===
As much as my every instinct is begging me to leave, this place is getting more uncomfortable by the second. From the screams to the creepy banners to the absurdly named Training Hall of Love, not to mention the shadows behind every corner, I'm at least glad Sakamoto isn't alone in this. It's not that I don't trust Morgana, I just...
What's with this guy, anyway? He might as well know what I am already, or at the very least know about my record, yet he wants me to help him? It's insane he even trusts me a few feet away from him.
"I just can't forgive that bastard Kamoshida doin' whatever the hell he wants!"
My stomach churned when he told me that at the entrance. If Morgana is right and this place really is what Kamoshida thinks of the school...
He may not be threatening to execute students at school, but I can't imagine that what he does do is much better... If this place has any clues as to what that is, maybe it's worth exploring for a while.
Maybe we can put this into someone else's hands.
===
With Morgana guiding us, we easily find our way back to the prison.
"I think they were over here. C'mon, let's go!" Sakamoto runs towards the nearby cells, but there's... no one to be found. "Dammit, where'd they go?!" he cries.
"They might have been transferred already," Morgana sighs.
The blond looks to his left. "There were a few more down that way, right?" He looks at me and motions his hand toward him, "Come on, let's go!"
I try to grab his hand, but he's already bolted further into the prison. I fail to scream after him, but before I can consider running to get him, he scrambles back towards us.
The sound of several footsteps approaches.
"Crap, I found a shitton of those guard dudes!"
"Idiot...!" Morgana seethes under his breath. "It'd be a problem if they discovered us now..." His large eyes dart about the room. "This way!" He runs towards a hazy door. Despite my hesitation, the growing rumble of footsteps draws me inside.
Inside the room, the walls shift for a moment to what looks like... a classroom? A moment later, they shift back.
Morgana hops up onto the table. "The shadows won't come in here."
"How do you know?" I ask.
"There's less distortion here, therefore, the ruler's control over the area is weak."
"Is this... a classroom?" Sakamoto asks, equations phasing on and off of an even hazier chalkboard.
"Do you get it now? This is just another reality the ruler's heart projects." Morgana explains.
"Kamoshida's... reality?" Sakamoto shakes his head. "Agh, shit makes no sense at all!"
Morgana groans as if this is a common phenomenon. "Think of it as... a place where a person's distorted desires have materialized. I call this place, a 'palace'. Fitting, right?"
"So..." I reflect on Kamoshida's strange clothes and the way the guards talked to him. "This place is a castle because he thinks of it like one?" I ask.
"Exactly."
Sakamoto clenches his fist, and a pained chuckle escapes him. "That son of a bitch...!"
Morgana tilts his head. "You really seem to hate him, huh?"
He snaps his head towards the cat(?) "'Hate' doesn't even cover how I feel!"
I can't help but look at him softly.
Morgana snaps me out of my thoughts. "I bet you're curious about your outfit, huh?"
"I'm curious as hell about it too. Why he's a cat-thing and all."
"It's meaningless...!" I grumble, looking down and playing with my bangs.
"That's also because of this world." Morgana continues, ignoring us. "You see, a palace ruler can distort anything in it to their will. A school can become a castle, after all. To avoid it, one must hold a powerful will of rebellion." He looks up at me. "Your outfit is a manifestation of that. It's the image of rebellion you hold within."
Sakamoto gives me a puzzled look. "So, your 'image of rebellion' is-"
"Magician, you guessed it," I snap. He flinches at my sudden words. My head jerks away instinctively. "A-Anyway, what are you, Morgana?" I ask.
"A human! An honest-to-god human!"
"Really? You look more like a cat to me." Sakamoto scoffs in disbelief.
"I just lost my true form, is all... I think."
"You... think?"
"What matters is, I've been tortured by Kamoshida too! And I'll make him pay for sure! I'll be counting on you, Frizzy Fur, okay?" He says to me.
I stand with my mouth agape. "But why-?"
"Oh! I just remembered!" Sakamoto starts, pulling something out of his pocket. "I got something to make things easier for us.
My eyes go wide. My fur stands on end.
It's a-
I snatch the gun and point it at him. "I knew it!" I snarl. "You think you're slick, bringing me here so you can kill me?! Cause it'll 'make things easier' for you?!"
