attaching the holster to his belt and putting the gun inside. She pulled out another gun and holster, and attached them to her own belt, before slinging the bag back on. She then stood and walked up to the steel pane, holding the black phone to its surface. The pane emitted a low pitched beep and slid sideways into the wall, revealing a long, downward-sloping hallway on the other side.

Kei found that he had only one response for this sight. "What."

"There's access tunnels like this all over the island, and in some parts of the mainland, too," Feng explained. "Y'know, for emergencies."

Kei repeated his previous line of inquiry. "What."

Shiranui tapped at her earpiece and said, "Ma'am, we're about to enter the tunnels." She listened to the response and nodded. "Roger. We'll see you there." She then slipped the phone back into her pocket and placed a hand on her gun, ready to draw it at a moment's notice. "This'll give us a straight shot to headquarters. Let's hurry, we don't have much time," she said.

While Feng and Shiranui began to walk inside, Kei remained still and took a moment to internalize and really consider all that he had seen today, and over the past month in general. Practically being Shanghaied into a school halfway across the country, two armed strangers ordering him to follow them into some sort of secret spy tunnel, the not-dreams, the ambiguous threats on his life, the near-loss of his arm, Meggie, Tetsuo, Yuri...

Too much. It was way too much to take.

"No," he said, taking a step away.

His classmates both turned, looking at him as if he'd just grown a second head. Feng was the first to speak up. "Wait, whaddaya mean, 'no?'"

"I mean no," Kei repeated, clenching his jaw. "I'm done. I'm not following you guys in there."

Shiranui scoffed and stepped up to him, blue eyes boring into his. "Are you out of your mind? We need to keep moving, Kamiya, or else—"

"Are you out of yours?" he spat back. It occurred to him that he maybe shouldn't antagonize an armed person, but he couldn't bring himself to care. "Why the hell would I trust anything you guys say? You just drag me outta class, tell me the school's gonna blow up, pull up with guns, and now you want me to go to… whatever this is? What am I 'sposed ta think?!"

"W-well…" Feng stammered. "Technically, no one said the school was gonna blow up, dude. It just—"

Both Kei and Shiranui rounded on him and snarled, "Shut up, Feng!"

Shiranui then turned back to Kei and opened her mouth. She then promptly shut it again, her eyes widening as she stared at something over his shoulder.

He turned his head, his anger and confusion disappearing immediately. Rising from the wall just behind him was an enormous black arm. Bulging with muscle, it passed through the concrete just as easily as if it were water, allowing a shoulder to follow in its wake. Its six, tree trunk-sized fingers clenched almost experimentally, their knuckles cracking as they grasped at the air.

Kei stared at it incomprehensibly for several long seconds before he found his voice.

"What."

By the time the word had left his lips, the hand was already rushing towards them. The six fingers wrapped tightly around him, Shiranui, and Feng, dragging them all into the darkness.

He fell through the twisting darkness.

He fell through the twisting darkness.
He fell through the twisting darkness.
He fell through the twisting darkness.
He fell through the twisting darkness.
He fell through the twisting darkness.
He fell through the twisting darkness, and it all burst into color around him.

Blue and orange and green and yellow and purple mixed together in a stomach-churning whirl of movement. Kei's ears popped, he felt the wind rushing around his body, and then the maddening storm of motion stopped. He slammed back-first into the ground, but the impact didn't really hurt as much as it probably should have.

"Gah—! Wha—! Aaagh—! D-damn, you're h-heavy…!"

The impacts of his two classmates falling onto him, however, did hurt quite a lot.

Feng and Shiranui moaned and groaned in pain, completely unaware of him until he managed to grunt, "G-get... offa me…"

They quickly scrambled onto their feet, allowing Kei to sit up and breathe properly. Shiranui leant against the wall to catch her breath, one hand unholstering her gun, while Feng bent over and placed both hands on his knees, panting heavily.

Though his head still swam, Kei took note of their surroundings—they were still in the alley, and the door into the tunnel was still open, but the giant arm was gone. He glanced towards the wall it had come from and saw a large, smooth crater which hadn't been there before. He wasn't sure if it was because of the vertigo, but... the air felt... wrong, somehow. Heavier, more oppressive, as if it were pressing him down just by being there. It made him feel sluggish, and his breathing even more laborious.

Once she'd composed herself enough, Shiranui spoke up, "Everyone alive?"

"Y-yeah, somehow," Feng said between sharp inhales. "But... my breakfast's probably gonna make a guest appearance... urp... any minute now."

She scoffed and rolled her eyes at that before turning towards Kei. "Kamiya?"

"I... I think so..." He shakily tried to get onto his feet, but stumbled halfway up. Luckily, Shiranui managed to catch him before he could fall. "Wha—what happened? What the hell was that thing?"

