Ayanokouji Kiyotaka
~
April 12th 2016
Shortly after classes concluded for the day I looked down to see a notification from my phone. Opening it up I found a text from an unknown number.
~
Unknown Number
Hello. This is Horikita Manabu.
I gained access to your personal number through your student file.
~
I sighed in slight relief, quickly saving the number.
'This likely has to do with what we spoke about earlier' I thought.
~
Horikita Manabu
I have already informed Asahina about your desire to meet up with her. She's agreed to meet you at that popular Cafe in Keyaki later.
I see. I'll be making my way there now, thank you.
I assume this meeting will have something to do with Nagumo, so I also asked an informant I have in the second years to join you both.
Thank you. that will be very beneficial, President.
~
I let out a brief exhale before getting up from my seat, making my way towards Eiichiro. As I approached, Hirata and a few of the others students dispersed, letting me speak to him alone.
"Hey." I greeted.
"So? What was that thing with the student council about earlier?" He inquired.
"I'll explain it to you later. I have to meet up with two people who can give information on Nagumo."
"Am I coming with?"
I shook my head.
"Nagumo already seems to have it out for you after he let his guard down that day. If you're seen with us and especially with her, then he might go out of his way to provoke and mess with you." I stated.
Eiichiro paused.
"Who's 'her'?" He deadpanned.
I sighed, that's what he's focusing on?
"Asahina-Senpai, the person I originally needed your help identifying. Horikita-Senpai helped me get in contact with her."
Eiichiro stared at me with a dry look.
"I'm not even gonna ask how you got him to do that."
"It's not important, yet at least." I said.
"Do you remember that day, when Nagumo had that outburst? Did you notice any strange physical qualities on him then?" I asked.
"Uh... his face was partially red I guess? Like he forgot to apply sunscreen halfway or something."
I nodded. This confirmation was the last thing I needed to identify Nagumo as the person Asahina-Senpai was speaking to.
"Before you encountered him, I overheard him having an argument with Asahina-Senpai just shy of the school's gates. She then ended up slapping him and running away with tears in her eyes."
At the movement of Eiichiro's slight head tilt, I realised I needed to explain to him why this was important.
"Essentially, this argument he had with her affected him enough to where he dropped any pre-tenses and had that outburst towards you."
"That also sort of explains why I didn't see her in any of the cages back then too, doesn't it?" He asked.
I nodded.
"The fact she didn't appear to be in any of the cages like the other students proves he must hold her in some high regard. It also further cements the connection between that place and our own reality, similar your case."
"I'm still confused on that. Beside the fact I've seen him without his mask up, what makes you think he specifically has it out for me?" Eiichiro asked, confused.
"That's actually the the only reason, but it's clearly enough given how much he values how people see him." I said before turning towards him once more. "When we were in the circus, the Nagumo there stopped one of his men from landing a killing blow on me just because he to watch you be killed first." I stated.
"I see..."
Eiichiro remained silent for a moment. What did Nagumo's actions in the palace mean for the 'him' in reality? Was he going to attack him in reality as well?
I could see that worry and fear was beginning to form on his face as the fact that we had nearly died was finally setting into him.
His expression was briefly grave before it returned to his more cheery one, in an attempt to lighten the mood.
"A-Anyways, that doesn't matter right? Cause you got that Memphis Tennessee guy or whatever-"
"I can't feel him." I bluntly stated.
"H-Huh?" He squeaked.
"When we were in that world, I was able to constantly sense and feel his presence even when I wasn't wearing that... outfit or mask. But right now, while I still can still feel it, it isn't remotely as powerful."
"S-So are you saying you can't use him outside of Nagumo's circus?" He asked, his face inches away from mine and his eyes wide in shock.
"Highly likely." I nodded.
"Haha! I'm dead."
I sighed.
"Don't worry, his sights will no longer be on you after Thursday. Anyways, I have to go now, I'll see you back home." I said as I made my way towards the class door.
"W-Wait! Are you just gonna leave me to tell dad about us being late, alone!?"
"Kiyotaka!"
"'Taka!"
"'Taka ! ! !"
His yells quickly grew silent as I made my way towards Keyaki Mall.