He backs up into a wall and pretends to panic. This lying piece of- "D-Dude! Chill! I-It's a toy! It don't got any bullets! I-I'm not trying to kill you!"
"Quit playing dumb with me!" I sputter. "A toy, huh?! A toy?! Then WHAT, THE HELL, IS THIS?!" I point the gun to the ceiling.
*click*
My eyes open slowly. The recoil never runs through me.
*click* *clickclickclick*
I bring it closer to my face and dart my eyes between him and the gun. "...Where're the bullets?" I growl.
"I-I'm trying to tell you, man, it's just something from the airsoft place. Thought I'd scare some enemies or something..." His hand rests on his chest, the other one palm out at me. "You uh... you alright, dude?"
I find a sticker on the other side of the gun with "Untouchable - Airsoft Model Tkachev" and "¥25,000" written on it.
Idiot...!
I scoff and stuff the gun in my pocket. "Let's get going."
I shut the door behind me and rest my head in my paws.
"It'sfineit'sfineit'sfine... you won't talk to him after today anyway," I whisper to myself, definitely not about to cry. It's not like he'd want to, anyway.
But isn't that for the best?
===
"The training hall's up ahead, right?" Sakamoto asks.
"Yeah, it's a little further. Make sure you watch out for any guards along the way," Morgana replies.
If Morgana is right, the "slaves" are being kept there. It's not a long way according to him, but it's felt incredibly long anyway. I thought fighting some shadows would help blow off any steam, but the tension in the air is so thick I'm practically choking. There's a familiar feeling of guilt in me, but another is grateful. I just wish I could feel more of the latter.
Spotting some guards in the distance, we rush behind a nearby wall.
"Hey, have you seen anyone who looks like an intruder?"
"No, not yet."
"How do we go around them now?" I whisper to Morgana. I figured fighting them would be a waste of time, so I convinced Morgana to let us avoid them when we had the chance.
"Hmm... there's too many enemies. It'd be impossible to dodge all of them, let alone dangerous..."
"I'm not strong enough for battle, Morgana...!"
"Come on, it'll be fine! I'll be here with you!" He pleads.
I glance at Sakamoto, eyes still begging for me to fight, just like before. I sigh. "...Ok, fine."
I ambush the guard and seize his mask, leaping back so we can get this over with.
The first thing I learned from the earlier battles was how weapons work; fire forms them into your hand at will, bursting into flames again once they're no longer needed. Oddly enough, the gun disappeared soon after I left the strange room with it.
"Hey Frizzy Fur? You still got the gun with you? Point it at a shadow and fire!"
"But... it's not real?" I ask both him and myself, summoning it with caution. I find it in my paw to my surprise.
"Just do it!"
I shut an eye and aim carefully...
*BAM!* *BAM!* *BAM!*
I stare in horror at the recoil the pumpkin took.
"You... you said it wasn't real," I say to Sakamoto, my voice faltering between a growl and a panicked whisper.
"I-It isn't! I dunno what's happening!" he replies, eyes wide like mine.
"Surprised, huh?" Morgana smirks. "There will be many instances where you'll wanna use rapid-fire instead of swinging your blade or using your persona. Now I'll show you my weapon!" He whips out a comically large slingshot and shoots down the pumpkin and the flower person.
With the enemies gone, Sakamoto runs up to us. "Hold up, how did that thing just shoot real freaking bullets?!"
Morgana sighs. "This is a cognitive world, remember? As long as our opponent sees the weapon as real, it becomes such. Good thing it's realistic-looking. Maybe you are good for something, blondie!" He walks off into the hallway.
I turn slowly towards him. "So... you weren't trying to kill me?"
"Dude, no! Why would you even think that?" he asks, seeming genuinely bewildered.
I mean, he could just be tricking me, but... He's actually being nice to me...
Why?
...It's because he doesn't know better, obviously.
"I-It's nothing. Come on, Morgana's waiting."
===
We hear voices upon entering the "Training Hall of Love". Following them, we find a large gym with several students being beaten by guards. I can only stare in horror as they scream in pain...
"Dammit! This is bullshit!" Sakamoto screams.
"Keep it down!" Morgana and I whisper in unison.