"That's what we were running away from, Kamiya. We call it a Shadow."

That didn't make any sense to him. Hell, it probably would have made more sense if she simply hadn't said anything at all. "W-what does that mean? What's a Shadow? Why was it...?" He trailed off, and ran his badly shaking hand through his hair. "...Just what the hell is going on?"

Before she had a chance to answer, Feng's voice rang out. "Oh. Oh, fuck me."

They both turned towards him. "Feng?" Shiranui asked, "what's wrong?"

The boy didn't answer with words. Instead, he simply gestured forward, towards the street.

Kei followed his finger along with Shiranui, and felt horror seize him.

They were still in the same spot they'd walked into just minutes ago, but... everything past the mouth of the alley was wrong.

A ruined and twisted city stretched for miles around them, silent and devoid of all life. The streets were a jagged mess of cracked and broken asphalt, with cars lying ruined all around, and occasionally impaled on spikes of concrete. Buildings jutted out from the ground at awkward angles, looking more like withering black skeletons reaching towards the sky. Some structures looked relatively unharmed, but even they were perverted with bizarre geometry; buildings lying upside down or sideways, some with sections simply sticking out like jenga pieces.

But the sky was the most horrifying part of it all. In the distance, Kei could see sections of the mainland's skyscrapers simply floating in the air, along with some nearby chunks of pavement. Clouds rushed overhead at absurd speeds, rippling and tearing apart mid-flight as they formed a vortex around the sun. A sun which shone with an eerie blue light.

"What...?" Every sight boggled the mind and defied all logic.

"Naomi, is he alright?"

Kei slumped against the wall, staring into the whirling sky with an almost hypnotized gaze.

"Kamiya?"

His throat felt dry. He tried to rationalize the sights; it... it really shouldn't have been this shocking. Every night, he was surrounded by a barren gray world, and dueled a swordsman. This sort of insanity shouldn't have been affecting him this much, but... But they were dreams, just figments of his imagination without any bearing on reality. Everything he saw now was real, and that made it all the worse.

"Hey, Kamiya-kun!"

His teeth began to chatter, but not from cold. As he continued looking into the alien environment, a million different thoughts started running through his head at high speeds. 'What is this...? When did I...? How can it...?' Slowly, his mind began to devolve into a whirl. His heart began to pound so fiercely it made him feel nauseous.

"Dude! Dude, chill!"

The already heavy atmosphere began to feel even worse, like it had grown hands and was now deliberately strangling him. Kei began to take deep, shuddering gulps of air, and the hands tightened further. Some detached, rational part of his mind registered the fact that he was hyperventilating, but there was nothing he could do to stop himself. All his fear and confusion overwhelmed him. He couldn't feel his fingers, still clutching at his hair, or any part of him, for that matter. It all felt numb and out of his control, like it belonged to another person entirely, and he was just—

A sharp cracking sound exploded against his ear, and his head abruptly jerked to the right, tearing his eyes away from the mad sky. It took Kei a few seconds to register the painful stinging on his cheek. He turned his head, and met Shiranui's eyes.

"Kamiya," she said, "this is neither the time nor place to lose your cool."

"Did... did you just slap me?" Belatedly, he realized that was a pretty dumb question. She was right in front of him with a hand raised, his cheek hurt, and two plus two equaled four.

Regardless, she dignified the question with a shrug. "You were having a panic attack."

"That's not how you deal with a panic attack!"

Shiranui shrugged again. "Well, it worked, didn't it?"

"That's not the..." Kei trailed off with a groan. Surprisingly enough, she was actually right—her slap did manage to snap him out of his trance. Kei closed his eyes and rested his head against the alley wall, taking a few moments to steady his breathing. He wasn't calm—there was no way any one could be calm after seeing... whatever this was—but he was still able to bring himself under control. Kei opened his eyes again and asked, "Where are we? What is this place?"

Shiranui turned away from him, and looked towards the distance. "It's... not easy to explain, Kamiya. To put it simply, you could say that this is a reality created and shaped by people's cognition. Or at least, that's what my mother told me."

"Cognition? What does that mean?"

Shiranui nodded. "Thoughts, feelings, your perception of reality. Most people live their entire lives seeing only what they want see, hearing only what they want to hear. But here," she said, gesturing around them, "everything that people want to deny and hide from is given a form here. That's why everything looks... well, the way it does."

"So... this is like an imaginary world controlled by thoughts? Like a dream?"

She very emphatically shook her head at that. "No, if anything it's the opposite, Kamiya. This is the world in its true form."

'The world in its true form.' Kei let that thought sink in, really digested it in his head. After a few minutes of analyzing it, he still wasn't sure it made much sense to him.

"So," Feng chimed up, "what's our next move, Naomi-chan?"