~
~
~
Arriving to the Cafe, I felt very awkward and out of place. Every single student there was a girl. Quickly making my way to the register, I ordered a quick drink before noticing the gazes of nearly everyone there on me.
They were all giving me strange glances.
'Was it some kind of unspoken rule that guys weren't allowed here?' I thought.
I collected my drink as I glanced around the area, looking for Asahina-Senpai. I then noticed a male student who quickly approached me.
"You're Ayanokouji, correct?"
I nodded.
"I'm Kiriyama Ikuto, Horikita-Senpai sent me to discuss matters relating to 'Nagumo' with you."
I see, so this was the second year informant that Horikita-Senpai had.
"Asahina is still yet to arrive, so let's sit down first."
We then made our way towards an empty group of seats, near the corner of the shop so that no one could overhear us.
I could tell from the brief glances he was sending me, that he was sizing me up. Likely trying to understand what Horikita-Senpai saw in me.
"I won't bore you with things you already know, so I'll start with information on what it's like for the second years actually under Nagumo's rule." He began.
"During our first year, after Horikita-Senpai succeeded Yoshihara-Senpai, Nagumo was appointed as Vice President. This caused a great number of students to grow fearful of him for the power his position on the council provided."
Taking a sip of my drink I nodded, understanding where this was leading.
"So they ended up submitting to him and this eventually snowballed into him gaining power over our entire year. He also still holds significant animosity to us class A students but even despite that most of my classmates will still obey him without question."
"Why don't you follow him?" I asked.
"I believe in the same ideals that Horikita-Senpai does; that everyone in our school should be viewed equally and be given equal opportunities. Whether or not they choose to use use those opportunities however, isn't for me to decide."
"So, what does Nagumo have to gain from any of this?" I asked.
"Nothing for now. Right now Nagumo doesn't care about gaining anything at all, all his orders and actions are merely a means for him to lash out towards the students he believes are undeserving of their spots here in the school."
'So people like Yamauchi and Ike' I thought.
"Are you aware of the extent of the power that the president of the student council holds?" He continued
I shook my head.
"The president holds the ability to create significant changes to the school. Beyond the simple things such as approving the formation of clubs, they're capable of even overturning the school's systems."
What?
"The school has a rule in place that if the President manages to garner a large enough number of students to rally behind them for a certain change or system to be implemented, then that idea will be forwarded to the Chairman and the school's investors." He stated.
"So the system Nagumo would want to put in place... is a-"
"A meritocracy, correct." He cut me off.
"His power over nearly our entire year makes it so that he'll already have about 160 or so students rallying behind him when he eventually becomes president."
"But wouldn't the school still have to approve his idea beforehand?" I asked.
"They do. But this is the same school that places a student's entire value in the class they're allocated to. I have little doubt that if Nagumo's request were to actually make it that far then they would likely approve it."
"I see..."
"Do you have any ideas on how to deal with Nagumo?" I asked.
He only shook his head in return.
"Originally I had planned on joining the student council in place of you but Horikita-Senpai said that it would only draw too much of Nagumo's attention towards me. He already harbours a distaste for me because of my placement of class A, me being the second vice president would only accentuate that. It's for that same reason that no one else from our year has joined the council."
"And a potential informant who could lie low was more beneficial to Horikita-Senpai, wasn't it?" I asked to which he nodded.
Then a sudden thought crossed my mind.
"Wait, then why was Asahina-Senpai allowed to be his secretary?" I questioned.
"Thats..." He started. "Nagumo's different in regards to Asahina. She's the one person he can't influence in anyway and also the only person he tries to hide all of his maliciousness from." He answered.
I felt myself subconsciously roll my eyes.
It sort of made sense, he was still a teenage boy after all.
"If Nagumo's involvement in many of the student attacks were to come to light wouldn't that warrant an expulsion, thereby nullifying the threat he poses?" I asked.
Kiriyama-Senpai then let out a deep sigh.
"Unfortunately regardless of pretty much anything the students here do, nearly everything can be forgiven so long as they provide results. Nagumo stands at the top example of this, regardless if his involvement were to come to light he would only be temporarily suspended just as the students charged with the actual assaults were." He stated.
And directly revoking his membership in the council was out of the question considering all hell would break loose.