"But, this is beyond messed up!" He grabs the bars and starts shaking them violently.
"Come on, quit it!" I urge him. "You're gonna bring all the guards here and get us killed!"
"But dude! I just gotta-!"
"Stop it..." an unknown voice says. A volleyball team member comes towards us. "It's useless... If we stay obedient, we won't be executed like you!"
"You really wanna stay in a place like this? Come on, we'll get you outta here!"
"Wait... were you seriously planning to break them out?" Morgana asks.
"We can't just leave 'em here!"
I look back towards the slaves again. One gets thrown away from the net and collapses like a doll, only for another injured student to take his place.
Morgana's head goes back as he groans. "How stupid can you be?!"
"What?!" Sakamoto seethes, readying a fist.
"These aren't real humans like you! They're only based on Kamoshida's cognition!"
"Cognition...?"
"It means there's no point in saving them!" He snaps. "They're different from the real ones in the real world!"
Sakamoto's fist lowers, but the scowl on his face remains. "So to him, the school's a castle, and the students are slaves...! It's so on point that it makes me laugh!" He bangs his fist on the bars again."This really is the inside of that asshole's head...!"
Morgana hops over to see the slaves better. "Still, this is horrible. This probably means he treats them like this in the real world too."
Both Sakamoto's eyes and mine go wide. My heart sinks. "Wait..." He says. "What do you mean, 'the real world too?" He looks around the large gym. "Holy shit, I know these guys! They're members of the team that Kamoshida coaches!"
"They must be physically abused every day. There's no way they'd be this beat up otherwise..."
"You mean... they're goin' through similar shit in reality too?!"
"Most likely," Morgana says. "I mean, this proves that Kamoshida sees these people as slaves."
"So it might be for real..." Sakamoto turns to me. "You remember how I told you there's some shady stuff goin' around about Kamoshida?"
"Those rumors?" I ask.
"I thought they were, but... if Monamona's right, then that means he's using physical punishment on the real team too...!"
"He's beating them every day?!"
"I wish I were surprised...!" Sakamoto mutters.
I space out and stare at the team. One of the students begs for mercy, only to be immediately grabbed by a guard. He tries to escape, but is brutally silenced by another guard's halberd to the back. He weakly hangs on to the net.
My own arm aches at the sight.
I've only been here a few days, but all I want is to make sure this "teacher" never teaches again...
"We gotta tell someone about this," I say. "The school staff, the police, someone can do something, right?"
"Yeah," Sakamoto says. "I'll use these guys as evidence." He pulls out his phone. "If it all goes well, we can take down that asshole!"
I grin at the fire burning within him.
"Y'know, we might be more alike than I thought."
I thought he was crazy, but... him and I...
Maybe... maybe after all this, If all goes well, we could be...
We could be...
Friends.
I shake my head. No, that's a stupid idea. I don't want him to get hurt-!
"Huh? It's not workin'?!"
"What's not working?" I ask.
"The camera app. I thought, since the navigation app works..."
"Navigation app?" Morgana asks.
"It's what we used to get here."
I grab my phone from my pocket too. Strangely, my camera app won't open either.
"Just use whatever else you have!" Morgana tells us."But do it quick, cause we're gonna get caught if we stand around like this. We gotta head back!"
"Hang on a sec, cat!" Sakamoto snaps back. He looks at the students for a moment. "There's no other way... I'll just memorize their faces before going home."
===
"Hurry!" Morgana calls to us. "The exit's this way!"
We run along behind him, but skid to a stop when several guards and Kamoshida himself block our path to the exit.
"You knaves again?" he seethes. "To think you'd make the same mistake again... you're hopeless!"
"The school ain't your castle!" Sakamoto yells. "I've memorized their faces real good! You're going down!"
"It seems it's true when they say 'barking dogs seldom bite'. Oh, how far the star runner of the track team has fallen..."
"...The hell you gettin' at?!"
"I speak of the "Track Traitor", who acted in violence, crushing his teammate's dreams! Oh, imagine the pain of the others who were dragged under by your... selfish act"
"T-Traitor..?" My breathing becomes heavy.
"So, you accompany him without knowing anything at all? He betrayed his teammates and crushed their hopes, yet he still carries on as carefree as ever."