"Ah, right! We need to contact Headquarters!" She said, bringing her hand to her earpiece. "Yamagishi-san, this is Shiranui, we've just encountered... Ma'am? Hello?" She tapped at the device a few more times, to no avail. She then pulled out the black phone and began fiddling with it. "What the hell?" She muttered after a while. "It... doesn't have a signal."

Feng gave her a surprised look. "Wait, what? I thought these things were supposed to never not have a signal."

"Why do you think I'm so surprised, Feng?" She shot back, ineffectually trying to get the phone working, before sighing and giving up. "Damn, I have a bad feeling about this."

"So, do we go through the tunnels, then?" Feng asked.

She turned and gave the open entrance a long, scrutinizing stare, before finally shaking her head. "No, I don't like our chances in there. Our best bet is to try and find an access point as soon as possible."

Feng gave her a nod. "Lead the way, then, Naomi-chan," he said.

Shiranui nodded back and led them out of the alleyway and through the ruined city. They passed by desolated streets and wrecked cars, by shops, offices, and even an apartment complex, all twisted into caricatures of what they were really supposed to be. Some streets had wrecks of cars stacked high like walls, making all passage impossible, while others simply twisted back into themselves like roundabouts. Over the top of the buildings, Kei spotted the bridge which connected Tatsumi Port Island to the mainland, looking remarkably normal, compared to all the chaotic architecture around it. It was unnerving beyond all belief, but at least Kei was able to process this information without freaking out again.

The three students kept walking for what felt like hours, the silence broken only by the sound of their shoes scuffing against the pavement.

"Shiranui," Kei said, "where're we going now?"

She didn't look towards him as she responded, her eyes constantly scanning their surroundings. "Headquarters, but if we're lucky, we'll find an access point that can take us back to the Surface."

"The Surface? You mean the real world?"

"Yeah. There should be one or two of them somewhere around this area," she said, vaguely gesturing in front of her.

They fell back into a silence which stretched on until Feng abruptly whined, "Aww, damn it!"

Shiranui quickly turned around with her gun drawn. "Feng, what's wrong?!"

His expression quickly turned sheepish as he scratched at his chin and looked away from her. "Oh, uh, nothing. I, uh... just realized I'm probably gonna miss Fajita Night."

"Really, Shaojie?" Shiranui said, giving him a baleful glare. "Really?"

Kei quirked an eyebrow at Feng. "Fajiwhat night?"

"Oh, uh... it's a thing this one restaurant at Frenchtown does. Every Tuesday, they make fajitas at half price. Fajita Night, man," he said, with a bright enthusiastic grin. That grin then fell when he added, "but, considering how long we've been here, I'm probably gonna end up missing it." Feng heaved a deep, forlorn sigh. "Looks like it's no fajitas for me this week..."

"Wait, Tuesday? Feng, today's Mon—"

"Hey," Shiranui interrupted, "do you guys hear that?"

Kei shut his mouth and focused on listening for any strange sounds. Utter silence met his ears. Not even the wind blew here. The only thing he could really hear was his own breathing and heartbeat. Beyond that, there was nothing...

'Wait... There's something here...!'

A low, distorted twang echoed from somewhere in the distance. It was so subtle Kei almost dismissed it as just his ears ringing, but it was just a couple pitches too low. He slowly began to turn, trying to track where the sound was coming from. He caught sigh of movement in the corner of his peripheral vision. "Hey, there's something over there!" He shouted, pointing at a shadowy gap between two buildings.

The noise intensified just as a dark arm erupted from the shadows, followed by another. Twelve massive fingers sank into the buildings' walls, gaining enough grip to pull the rest of the body out from the darkness. The creature that emerged had a flat disc-shaped head, and several tendrils colored green, yellow, and purple sprouted from it and cascaded over its shoulders, giving it the impression of having dreadlocks. The rest of it was disturbingly human-like, and under this lighting, Kei could see that it was actually colored a charcoal black, with dark purple veins running through its entire body. But the proportions were all wrong—The torso was too long, the tree trunk-like arms too large, forcing the creature to hunch over slightly under its own weight as it stepped out into the street. Despite this, its legs were still thick and muscular, elevating the monster to stand more than a story in height. Strangely, one of its legs was bizarrely hypertrophied and colored a pasty white, making its opposite look almost emaciated in comparison.

Kei's breathing stopped entirely, his eyes widening in recognition. "That's... that's the one from..." Unbidden, his left hand twitched, sending jolts of pain through his entire body. 'Toyono. Tetsuo. Megumi. My arm. This monster...!' Scattered memories lined up and pieced themselves together in his head. He remembered this. He'd seen this. It was here for him.

From the center of its disc-shaped head emerged a single red eye, surrounded by a sickly yellow sclera. The cyclopean iris swiveled madly in its socket, going back, forth, and even inside its own head, before slowing to a halt. The monster's eye slowly rose, and focused on him, and him alone.