"But if he were to be temporarily suspended, wouldn't that be an opportune moment to dismantle his influence over the second years?" I asked.
"Huh?"
"A temporary suspension would provide a window of time for you to convince the classes to stand up against Nagumo, wouldn't it? If Nagumo's power over the second years were to cease then he would no longer pose a threat to the school when he eventually becomes president." I continued
"Not only that but you could even expel him from the council without any real risk or consequence."
Kiriyama remained silent.
"...I see Horikita-Senpai was right in taking an interest in you."
This was going to be difficult. Nagumo is a very cautious person, he's only slipped up once and only in a single moment of weakness.
Which meant if I wanted to find evidence to expose him.
I needed to exploit that weakness.
And as if on queue, the familiar voice of Asahina-Senpai rang through the cafe.
"Ayanokouji-Kun!~ Sorry I'm late!"
She made her way towards our table, much to the stares of everyone else in the store.
"Your drawing too much attention towards us, Asahina." Kiriyama sighed.
She completely ignored him.
"Sorry I'm late~ I was helping one of my friends with applications for the music club and I sorta lost track of time y'know?"
"I know." I bluntly said.
Kiriyama then got up from his seat before glancing towards me.
"I've already told you all that I know, so I'll be on my way now. I'll also inform Horikita-Senpai of what you suggested."
"Alright. Thank you, Kiriyama-Senpai" I said whilst nodding.
Me and Asahina both bid him farewell before she turned towards me with a glint in her eyes.
"So~ what's this about? Horikita-Senpai made it seem like it was super important." She said staring intently into my eyes.
"Hoh!~ A confession perhap-?"
"It's about Nagumo." I stated.
At the mention of his name her features visibly hardened, it was as if her entire demeanour changed for a moment before returning to her prior one.
"Oh, Miya- Nagumo? what about him?"
"What's your relation to him?" I asked bluntly.
"I... I'm his secretary in the student council. Nothing more, nothing less."
Damn.
This was going to be difficult.
"Asahina-Senpai, I'm asking for your cooperation. All I need to know is what your prior relationship with him was like." I asked.
"This is about his involvement in the harassment and assault cases, isn't it." Asahina-Senpai stated coldly.
There was no point in beating around the bush.
"It is. Were you already aware of his involvement?"
She shook her head solemnly.
"I only recently found out about it." She stated.
By my assumption, she likely found out on the first day of school and that was likely what led to the argument she had with him.
"Nagumo was the first person I ever met here; the first friend I ever made..." She said, staring outside the window.
"When I first met him, I saw a kind guy who prove to the whole school how great he really was. Then he joined the council and started growing a bit distant and then before I knew it all of sudden the whole year seemed to worship and follow after him."
"How did you find out, then?" I asked.
"I'd been suspicious for a while. Everyone involved in the cases seemed to be especially fearful of Nagumo. So I kept asking everyone about it but they just feigned ignorance. I wanted to pretend that everything was alright but then..."
She paused for a brief moment before taking a breath.
"On the first day back, I followed him after classes ended. I wanted to give him a gift, this matching amulet to the one I have, you see?" She said showing the small amulet to me.
"And I followed him to the back area of the school, where there aren't any cameras and I overheard him speaking to a group of second years."
"What did you hear?" I inquired.
"I heard him ask them to... attack one of the class 2-C students, Kimura Okuma."
"I see..."
Her expression hardened as she balled her fists into her lap.
"Hearing Miya- Nagumo speak like that, saying that. It... re-contextualised everything the past few months. It basically confirmed to me that he had a hand in everything."
"..." I stayed silent unsure of what to say.
"So I ran away and he must've heard me cause he chased after me, all the way to the school's entrance. We had an argument and I could hardly even recognise him anymore."
"So you walked away from him?"
She nodded.
"There's nothing that we can do. He has a chokehold on the entire year. The people assaulted and even the students who were punished for the cases are too scared to speak out against him." She stated.
"Do you want Nagumo to face punishments?" I asked, genuinely curious.
"Facing the consequences means he'd have to finally confront the severity of his actions. And if that meant the boy I first met could come back..."
Her eyes then drifted from outside the window and then towards my own.
"...Then yes, I do."