"Violent"
"Traitor"
"Traitor"
"T-That's not true!" Sakamoto pleads, looking at me.
I start stepping back slowly.
You idiot!
I should have known, why would anyone ever actually be nice to me? All he wanted was to get rid of me-!
"AAAgh!"
A golden-armored guard hits my back and topples me over; he must have gotten me as I was stepping back... Before I can warn him, Morgana's trapped too. All we can do is watch as Sakamoto falls to his knees, now as if he's frozen with fear. Kamoshida smirks at him, a sick satisfaction on his face.
"I bet you came here on a whim and ended up like this, isn't that right?"
"N-No..." His voice starts to break.
"What a piece of trash, getting emotional so quickly. How dare you raise your hand at me! Though it was only temporary, have you forgotten my kindness in supervising track practice?"
"That wasn't practice!" He slams his hands into the ground and hangs his head. "That was physical abuse! You just didn't like our team!"
Abuse... All that we've seen...
"It was nothing but an eyesore! The only one who needs to achieve results is ME!"
My lip curls into a snarl.
Why would I ever believe that piece of shit for one second...
"That coach who got fired was hopeless too. Had he not opposed me with a sound argument, I would've settled it with breaking his star's leg."
Sakamoto lifts his head slightly. "...What?"
"Do you need me to deal with your other leg too? The school will call it 'self-defense' anyway!"
I grind my teeth. I claw at the carpet.
"Dammit, I can't effin' lose like this again! Not only can I not run anymore... the track team's gone too 'cause of this asshole...!"
"So that's why.." Morgana murmurs.
"Once these two are dealt with, you're next...!" Kamoshida cackles at him.
"NO!"
Sakamoto looks at me. He winces as the guard on my back presses me harder.
"Don't...!" I gasp for air. "...let him do this...! He... He took everything from you... right?!"
He nods. I barely see a tear falling down his face.
"T-then you know he's a liar...! You've seen it, I've seen it!" I growl. "You know the real him! The bastard who gets away with everything! Crushing your dreams, your future! If no one will give you what you had, then go and take it back!"
Sakamoto's eyes widen. "You're right..." He lifts himself slightly. "Everything important to me was taken by him...!" His voice breaks again. "But you know the worst part? I'll never get 'em back!"
Kamoshida ignores him. "Stay there and watch. Watch as these hopeless scum die for nothing, all because they sided with trash like you."
He gets up.
"No... that's what you are..." He's shaking, but doesn't fall. "All you think about is using people... You're the real scumbag, Kamoshida!
"What are you doing? Silence him!"
Sakamoto looks him in the eye. He steps forward, and with hatred I could never harness, shouts:
"Stop looking down on me, with that STUPID SMILE ON YOUR FACE!!"
I can only stare in awe.
To think I befriended someone as incredible as him...
He falls to his knees and starts to scream. I can only imagine the voice in his head that's ready to rain hell on this bastard...!
The golden guard scoffs. "What can you do? Cower in fear and watch!"
But he's not cowering, the opposite, actually. A mask appears on his face. He rips it off and screams, blue fire rising around him and knocking the guards off of us. When the flames subside, he's wearing a mostly-black outfit with a popped collar, save for his yellow gloves and long red ascot. Behind him, a skeleton pirate with a cannon arm and red cape, riding a ship like it was a skateboard.
"Hell yeah... What's up, persona?! This effin' rocks! Now that I got this power, it's time for payback!"
As the guards struggle to stand back up, Morgana and I join him by his side.
"Yo... I'm ready! Bring it!"
"Ngh... don't mock me, you brat!" The golden guard yells, transforming into an armored knight on a purple horse.
"Blast 'em away, CAPTAIN KIDD!!"
The knight summons two green-horned horses to his side.
Sakamoto clutches his mask. "Let's go, Captain!"
A bolt of lightning strikes down a horned horse. Without hesitation, he summons a pipe to his hand and beats it while it's down.
"Incoming!" I yell, dashing in with my knife. The horse bursts into smoke as I slash it.
"Come forth, Zorro!" Morgana yells, slashing the knight with wind.
Sakamoto lands a thunderstrike on the other horse, knocking it down like the first. With the knight distracted by Morgana, I take the chance to summon Arsene and defeat it with an Eiha.