A deep, resonant growl rumbled from within its throat. "KEI."

Chapter Text

She had the perfect view from this place. Port Island, the mainland, the ports, the old industrial zone—In her Sense and on the monitors surrounding her, all of Iwatodai was visible to Juno’s eyes.

So where were they, then?

Where could they possibly have gone to leave her sight?

Shiranui, Feng, and Kamiya had disappeared in a heartbeat, leaving only a hole in a wall in their wake.

With no small amount of frustration and resignation, she relinquished her Sense and returned...

She sat in a comfortable leather chair, in the command center of the Headquarters’ sixteenth floor. It was built to be the ideal place for a navigator to work their craft and aid the Operatives out on the field. Soundproofed, well-lit, and featuring large windows facing out towards the city, along with screens connected to CCTV cameras.

A loud buzz of static resonated in her ears. Fuuka Yamagishi stared at the monitors before her, all screens displaying a single message——

[SIGNAL LOST]

She sighed and turned her seat around. “It’s no use,” she said with a somber shake of her head. “Wherever they are, I can’t find them, even with Juno.”

“I see…” Mitsuru simply nodded at that, and her expression quickly changed from one of concern to stoic authority. Mitsuru—No, director Kirijō —spoke with a brief and to-the-point tone. “Get into contact with Kotone and organize a search-and-rescue party immediately.”

Fuuka nodded. “Right away, ma’am. I’ll also—”

“No need to call, I’m already here,” a third voice cut in, accompanied by the click and clack of heels against the floor. A young woman approached, accompanied by a pale and skittish looking boy whom Fuuka vaguely recognized.

Her eyes were a bright red, and she wore her auburn hair loosely, allowing it to fall over her shoulders and down her back, decorated only by a set of thin white pins. Kotone Shiomi came to a halt and gave them both a sheepish smile. “Sorry I’m late. I woulda come sooner, but I had to pick up Shimura-kun,” she said, gesturing to the boy beside her.

For some reason, Fuuka felt a nagging sensation tickling at the back of her mind at the sight of him.

“Kotone,” the director greeted with a nod. “I assume you’re already aware of the situation?”

Kotone nodded back. “A Shadow appeared in the First Layer and made off with three trainees, right?”

“Two provisional operatives and a civilian ,” the director corrected. “Regardless, it’s good that you’re here. I need you to assemble a team and recover them post-haste.”

“Understood, ma’am.”

Fuuka then realized what had been bothering her. “Excuse me,” she spoke up, “I have to ask; Shimura-kun, aren’t you supposed to be in school?”

The director quirked a brow at that and turned her gaze towards the boy. “That is a rather good question. I believe I ordered that everyone stay put.” She looked back at Kotone with a rather frosty expression. “Shiomi… you wouldn’t happen to have brought this boy out of the school, would you?”

“A-actually, I was sick this morning, ma’am,” the boy stammered out. “S-so, I couldn’t make it to school. Um, Shiomi-san came by and picked me up just a little while ago.”

“If there’s a Shadow roaming around the Surface, it’d be dangerous to just leave these kids on their own, ya know?” Kotone explained. She then added, “besides, I want Shimura-kun to navigate for us.”

There was a brief silence following her declaration. The director sighed and pinched her nose. “Shiomi… you want to take an ill, untrained civilian into the Shadow World, is that what you’re saying?”

Shimura took a step forward, fiercely shaking his head. “I-I’m fine now…! Please, ma’am, I- I can do this! I can help!”

“I hate to say this, ma’am, but he’s right,” Fuuka added with a sigh. “Even with Juno, I can’t find a single thing. But Shimura-kun was able to find traces of the Shadow that attacked on Friday, wasn’t he? If there’s even a chance that he could help us… I think we should take it.”

It was an unorthodox suggestion, yes, but not exactly unprecedented by any stretch of the imagination. After all, the Shadow Operatives had been built upon unconventional, impulsive choices.

The director didn’t respond outwardly; she simply shut her eyes and folded her arms. After several long seconds of deep thought, she finally answered with a nod. “Very well. Make your preparations and head out immediately, Shiomi. We cannot afford to waste a single moment.”

“Understood, ma’am,” Kotone said with a bow. Shimura mirrored the action before following her out the door.

The director heaved a heavy sigh as she turned back towards the screens. “Don’t die on me,” she whispered.

Thump Thump Thump

The silence was overwhelming.

Thump Thump Thump

Every heartbeat blared into her ears like drums and made her back burn.

This was not the first time Naomi had ever encountered a Shadow, but she couldn’t help her terror. She had no idea what to do now—How to move next, what the best course of action was, what to even say… At that moment, any form of strategy was beyond her. All the fear she’d been trying to hide until now suddenly remerged, robbing her of all control over her own body and thoughts, impairing her ability to even breathe or blink.