I let out a deep exhale, that's was more than everything I needed to hear.
Standing up I placed my chair back into place before bowing to her.
"Thank you for your time, Asahina-Senpai."
Obviously confused by my sudden exit she bid me a quick farewell.
"O-Oh, yeah. Bye Ayanokouji-Kun."
As I walked through the Keyaki mall with no place in mind, my thoughts were racing.
The grip he had on the second years extended so far that they would rather face the school's consequences then speak out against Nagumo.
Individually, Nagumo's power over a single student was worthless; they would have no reason to obey him.
But collectively, with the entire year group in his palm, he's created a system where the individual person is too afraid to turn against him because of his influence over the many other students and what he may order them to do to them.
The only way to destroy the system Nagumo has created is to convince even just a single person to turn against him. If even a single person does so than the others will be influenced to do the same; creating a domino effect that eventually brings Nagumo's web of control crashing down.
But the problem here lies in the fact that so long as Nagumo remains on campus and in classes, the second years will be to take any action against him.
Nagumo's accomplishments meant that the School can never bring itself to expel him but the potential of a temporary suspension was still possible.
Which brings me back to the first problem, that there was no way to gather any evidence of Nagumo's involvement beyond word of mouth. After all he had his lackeys dirty their hands for him.
My thoughts then drifted back to the encounter at the Circus.
The Circus.
If I managed to take pictures of Nagumo's actions there, a relatively decent case could be made to warrant his suspension. Even if it meant the evidence was technically forged in a way, but I was clutching at straws at this point.
'Why was I trying so hard for this?' I thought.
This matter barely concerned me, and beyond his animosity towards my friend, he wasn't exactly standing in the way of my goal of leading a normal life.
So why did I care?
Was it for some sense of justice? One that I had just suddenly gained in that Circus?
I shook my head.
I didn't really care about Nagumo facing justice, I knew better than that. I knew what this was really about.
This was about making him suffer.
This was about me punishing Nagumo.
This was about me delivering him his execution.
This was the part of me that I kept hidden away for as long as I've been here, living with the Matsuos. The part that I would never want them to see.
The part of myself that even the White Room never saw the true extent of.
This wasn't a reason for me to fulfil a false sense of justice.
Afterall, I had already found the real answer in that moment when I first awakened Mephistopheles.
This was just a reason, an excuse for me to return to what I once was; what I always will be.
A monster
~
~
~
Finally reaching the gates of the school I quickly pulled out my phone, finding the app I was looking for.
Instead of the usual question marks it now instead harboured a proper name.
'Meta-Nav'
Opening the app, I navigated myself to the menu seeing the first location at the top. Nagumo's 'Circus of Pride'.
Surveying my surroundings and confirming no-one was in sight I clicked on it, crossing over into the foreign world.
As the dim blue sky turned to a violet purple so too did the school as it morphed into the familiar Circus from earlier.
As soon as the surroundings changed, Immediately took note of the additional presence I felt within myself. As blue flames suddenly engulfed my figure, clouding me in the rebellious outfit the haunting figure of Mephistopheles then appeared by my side.
'My suspicions were correct it seems' I thought to myself.
As he then dispersed I took hold of my phone again, trying to back out of the Meta-Nav in an attempt to access the phone's camera.
I spent what felt like over half an hour fumbling with my phone in attempt to escape the app before Morgana's familiar voice entered my ears.
"You're back awfully early, and I don't think you can back out of that app."
Turning around I spotted his small, black-white figure, quickly approaching me.
"How come?" I asked
"That app was the way you just entered here, no?" I nodded. "Then that means it's serving as the anchor keeping you in this world. Essentially you can't exit the app without exiting this palace."
"I see..."
This meant if I wanted to go through with my plan of using photos of the Nagumo here with evidence, I would have to use a proper camera.
Something neither me or Eiichiro had.
"Where's your friend? Does you being here mean you're already ready to deal with Nagumo?" He asked.
"Eiichiro's already back home and not exactly. I came here to ask you a question, considering you appear to be an expert on this... realm."
"It's called the Metaverse. But thats beside the point, what did you need?" Morgana asked.
"Is there anyway to use this place and it's contents as evidence against Nagumo in the real world?" I asked.