"Enough, you insolent coward!" The knight yells, rushing at me with his spear. I brace for impact, but the knight is rammed to the floor by Sakamoto's persona.
"Let's get em!" He yells, charging forward with his pipe. I quickly shoot an Eiha at it, and watch as he bludgeons it into dust.
Exhausted, Sakamoto nearly falls on his face, but I catch him by the arms and help him back up.
"So... how about that?!" he mutters, looking at Kamoshida's shocked face.
Before he can say more, a girl walks up to the teacher's side. Her fashion sense is just like his, wearing nothing but a pink bikini, along with a tiara with cat ears. It looks a bit strange on her. She's weirdly familiar...
Sakamoto seems just as confused. "...Takamaki? What are you doing here?"
Wait... her?!
"Are you jealous?" The teacher inquires. "This is my castle, where I can do whatever I want! Everyone wants to be loved by me! Girls aren't attracted to slow-witted thieves like you!"
Several guards suddenly rise from the ground. Way too many to fight.
"We gotta get out of here!" Morgana yells. Luckily, Sakamoto is too exhausted to protest my dragging him away.
===
I let go of him at the gate.
"So..." He pants heavily. "Anyways... I don't remember changing into this!" he exclaims, checking out his outfit.
I chuckle. "You look like some fancy mugger."
"W-well, it's better than your cat-magician look!" he laughs back. "Though, I wonder why I didn't turn into something else like you did..."
Oh... right.
"Ah well, anyways, I still don't get this shit, but I guess I did that persona-thing you mentioned, Monamona?"
"It's Morgana, but, yeah, you sure did. Had no idea you had that potential too, but here we are. Now we're ready to cooperate!" He claps his tiny paws together.
My face contorts with confusion. "... 'Cooperate'?"
"Yeah! Why do you think I was so nice teaching you idiots everything?"
"...Idiots?" Sakamoto whispers in shock, as if he had just been slapped.
"Come on, you know I originally came here on an investigation so I can get my true form back! All we gotta do is search through Mementos and-" He stops and scoffs. "Don't tell me- you weren't gonna pay me back for this generous hospitality??"
"I... We never promised that," I assure him. "I mean, I-I'm sure we can do something, but..."
"But I've already integrated you into my master plan!" Morgana cries. "Don't try and make a fool of me cause I don't look human! Neither do you! You should be on my side!"
My heart rate skyrockets. "Look, we really need to go, so...!" I grab Sakamoto and start running off towards the exit.
"B-Bye, cat!" He yells back.
"Wait- what the hell?! Why are you leaving me like this?! Get back HERE YOU- UGh, AGH!!"
===
"You have returned to the real world. Welcome back."
"I..." Sakamoto leans up against a wall. "I didn't know I had it in me." He looks up at me. "You tired?"
"A nap would be nice..."
"...So, a lot's happened these past couple days... Just wanna say, I'm real sorry for dragging you around for all of it."
I take another breath. "It's ok," I say. "I can't imagine leaving you to take on that place on your own."
He chuckles. "Me neither. Look at you, saved my ass like, 20 times now."
I fail to stifle a laugh.
"And thanks to you, now I know the people who were gettin' abused back in the palace. Once we make 'em fess up about it, Kamoshida is done for!"
"I'm happy I got to help," I say with a smile.
"About that," Sakamoto starts.
My smile drops.
"I wanna ask you something."
My body tenses slightly.
"So, no one at this school takes me seriously, especially since the thing with Kamoshida... I mean, you've seen how people talk about me. All cause no one has spoken up about that bastard...! I'm gonna try an' get some witnesses tomorrow, but I dunno if I can do it on my own, so... wanna join me?"
For the first time, the burning in my heart doesn't feel like fear. It feels hopeful, it screams "Yes, yes, I won't let you down!", but that would be a lie... I will ruin him if I agree to this. If I could just scare him off without telling him anything, that would be perfect... But with everything he knows now, I'd need a miracle to drive him away.
You've never been lucky, ever... if anything, you're cursed.
I shut my eyes, and regretfully sigh. "No... I can't, I'm sorry."
"Huh? Why not?"
"It doesn't- it just- it's just better that we stop seeing each other entirely..." I trip over my words as I start to leave.