She could do nothing but stand there, frozen before the enemy as it continued to stare unwaveringly at Kamiya. “KEI,” it repeated, taking another step out of the shadowy alley it had emerged from.

Then it took another, and another, and another, steadily picking up its pace. The Shadow leant forward and spread its arms behind itself, putting all its weight into its white leg——

And at that instant the limb’s musculature rippled, seemingly compressing into itself.

——The Shadow kicked off with an impossible burst of speed, shooting forward like a cannonball.

Naomi!

That sudden shock was enough to snap Naomi out of her stupor. She moved without thinking, leaping forward to wrap her arms around both Feng’s and Kamiya’s necks, bringing all three of them onto the concrete.

She felt the displaced air rush through her hair as the Shadow passed just overhead, followed by another distorted noise.

‘Barely made it.’ There had been more than two blocks of distance between it and them, and in a heartbeat, it had already cleared two thirds of that. If she had hesitated for even an instant, Naomi had no doubt that all their lives would have ended. But she didn’t waste any time congratulating herself. She quickly freed her arms and rolled over, with her Evoker already in hand.

But somehow, impossibly, the enemy was nowhere to be seen.

Naomi kipped up into a standing position and quickly looked around. There wasn’t a single trace of the Shadow ever being there… Except… on the surface of the building right in front of her, there was a smooth crater. Its circumference was larger than her entire body, and oddly enough she felt as if she’d seen something like it before…

“H-hey, what the hell…?” Feng’s trembling voice distracted her from her train of thought. Naomi turned and saw both him and Kamiya shakily getting onto their feet. “Where’d it go?!”

Naomi glanced back at the hole for a brief moment before shaking her head. There was no time to waste on speculation. “We need to go before it shows up again,” she said.

Feng nodded immediately, but Kamiya simply stood there, trembling slightly. She frowned and shook his shoulder. “Kamiya, c’mon! We’re moving!”

He jerked out of his trance and gave her a shaky nod. “R-right, yeah,” the boy said.

The three of them dropped all pretenses and simply ran towards where the nearest access point was supposed to be.

But, almost predictably, they barely managed a few meters before the distortion rang against their ears again.

This time, Naomi saw it appear in her peripheral vision, from the shade of large spire of rebar and asphalt. The Shadow ran alongside them, its single eye focusing directly on her, before ducking out of sight just as quickly as it had come. The distorted noise resonated yet again.

“S-shit—! Not this way!” she said, quickly changing directions mid-stride. Feng and Kamiya followed closely in her wake as she led them into a narrower street. Not even halfway across, the Shadow appeared before them again, diverting them into what might have once been a commercial avenue, surrounded by the distorted remains of various stores.

The Shadow just kept coming, again and again, from several impossible angles.

It didn’t take long for Naomi to realize that they were being herded somewhere.

Both she and Feng could keep going for quite a while, but Kamiya was already starting to pant and wheeze. If they kept going at this pace, he’d probably collapse from exhaustion in the middle of the street. She sucked her teeth in both annoyance and desperation, her mind whirling in an attempt to find a way out.

Through there…!

She didn’t need to think about it twice. Naomi turned towards a nearby storefront and slammed her shoulder against its door, easily knocking it off its hinges and allowing the three of them inside. The interior of the store was almost completely dark, lit only by the open door. From what products Naomi could see, she assumed that it must have been some sort of grocery store back on the Surface.

She leaned against a sundry shelf, taking deep breaths as a sudden feeling of exhaustion fell over her. The stinging sensation on her back lessened, but did not fade, becoming a constant presence on the back of her mind.

It wasn’t ideal, but it was much better than being overwhelmed by the pain.

“Oh shit…” Feng said, as he slumped down on the floor next to her. “Holy shit… You… You think we lost it?”

Naomi shook her head. “We should be so lucky…” She then glanced towards Kamiya. To say that he looked terrible would have been an understatement; The transfer student was soaked in sweat and taking deep, shuddering gasps as he pressed his head against a wall, his entire body shuddering.

“Kamiya…”

Now that she had a moment to consider his position, she realized that it must have been a hell of a day for him. She could barely imagine how badly having all these shocks, back to back, could affect a normal person.

Naomi would have felt bad for him, if not for the elephant in the room.

“—Why’s the Shadow after you?”

For a split second, the boy froze completely. Then slowly, he raised his head, gray eyes coming into focus as he looked back at her. “W-what’re you talking about?”

Her eyes narrowed. “Don’t try to play dumb. The Shadow was looking right at you, it said your name.” She walked over to him, forcing him to back up against the wall as she stared him in the eyes. “Don’t lie to me, Kamiya—Why is this Shadow after you?”