I noticed a wide grin form it's way on Morgana's face.
"You won't need any evidence to persecute Nagumo in this world."
"What does that mean?" I asked. "Are you saying theres a way to make him confess outright? Would threatening him in this world cause him to confess in ours?"
"Close... but not quite."
He then slowly climbed atop the crates beside us as a means of gaining height over me. Only once he finally stood at the top, towering over me by a total of four centimetres did he finally speak again.
"What I mean is, that if we can manage to steal Nagumo's heart..."
He then paused to give a unique sense of suspense.
"...Then Nagumo will confess to his actions of his own free will."
What?
"I see you're still confused, my friend so let me explain." Morgana said patting my head with his tiny paws.
"A palace ruler's heart is essentially the manifestation of their desires. By stealing it we thereby remove all of Nagumo's desires and by extension, any reasons he has to justify his malicious actions."
I nodded, slowly beginning to grasp how this worked.
"And without any justification for his actions, Nagumo would be crushed under the guilt of his actions..." Morgana stated, his gaze staring intently into mine.
"...Causing him to confess to these actions." I concluded.
"Mhm, correct!" Morgana said aloud nodding his head acutely.
"So how do we steal this treasure?"
"W-Well... first you see..." He began. "We have to find it."
That much was pretty obvious, I would say.
"The treasure is the most valuable piece of the palace, meaning it's bound to be in a heavily guarded place."
"So we have to navigate through the whole palace to find it?" I asked.
He nodded.
Simple enough.
"You may not look it but I can tell you're severely exhausted. It makes sense considering everything that's happened today." Morgana stated.
As I took a step forwards, preparing to re-enter the circus Morgana stopped me, tugging at my coat.
"Don't push yourself. I'll stay here and scout out what I can, for now you go home and rest up. We can begin our proper exploration of the palace tomorrow."
"Are you sure?" I asked with slight concern.
"I survived quite a while here before you guys came along, thank you very much." He stated proudly, puffing his chest out slightly.
"But you ended up getting caught, didn't you?"
"T-Thats-!"
I let out a small sigh as a small smirk tugged at my lips.
"Ugh, Whatever! Just go away and get some rest already, you need it!" Morgana shouted as he shoved me out of the Circus's borders. After a certain threshold the area around me began shifting as the familiar school came back into view.
As reality began to set back I felt myself freeze as I turned around to see of Ichinose-San standing at the gates and staring off into the distance.
Earlier this morning, Nagumo appeared to be extremely close with her or at least wanted to be considering he referred to her by her first name. She was a first year student and therefore more susceptible to Nagumo's advances considering he could threaten her with the entire second year behind him.
I needed to be careful with what I say. I wasn't fully aware of what her character was like along with the extent of her connections to Nagumo.
Slowly approaching the girl, I gave a brief greeting.
"Hey." I said, turning the girl's attention to me and her eyes appearing to be slightly red.
Was she crying?
"O-Oh, Ayanokouji-Kun... I never did introduce myself did I? I'm Ichinose Honami." The girl said with a sad smile, one the complete opposite of what she wore when I first saw her.
"Nice to... properly meet you." I said.
As she currently was now, it would be unwise of me to try and extract any information from her. Her guard was currently up which meant if I wanted to obtain anything useful, I needed to first gain at least a little of her trust first. Which also meant that I had to save any extracting of information for a potential second conversation.
"Why were you crying?" I asked.
"W-Was I? I-I didn't even notice, haha! It's probably nothing." She tried to deflect.
I sighed.
"It's not good to hide your emotions." I stated. "Wearing a mask and pretending everything's okay will only get you so far in life, in the end it'll only cause you even more harm."
"...So what can I do?" The girl meekly asked.
"Tell someone about. Even just opening up to one person can make a world's difference."
"..."
I sighed to myself once more, preparing to walk away before the girl's voice stopped me.
"Can I... tell you?" She asked, her voice nearly a whisper.
I turned around to face her, with my best attempt at a smile.
"Sure."
Her eyes faced the ground as she fiddled with the fingers in her palms.
"It's kind of stupid, and you might even laugh about it..." She began.
"I promise I won't" I reassured her.
"Well I... I got rejected from the student council."
Damn.
