Flowered Daggers (Akira Kurusu/P5 Protag x Fem!Reader)

Ch 0 - Prologue

So by now you were used to being alone most of the time. As you adjusted to your lonely lifestyle, you found other outlets for your emotions. You developed a love of drawing, from realistic to imaginary, but you were particularly fond of scenery and flowers. And when your parents were away, you explored the city's vast nightlife. Music was your other companion and while you didn't play any instruments, you appreciated the wide variety of music that existed, and enjoyed making playlists that captured the feel of different parts of the city at different times of day.

While you often felt lonely, truth was, you still had some of your old friends. You kept in contact over the internet and chats, but it wasn't the same as meeting in person. For that, you still had one friend in particular you had known since you were in the foster care system, who also lived in Tokyo. As such, the two of you would meet up whenever you had the chance. You hung out less in recent years, but that was because he became busier as the second coming of the "Prince Detective".

You were genuinely happy for Goro Akechi. You recalled how he wanted to prove himself to the world, that he could be useful to society and not a burden in the foster care system forever. You knew him to be intelligent, cunning, and as quick to observe things like you. While he didn't have your empathy or ability to read people instinctually, he made up for it in observing and analyzing behavior patterns. Knowing his dream from when he was young, seeing him on TV always brought a smile to your face.

You, on the other hand, were not so sure about your path in life. At the end of the day, your biggest issue to overcome was your poor health. You could hold up well enough to do light physical activities, like biking to and from school, but you would inevitably get sick every so often. You managed to hold good grades but you weren't the best in the class, if only because you missed so much school.

As your train of thought landed on school, you realized that you had completely zoned out in the middle of class while walking down memory lane. With a small gasp, you refocused on what the teacher was saying and quickly copied down what was written on the board. If there was one thing you were grateful for with regards to sitting in the back of the classroom, it was that no one would see you zone out. Save for the teacher.

"[Y/N] [L/N], please read the sentence on the board." The English teacher, Ms. Chouno, commanded.

As you scrambled to translate and read the sentence, you saw in her eyes and body language that she knew you were not paying attention. And she was not happy about being ignored. "U-um... 'The quick brown f-fox jumps over the l-lazy dog'..."

"Correct! And what is so special about this phrase?" Ms. Chouno relaxed slightly, but kept her commanding stance.

"Er..." You quickly scanned over your notes and the textbook that was open on your desk, looking for the answer. You thought you found it so you spoke up again. "It has all the letters of the English alphabet in it?" You didn't mean to phrase it as a question, but it was too late now. You sunk a little in your seat, waiting for the embarrassment.

"Good job!" You could tell the praise was more for how quick you found the answer rather than actually comprehending it. But you were relieved when she continued. "While some letters are used more than once, each letter in the English alphabet is used in this one sentence. As some letters are far less common than others, it is one of the few phrases that can claim fame for containing all twenty six letters. Your homework is to find at least one other coherent phrase that does the same. Using chat speak to get all twenty six letters will not count!"

A slight grumble rolled through the class before the teacher continued the lesson.

You half payed attention, but your eyes wandered over to Ann Takamaki, one of the other students that currently had rumors going around the school. You never really spoke to her, save for the occasional class project, but you silently sympathized. Since you had been thinking about rumors again, you briefly wondered what thread of truth was within the rumors about her going out with the P.E. teacher, Mr. Kamoshida. But you didn't have the confidence to ask her directly about it as something like that was bound to be a touchy topic.

~~Time Skip: After School ~~

The rest of the day went on as normal and you biked home immediately. Your parents would be coming back in a few days so you had to make sure the house was impeccably clean for their return. You didn't exactly make messes while they were gone, but even the slightest bit of dust didn't escape their gaze. As such, you were a bit OCD when it came to cleaning and organizing, but you had to be for fear of incurring their wrath.

When you got home, you turned on the TV for background noise in the quiet house. You then started your normal routine for cleaning. The house was large enough that you couldn't do it all in one afternoon, but that was fine by you. As long as you gave yourself three afternoons to get it done on time, you were still able to relax in the evenings for a couple hours before bed.

~~ Time Skip: Evening ~~

After you finished part one of cleaning, you decided to go out for a small walk around Yongen-Jaya with some relaxing music playing through your headphones. It was a quiet neighborhood in the backstreets, but the people there, especially the elderly couple who ran the movie theatre, were always pleasant to chat with. Even the man who ran Cafe Leblanc, though he appeared stern and no nonsense, was kind to you on the occasion that you visited.

There were a couple rowdy kids running around a bit later than you thought they should, but it wasn't your place to scold or parent them. You simply made sure to stay out of their way when they ran past you to wherever they were going. After watching them turn a corner, you turned a corner yourself and walked by the aforementioned Cafe. Through the window, you saw the local doctor sitting in one of the booths as well as the elderly couple you had thought about a moment ago in another booth.

You thought about going in and joining the small group, but decided to pass on it for now. It was starting to get a bit late and you knew if you wanted to go to bed on time, you needed to head home. So you kept walking past the cafe and went to the subway station.

Little did you know the normally quiet cafe would be hosting the transfer student you had been hearing rumors about at school.