He tried to keep up the eye contact, but quickly balked and glanced away. “I… I saw it once. Back in my hometown…”

“That how your arm got broken?” she asked, gesturing towards his left arm.

Kamiya nodded and idly began tapping at his cast. “Y’know, for the longest time, I wasn’t even sure if that was real, or if I was just going crazy…”

“Hold up,” Feng cut in, “where are you from Kamiya?”

“Me? I’m from Toyono, a town near Osaka.”

“Osaka…?” he echoed, furrowing his brow.“—Wait, are you saying the Shadow followed you from Osaka to here? ”

That gave them pause. She met Feng’s eyes, and saw that he too felt the confusion and fear.

“That’s…” Naomi couldn’t formulate a proper response to that. Having a Shadow pursue a person wasn’t unheard of, but...the sheer level of tenacity to track someone over such a distance, through what was apparently a long period of time? As far as she knew, that was unprecedented.

Kamiya spoke up. “Then… did they know about this?”

“They?”

“Kiyomi-sensei,” he clarified, “and that director person he was talking about. The way you guys are going about this, it sounds like they knew the, uh… Shadow was coming, and wanted to get me out of the way.”

‘Could that be it?’ Naomi pondered on that for a moment, before finally shaking her head, lips pursed in thought. If the director’s goal was to keep Kamiya safe, it would have been much more effective to simply assign actual Operatives to protect him. Or perhaps even sent out a strike team to intercept the Shadow before it became a threat on the Surface, if they already knew it was incoming. A myriad different things could have been done, but instead they’d sent out two provisional operatives with vague instructions to safeguard a civilian.

And this, in and of itself, was practically a suicide mission.

“This doesn’t make any sense… why put us in danger? Why not tell us you were being targeted?” The entire scenario was so damn incongruous with itself it almost made her head hurt just trying to think about it.

Before the conversation could continue, the distorted noise echoed once more outside, distressingly close to their hiding spot.

Almost simultaneously, they pressed themselves against the walls and remained completely motionless, not even daring to breathe.

Tense moments passed, punctuated by the loud stomping the Shadow produced as it walked just outside the door. Slowly but steadily, the footsteps reduced in volume and faded away.

Naomi released a breath she hadn’t realized she’d been holding. Her hands felt clammy, her shoulders trembled, the damned scar wouldn’t stop burning——!

Believer…

A soothing warmth caressed her mind. Naomi sighed, allowing herself to be calmed. “We’ve wasted enough time here,” she said. “Kamiya, Feng, I’ve got a plan. It’s… not the best, but it’s all we’ve got to work with.”

Slowly, they nodded for her to continue.

“First of all, did you notice how the Shadow moved?”

“Well, yeah,” Feng said, “it was fast as hell. The thing was pretty much flying all over the place.”

She nodded. “Right. Not only that, but it kept coming at us from places it couldn’t possibly have been in. One moment it moves to the left, the next it pops up again to our right… I think it’s safe to say that it can teleport.”

Feng’s eyebrows shot up, almost reaching his hairline. His mouth opened, as if he was about to dismiss the idea as impossible, before quickly twisting into a grimace. “Damn, yeah… That would explain how it was coming out of nowhere. Hell, that even explains how we ended up here in the first place.” He trailed off with a sigh, hanging his head and nervously twiddling his fingers. “Well, shit. That really complicates things.”

She nodded and folded her arms. “So this is where we stand—The enemy is capable of teleportation, extreme speed, travel across the layers, and God knows what else. Feng, you and I might stand a chance against it, but…” She trailed off with a frown, casting a glance at Kamiya. “Kamiya-kun, I want you to start running as soon as I give the word.”

Her statement was met with dual squawks of confusion. Naomi ignored them and continued, “Don’t take this the wrong way, but it’ll be difficult to for us to fight the Shadow if we have to worry about covering for you. With you gone, we’ll be able to focus on it.” Naomi tried to make that sound polite, but even she realized that it was just a roundabout way of telling him that he was a burden. “Go to Headquarters—you’ll be safe there. Feng and I will stay and take care of it.”

Feng spoke up immediately, vigorously waving his arms in denial. “Whoa, whoa, hold on, Naomi! You want to send him out alone? We’re in the middle of... hell, who even knows what Layer we’re in! The Shadows’re gonna rip the guy apart!”

Naomi couldn’t help but chuckle at that. “You’re not very observant, are you, Feng-kun?” She shook her head with a small smirk. “This Layer’s empty. If there were any other Shadows, we would’ve already run into them. Hell, they would have been right here in this very store.”

“Wha…?” She could practically see the gears turning in his head as he digested that information. “But that’s not how… That doesn’t…!” He trailed off with a groan. “What the hell, man, none of this makes any sense!”