I felt a wave of unease flood me.
Now I feel awkward just standing right next to her.
"I see... was being apart of the council an important goal for you? I asked, trying to cut the silence.
"Y-Yeah... something like that." She said staring off into the horizon.
"I was the student council president back in middle school you see..." She began as she raised her head to the sky with her eyes shut. "I wanted to join the council in this school as a way to... return to how things were back then."
I stole a glance towards her as her eyes remained shut. As if sensing my sudden gaze, her eyes shot open as her mood seemed to have lightened.
"A-Ah! Sorry that part probably doesn't matter to you now does it?" She quirked.
"Honami-Chan!~" Called out a voice, just far off from us.
Turning our attention behind us, I saw a blue-eyed girl with long, black hair tied up in a ponytail rapidly approaching us.
She looked frighteningly similar to Karuizawa-San, perhaps a long lost sibling?
"A-Ah, Mako-Chan..."
As the girl closed the distance between us we all stood in silence as 'Mako-Chan' took several glances between the both of us.
"Am I... interrupting something?" She playfully cooed
Before Ichinose could say anything however, I spoke on her behalf.
"Nothing of the sort. I was just asking her for some advice regarding... Horkita-San." I stated.
I needed to deflect her attention away from Ichinose, as a means to gain even a little of her trust. The best way to prevent any further questions from this girl from being about Ichinose right now would be to deflect the person of interest towards someone else.
My only regret in this moment was making that person Horikita-San.
Even despite my current intentions to make acquaintances with her, due in part to her brother's meddling, I knew I would likely grow to regret choosing her as the person in this moment.
Judging from just her initial tone I could tell that this girl, this 'Mako-Chan' was frighteningly similar to Karuizawa in the sense that they were both chatty people who very much enjoyed gossip.
Gossip of which I handed directly to her.
That palace really did do a number on me, didn't it?
If a rumour of this spreads around and eventually reaches Horikita-San... I could only imagine how she would feel and what she would do.
All chances of gaining of favour from the President would vanish and as for what she might do to me...
She would likely try and crucify me with a pair of compasses.
I felt a shiver run up my spine at the thought.
So, after a few seconds of silence I spoke once more in an attempt to prevent any of what I imagined from coming to fruition.
"...Because Ichinose-San appears to get along with people very well and I wanted her advice on how I can't prevent Horikita-San from antagonising me. After all I'll be sitting next to her for the next three years." I quickly added.
From my minimal interactions with Ichinose I had no way of knowing if any of what I said regarding her was true but judging from the reactions of her friend, she appeared to buy it at least.
"Okay... Oh! No wonder I thought you looked familiar! You're Ayanokouji right? The guy who played Sukiyaki on the piano?" The girl asked.
I breathed a slight sigh of relief, glad we were at least away from the topic of both Horikita and Ichinose now.
"Yeah, that's me." I dryly said.
"It was super cool!" The girl exclaimed "All of Class B came to the fair together and we were all stunned by the performance."
"Thanks..." I said
"I'm Amikura Mako, by the wa-" The girl began, inching closer towards me.
My attention was then torn away from the girl due to a much more violent vibration from my phone. Collecting it from my pocket, I opened it to find a rather interesting sight.
11 missed calls.
4 From Eiichiro.
7 From Matsuo.
With that, I realised this was probably my queue to finally make my way back home.
Glancing towards the two girls, I bid a quick apology before turning towards the direction of the train station.
I had a-lot of explaining to do to Eiichiro.
~
~
~
After a rather short earful from Matsuo, I made my way back up into my room only to find Eiichiro already there, sitting at my desk.
"Gonna fill me in now?"
"Indeed." I said as I dropped my things and sat on the bed, facing his direction.
I then proceeded to recount all of the details of the information I've gained the past few hours. From the agreement I formed with Horikita-Senpai, to what I learned from Morgana and then all the way to my brief enounter with Ichinose-San.
"You know, you have a weird skill for attracting trouble." He scoffed.
"I would never willingly cultivate such a skill, it would be more like a talent if anything." I stated.
"So we're exploring Nagumo's palace tomorrow after class, right?" He asked.