"But dude, I-"
"I didn't come here for friends, Sakamoto, just- trust me, you shouldn't be around me!"
"I don't care about the rumors, dude! No way even half of 'em are real!"
I turn around and glare at him. "Sakamoto, I wish that were the problem! I'd give anything for that to be it! But it's not, so back off!"
There's a silence as I turn back around. "Then... what are you talking about? Wait, hold on..."
I pause, slowly facing him again as my eyes go wide.
Wait, no, did I just-? Shit, shitshitshitshit-!
"Can I ask you somethin'? You're jumpy as hell, you assume people want to kill you, and like... dude? Are you okay? What're you not tellin' me if it's not the your record? I know we haven't known each other long, but I trust you, man-"
"Ohohoh, I can change that..." I laugh bitterly, walking past him.
He glares at me. "Alright. Try."
I stop, turning my head slowly. "...What?"
"Go on. Tell me why I should pretend you didn't save my life and believed in me when no one else would."
...tell him?!
The pounding of my heart becomes way too noticeable as I debate whether to look him in the eye or not.
"...I, I...!"
In brief moments I see his face show concern. "You uh... You okay man?"
My steps stop as my back hits a wall.
"I'm fine, I just-" I curl up into a ball, the world swimming in and out of focus as I breathe faster and harder.
I can hear panic in his voice. "I-It's okay, I asked too much, sorry man, you don't have to-"
"You need to leave, but you won't leave...!" I cry. "Why won't you listen like everyone else?!" I rock back and forth, wishing he would just go already...
"But what about you? What do you need, I can't just leave-!"
"I need you leave for your own sake, Sakamoto! I'm a shapeshifter, don't you get it?!"
We stare at each other for what feels like an eternity. The moment my words hit me, I curl back up and cover my head, forcing my eyes shut for whatever he's about to say.
No one speaks. No fists or legs flying into me. All I can hear is the wind, my heartbeat, and my choppy breathing.
"Holy shit, that's..."
Just say it! Freaky? Horrifying? Blasphemy?
"...that's kinda cool! I forgot the word for that! It means you can turn into whatever you want, right?"
How are you not terrified for your life?
"W-What?" I stare for a moment. "N-No! No! Just a cat, I swear! Nothing else...!"
"Huh?" He squints briefly. "Ah, that explains your thing in bizarro world."
He's stupid, he's gotta be... Or, he's just nice? No, that can't be right...
"So... why's that a problem again?"
He seriously doesn't know... Is this what luck is like? No, stop it! He's gotta know!
I sigh. Carefully, I prop my legs back up. "Look, nothing good happens around me... If we keep hanging out, you're gonna get hurt, o-or killed, or something or-" I fight back tears, my voice trembling. "Y-You've been so nice to me, I don't want to do this to you-"
He puts his hand on my soldier, giving me a soft smile.
"Relax, man. Wanna go get some food?"
He's both. Oh god.
I wipe the tears off my cheek. "Food? What do you mean?"
"Meat, man! What else? Oh, and I totally gotta hear about your past! It's gotta be awesome!" His smile breaks. "Unless uh, you don't wanna or-"
"N-No, It's ok," I sigh. "Maybe a bit would be fine..."
===
It was quiet as always, wherever I was.
"Just get in the car!" a man snapped.
"Stop!" the woman yelled back.
I wanted to walk away, but the way he grabbed her, the terror in her eyes...
I transformed in a nearby ally and walked over, praying I wouldn't trip over the legs I hadn't used in at least a month.
I tried to stop him, just separating them was all I wanted.
But the moment he fell, the moment he brought out his phone...
"Damn brat... I'll sue!"
Suddenly, the blood was on my hands.
===
Sakamoto's face is soaked with tears. "That's so messed up, man! You were just trying to do the right thing, and you took the fall! I can't-" He stops to stuff more food in his mouth, crying with each bite.
A chuckle escapes me. I never thought I'd be able to even think about that day, let alone tell someone about it...
He puts down his bowl. "You can't just ignore someone who's in trouble, right? That's why you saved her!" He grabs some ginger from a nearby bowl. "Forget about that for now, though. You've barely touched your food!" He places some ginger in my bowl. More ginger. A lot of ginger. "Oh, right, I don't think you even know my name. I'm Ryuji Sakamoto, but you can just call me Ryuji!" He gives me a goofy grin.