“My thoughts exactly.” She sighed. “Look, I know it’s not perfect, but… it’s all we’ve got right now.” Naomi then turned towards Kamiya. “So, do you think you can do it?”

Kamiya looked like he wanted to argue, but he didn’t have the energy for that. None of them did, really. In the end, he just glanced away bashfully and shrugged. “I- I’m… not too good with directions. And besides, I can’t run very fast.”

Naomi shrugged and tried to make her smile somewhat reassuring. She wasn’t really sure she succeeded at that. “That’s fine. All you need to do is head towards the biggest building in the skyline. And don’t worry about speed—I’ll take care of that for you.”

This drew a curious look from him, but he didn’t raise any further questions.

She turned back to Feng. “Ready?”

He responded with something halfway between a shrug and a nod. “As can be.”

“Right, then.” Naomi cracked her knuckles, unholstered her Evoker, and stepped out into the light. “Let’s get this show on the road.”

An eerie silence fell over them as they slowly walked through the empty streets. Both she and Feng kept their Evokers on hand, ready to spring into action at a moment’s notice. Her eyes constantly darted around, taking in every sight, examining every nook and cranny that could possibly conceal the enemy.

Several minutes passed without incident, and eventually they reached a big, open intersection in what was probably Rue de Gekko , at the very center of Port Island. Naturally, that was when the air warped and the enemy made its presence known.

The Shadow leapt down from a nearby rooftop and landed on its white leg, which rippled and flexed, seemingly absorbing the impact. It tilted its head upon seeing that the three of them hadn’t tried to flee from it, and let its eye rove over them all. First Feng, then Naomi, and finally Kamiya. It tilted its head the other way, rolling its shoulders as it repeated his name, almost mockingly. “KEI.”

Naomi didn’t need to look at him to know that the boy had stiffened up once more. Her hand darted out and clamped around his shoulder. “Focus, Kamiya,” she said.

Slowly, her other hand raised, bringing the Evoker to her temple. The steel barrel felt like a cold kiss against her skin, sending goosebumps throughout her whole body, and finally quenching the burning on her back.

Believer… the time has come.

“Wha—? Shiranui, what’re you doing?!”

From her peripheral vision, she noticed Kamiya’s bewildered look. She couldn’t really blame him—using an Evoker looked an awful lot like an attempt at suicide.

The eye flicked over her once more, curious, but unconcerned. Unafraid.

It underestimated her.

She should have found that to be insulting, but Naomi could only feel amused;

It didn’t understand. So she would just have to show it.

Naomi shut her eyes, and reached out to the one who stood by her side.

“Come to me,” she whispered, squeezing the trigger.

Memories that were not her own rushed throughout Naomi’s mind.

//”No,” she whispered. She hadn’t even noticed that her legs had given out until she was halfway to the ground.

Pierre caught her, his arms wrapping around her shoulders, trembling as he tried to hold back his own tears.

Shakily, she managed to ask, “And… and the babe?”

Her brother didn’t respond.

“Oh… Catherine…”//

I am Thou, and Thou art I...

//”The girl says she speaks with the Lord.”

This drew loud, mocking laughter from the assembled lords, but king Charles’ smirk didn’t quite reach his eyes.

“Go on, then,” he said, raising a hand to command their silence. “What message has he for me?”//

In the Lord’s name, I have taken up arms.

//The jeers of the crowd were almost deafening, but she didn’t hear them in the slightest.

Jeanne cast her eyes skyward, frantic, searching for any sign.

“Save me!” she cried.

No response came, and the heat intensified.//

From deep within Naomi’s conscious, she came.

By the grace of his Messengers, have I gained purpose.

She was ethereal in her perfection, like a statue Michelangelo or Rodin would have sculpted themselves. Her skin was as pale as alabaster, and her silver armor gleamed beautifully even under the blue sun’s light. Draped over her shoulders was a shimmering cape of blue, white, and red.

I am the Maiden of Orleans.

In her right hand, she held a sabre, sleek and basket-hilted. It was a weapon that had never spilled blood in its entire existence, had never known what it meant to hate. A weapon that, in spite of its very purpose, was wielded in peace.

Her long hair held a bright, platinum tone. Her left eye was a deep blue, while in place of her right eye, a white lily was in full bloom.

I am Jeanne D’Arc.

The saber came forth, pointed directly at the Shadow’s eye.

And I shall guide all through the Virtuous Way

For a moment, time seemed to stand completely still. All eyes were focused on Jeanne, watching her with either awe or fear.

Naomi felt a thrill of energy run down her arm and pass on to Kamiya. She squeezed his shoulder to get his attention.

“Go,” she said.

Kamiya’s eyes turned towards her, staring dumbly at nothing. “Huh…?”

“Did I stutter?! Go!”