"Eiichiro..." I began, my face a more solemn and serious one as I stared deeply into his eyes. "Before I awakened Mephistopheles, I held next to no chance against Nagumo's employees. You and I both were on the precipise of death before he came to me."
I stood up from my bed as I leaned over the table right beside it, applying my weight onto my arm whilst looking down.
"If I was incapable of doing anything then, what makes you think you can do any better? You were incapacitated within a singular hit." I coldly stated.
"As you are right now, if you were to join us you would only be a liability. A tool Nagumo can use to force Morgana and I out of hiding from wherever we are in the palace." I said, turning my gaze back towards my friend as he remained silent.
This was for his own safety. If he followed us his significantly lower ability than us would slow and hinder us down.
I didn't want Eiichiro to die. It's why I had to keep him away from either Nagumo's hands.
This was proof that I had changed.
That's what I want to believe.
That's what I want so desperately to be true.
As Eiichiro stood by from his desk clutching at his phone he walked towards the door before turning towards me.
"If you don't let me follow you, then I'll go by myself." He said as he opened his phone to reveal to me a familiar red-eyed app.
'The Meta-Nav? How?' I thought.
"How do you-?"
"I found it on my phone shortly after I got home." He said as he leaned against the doorframe. "It doesn't take a genius to put two and two together."
He pulled the screen towards himself, tapping it a few times before showing it back to me again.
"When we first woke up, one of the first things you did was check your phone leading me to suspect some connection between that world and our phones. Then this app showed up mysteriously on my phone earlier and imagine my surprise when I opened it to find the profile of a 'Circus of Pride' with a certain Nagumo Miyabi's name listed under it."
I was honestly speechless in this moment.
It was a strange feeling, it wasn't exactly difficult to discern but I was still somewhat impressed.
Noticing Eiichiro's stern gaze I realised he wasn't budging.
"Eiichiro, you could die-"
"You could die, Kiyotaka!" He shouted, cutting me off. "I don't care how powerful you or that cat are with those off-brand stands you have, you won't be able to face all of the employees in Nagumo's palace by yourselves."
I remained silent for a moment before preparing to speak once more, to remind him of his current powerlessness in this situation but before I could speak he cut me off once more.
"And I don't care if I can't do anything!" He exclaimed. "I won't stand by whilst knowing you that could be in there, fighting for your life and potentially die at the smallest slip-up!"
A part of myself felt strangely happy; that there was someone who actually cared about my safety that much.
I then breathed a loud sigh, he wasn't going to change his mind.
His initial threat of going into the palace alone was obviously a bluff, even he wasn't so dumb as to go on a suicide march. But it was still possible that even if I told him not to, he would follow after us in the palace; using his phone as a means to enter.
"Fine. Stay by our sides at all times and hide at the first sign of danger, you're a sitting duck in any combat scenario." I stated.
Seemingly pleased by the outcome, Eiichiro's mood significantly shifted, bidding me an adieu as he left my room.
I still had a few or so hours before when I normally sleep so I decided to spend the remainder time of the day exercising in order return myself to my former physique.
The strength, agility and overall ability I had in the other world seemed to be significantly greater than what it was here. While I currently had no evidence of it, it wouldn't be unreasonable to assume that a better physique would help increase these effects.
Over the past year, my physique had decreased a fair amount from what it was initially. It made sense considering it was difficult trying to maintain any stable exercise regimen when I was stuck indoors.
The option was always there for me to simply request Matsuo to purchase proper equipment but I didn't want to trouble the man any more than I needed to. He had already done more than enough for me as is.
Now that I was allowed to go outside, however... there was no need to purchase any equipment.
I could simply acquire a gym membership.
My thoughts then continued to wander to variously miscellaneous topics as well as my future plans whilst I continued my pushups.
As the sky of dawn eventually turned black, I lied down in my bed and closed my eyes.
Drifting away into the dark abyss.
~
~
~
My eyes shot open to find I was surrounded again by these distantly familiar velvet blue walls.
"Welcome to the Velvet Room..." Came the familiarly snarly voice.
Bringing my torso up, I then stood up and slowly made my way to the iron bars as Igor continued speaking.
"It has been quite a while since we last spoke hasn't it, Trickster?" He asked to which I nodded. "I summoned you here today to resume our prior conversation. What are your thoughts? Are you growing accustomed to this place?" He asked.