"Oh, um... I don't think you ever got my name, either. I'm... I'm Ren A... A-Akuryo. Ren Akuryo. But, I don't really care what you call me..."
Another person I have to hear shout out that "name"...
"In that case, how about, Renren?"
I drop my chopsticks.
Why does my face feel warm? What is this?
Do I love it? Do I hate it? I can't tell...
"O-Okay then..." I say, stumbling over my words. "For you, I'll stick with... Sakamoto."
He laughs. "Asshole."
===
__
Ryuji: Hey can u see this?
Ren: Yes?
Ryuji: ill be counting on you tomorrow okay?
Ren: What do you mean?
Ryuji: we gotta find those guys we saw at the castle. Im gonna need ur help
Ren: Got it.
Ryuji: the volleyball rallys tomorrow, we'll have plenty of timw
Ren: Timw?
Ryuji: time
Ren: Oh, ok. Understood.
Ryuji: night! :D
Ren: Goodnight, Sakamoto.
__
I stare at the messages in awe.
A friend. I get sent to the city on probation, tell him I'm a shapeshifter, and he becomes my friend.
There were many nights I fell asleep and wished I hadn't woken up... Is this it? Am I dreaming, am I dead?
I can't be dead, I wouldn't be sent to a place like this.
Still, I can't help but replay the conversation over and over as I write this all down in my diary.
"I'm a shapeshifter, don't you get it?!"
"You shouldn't be around me!"
"I don't want to do this to you...!"
Sure, it feels good now, but what about the future? How doesn't he understand how screwed he is? Most people figure it out by now... Who wouldn't be afraid of a shapeshifter after these past 2 years?
He can't be serious, he can't possibly know and stay friends with me. We can't stay friends when everyone's gonna assume he's just like me. He could get hurt, or kidnapped, or experimented on, or kicked out, or expelled, or killed, or-
Stop, stop, stop! I cry in my mind. I smack the wall and pray the energy will seep out of me. The pounding slowly falls into a rhythm, however, similar to the one from the other day...
da, Da, da, Da, da-Da-da...
He'll know soon enough, tomorrow at the latest.
Who am I to think I can hide something like this? I'm screwed, I'm so screwed...
More importantly, he's screwed if he doesn't call for everyone to hunt me. To get rid of me, like some sort of plague...
Plague...
Wasn't there a story I read once? About a masquerade, something about a plague, one that killed everyone?
No, it was a monster. A monster killed them. Was it both? A metaphor?
Blood was the only other word that came to mind. The blood on my hands...
Is this a curse? Was it always meant to be? For everyone to get hurt around me? Am I a disease, just masquerading as another face in the crowd?
Maybe I'm just pretending to be like everyone else...
Like a masquerade. This is nothing but a-
I shake my head. No, this place isn't a masquerade. Things can be different here... He doesn't seem like the type to make up elaborate lies...
I'm not sure how much I believe that. I open up my diary again and write a few more words:
—
A fool yet to grasp it,
I find myself wondering
When everyone will realize
I am the one who plagues
This masquerade
A shapeshifter.
A monster.
Thinking he can be anything more...
—
===
A/N:
Behold, the new ref sheet for Renren!
(Might need to turn up your brightness a bit)
His phantom thief attire is mostly similar to the canon one, but due to obvious reasons, some changes were made. I hope you like how I went about it! Sorry I used a pencil brush instead of something sharper, I just wanted to go with something sketchier both to save time (and sanity- this thing took 5ish hours to make) and for fun.
He's not actually transparent, btw. You can just see lines through him for the sake of the ref sheet.
Did you know I made his first ref sheet... about 2 years ago?! Crazy to think its been this long since I made it, and crazier to think I first thought of this concept even further back. Hopefully it won't take 2 years to get to the second palace...
*Insert Apollo The gift of Prophecy meme*
ANYWAY before I manifest that into reality, here's that old ref sheet from the ancient period of late 2021!
I guess it's still pretty accurate, all things considered. Oh well.
Man, does time fly. And does art improve, too! Way to go, me!
Until next time!