That was enough to snap him out of it. Kamiya gave her a nod and took off, too fast for him to handle. His new speed disoriented him briefly, causing him to stumble and nearly fall, but he managed to get out of sight nonetheless.

The boy’s escape did not go unnoticed by the Shadow. “HOLD IT!” it roared, putting its weight onto its white leg, preparing to take off after him.

That wouldn’t do.

Jeanne’s hand flicked in its direction, and a split second later, the air around the Shadow exploded.

The enemy shrieked in agony as the flames seared its flesh, but it still had the presence of mind to drop onto the pavement and roll to put them out. The eye wandered back and forth between Naomi and her Persona, narrowing with rage. “BITCH!”

“You poor thing,” she cooed, giving the Shadow a wide, toothy grin. “Didn’t your mother ever teach you it’s rude to insult women?” Gently, Jeanne touched the ground beside her, raising the saber once more. “Your fight is with us.”

“Ah…! Hah…!”

Twisted buildings, wrecked cars, and spikes of concrete. Too-wide, almost agoraphobic streets, and cramped, claustrophobic alleyways. The distorted Port Island disappeared into a mess of blurs. Whatever Shiranui had done to him granted Kei speeds he could never have dreamed of. Each step propelled him forward dozens of meters.

But as amazing as it was, it was also disorienting as all hell, and he had tripped over his own feet more times than he could count, forcing Kei to slow down to a more manageable pace.

He passed underneath an overpass, and the ground ran out beneath him. Kei tumbled forward and fell face-first into a ditch. His ears rang, making his head throb almost unbearably. He raised a hand to his forehead, and found it to be slick with blood.

“Wha… what the hell?” Shakily, Kei brought himself to his feet and climbed out, turning back to examine what exactly he’d fallen into. He stared into a large crater, placed right in the middle of the street, and covered by the shade of the overpass. It was smooth and perfectly circular in diameter, like it had been carved out of the ground with some sort of precise tool.

On a whim, he glanced around the street he was in, and found a multitude of holes much like this one, all poking out of alleys, beneath the shades of buildings, entrances into underground walkways. All of the places from which the Shadow had repeatedly appeared.

His mind made the connection immediately. ‘Is this how it’s able to teleport?’ Or rather, was this what was left behind each time it teleported?

But how did that even work? Did it just carve out a section of the ground each time? Why were they all exclusively in dark spots?

He shook his head, snapping out of it. He didn’t have time to waste pondering the monster and its abilities. His eyes darted up towards the skyline, focusing on the large building in the distance.

If he could just make it there, he would be safe.

Intellectually, Kei knew that this was the correct choice—Whatever the hell was going on, whatever that monster was, Feng and Shiranui clearly knew much more about it than he did. It only made sense that he should follow their instructions and let them handle it. All that was left for him to do now was to reach the tower, and the nightmare would be over.

Are                 this                    ?

                                                    brother?                    

                               don’t              afraid.

Then… why did his body refuse to move? Why did he want to turn the other way and return?

You can                     even             !

                               avenge                         enemy.

Like a parasite, the intrusive thought burrowed into his mind and refused to leave. And against his better judgement, Kei glanced over his shoulder, back towards where Feng and Shiranui were currently fighting. If he started running now, with this boosted speed, he could...

...Could...

He shook his head again. Just what could he possibly accomplish? Kei didn’t have some sort of crazy power like Shiranui. He wasn’t strong, or brave, or clever—He was just some scrawny country kid with a broken arm. He’d only get in their way, distract them, possibly even get all three of them killed. There was absolutely nothing he could do.

He turned back towards the tower. There was only one path, and it was clear. Slowly, his body began to cooperate, and with shaky steps, began advancing towards safety.

Again?

That thought stopped him completely.

In his mind’s eye, the scenario changed. The distorted afternoon’s sky became a moonless night. The hulking corpses of buildings around him became tall trees.

The question posed itself before him once more.

Again?

“It… it doesn’t matter…” Kei said to no one, trying to dismiss the insane idea. He didn’t know neither Feng nor Shiranui. They were just classmates, casual acquaintances. Moreover, it was clear that they could defend themselves. He, on the other hand, didn’t even stand a chance. So it only made sense that he should run away…

...Again.

Even from this distance, the sounds of battle—gunshots, roaring explosions, space itself being warped around the monster—echoed clearly.

No…

Kei Kamiya clenched his hand tightly and made his decision.

Persona Compendium:

Jeanne D'arc

XI—Strength

A French heroine, known as 'the Maid of Orleans.' At the age of sixteen, she received a vision from God, and took a stance to save France, playing a pivotal role in ending the Hundred Years' War. However, at the age of nineteen, she was captured and burned at the stake under accusations of witchcraft. This conviction was later overturned, and Jeanne was eventually canonized, becoming a Catholic saint.

Chapter Text

"I'll make this quick."