I surely wasn't
"Who knows."
"A shame, but you will in time." He said as he readjusted his seating. "Your rehabilitation determines if ruin can be stopped. However, you can never dream of accomplishing this feat by yourself alone."
"So what do I need to do?" I asked.
It seemed my question amused him as he let out a light chuckle, clutching his hands together.
"Surround yourself with people you can grow trust; the bonds you form with them will give you the power to avert this crisis."
"So... people like Matsuo? And Eiichiro?" I enquired.
"Correct. But with that said, I am not advising the formation of superficial relationships." He began. "You should not form these bonds out of a soulless desire or necessity for more power but out of your own individual reason. They must lend you strength by their morals or faith of which you should do the same."
I nodded my head, understanding what he meant.
"You must influence these people as much as they should influence you. Create a lasting bond with them, such so that their names may never leave you..." He stated before staring intently into my eyes. "Just as the name Ayanokouji Kiyotaka will be remembered by them for as long as they live."
They... should influence me?
Before I could continue processing his words, Igor began speaking once more.
"The power you possess is known as a Persona. They are a reflection of ones heart." He stated before waving one of his hands. "To think the devil, Mephistopheles, would answer your calling is most fascinating." He stated whilst chuckling.
A sudden strike to my knee then reminded me of the existence of the two twins to my right and left respectively.
"Personas are the power of one's heart..." Justine began. "The stronger the bonds that surround you, the more power your personas will gain."
Caroline then delivered another swift strike, now to my hand, before speaking her part.
"In essence, you better rack that supposedly genius brain of yours and get people on your side. Do that and we'll help change into power."
I was confused by what the latter part of her words meant but I had little to any time to dwell on it as Igor resumed speaking.
"Indeed. You should be prepared to use even myself, or your ambitions will not come to fruition." Said the long-nosed man before he clad his hands together once more whilst chuckling. "We have a deal then..."
I could feel that Igor has high expectations of me...
It was then an unfamiliar voice rang in my head as time appeared to completely halt around me.
I am thou, thou art I.
Thou Hast acquired a new vow.
It shall become the wings of rebellion that breaketh thy chains of captivity.
With the birth of the Fool Persona, I have obtained the winds of blessing that shall lead to freedom and new power.
Everything seemed to resume once more with the conclusion of the voice's words.
'The Fool, hm?' I thought.
Turning towards Igor, I listened intently as he gave me his closing remarks.
"You will eventually grow to understand everything in due time..." He said, his gaze fixated on mine. "Until then, continue devoting yourself to your rehabilitation."
Caroline then swiftly turned to me.
"This meeting is now over! Get lost, Inmate!" She yelled.
As my surroundings turned dark I felt myself growing sleepier.
Slowly falling back once more into that dark abyss.
~
Authors Note :
And there concludes the first, real day. Again, more changes to the source material what with the way Nagumo operates along with his relationship with Ashina being much closer than in canon.
I put a larger emphasis on the confidant/social links in Igor's conversation because they're going to be a primary source for Kiyo's development over the course of the story and also because of the way I've allocated the individual arcana. I've already outlined who I have planned for the 23 social links, with one of them being Kiyo's 'The Fool' and another being an important repeating number.
Considering the vast number of COTE's cast I wasn't exactly to get everyone as involved in the story due to the limited number of arcana. Which lead to me making the decision to use one single arcana to more or less represent the miscellaneous students of ANHS; the characters who couldn't make the cut.
It also in a way, ties into Kiyo's arc and Igor's advice (Reflecting of a certain President's) of making his name known not only to a few select individuals but by the general ANHS community. Making his impact and legacy on the school, essentially.
This however, won't affect the individual social links as all the characters with their individual arcana will be ones that I feel would be able to bounce off well against Kiyo. Characters who compliment him well and more or less fit the meaning of the arcana assigned to them.
I don't really have anything else to comment on this chapter, so here's a really rough sketch I made to represent what I had in my mind when I was picturing Kiyo's Metaverse outfit along with Mephs beside him
I don't really have much to comment on in their designs that I haven't already said in the previous author notes so...
Anyways~ Thanks for reading, Au revoir