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“Time’s up,” one of the wardens said while a bell rang loudly and harshly somewhere Akira couldn’t see, “Now hurry up and go back to sleep.”
The world at the edges of Akira’s vision began to blur against his will. Akira blinked, fighting against the dizziness suddenly lurching into his being. He grabbed the bars of his cell, glaring at the man with the long nose who had spoke of “fate” and “rehabilitation” and things that made no sense.
“Let me out of here!” He yelled, “I’m not doing anything for you!” The man only laughed, a deep, throaty chuckle, as Akira’s vision continued to blur and his mind became foggier. Further away.
The other small warden sighed and took out a baton, smacking Akira’s hand with it using a force Akira could have never imagined a child having. He cried out in pain and stumbled back, tripping over his own chains. He fell backwards, his vision going white. The sound of bells ringing and a woman singing and the man with the long nose laughing filled his ears as he went.
The sounds abruptly cut out. Instead of a cold, hard ground, Akira landed on a worn mattress. He blinked, his vision returning to normal. At first, he stayed on edge as an unfamiliar room began to form as his vision adjusted to the darkness. But then, he realized he was back in the attic of LeBlanc. Still unused to this being his new living space. If you could call it that. He racing heart slowed down, and he took a deep breath.
What a strange dream. He rubbed his face. Well, figures. He didn’t know how he would ever get comfortable in a place like this enough to have pleasant dreams.
He closed his eyes, but after that dream he was wide awake and completely on edge. He knew he should get some sleep for his first day of school tomorrow - he did not want to show up late and leave a bad impression. He already knew he would have the teachers on his back, watching his every move, but maybe he could keep his record hidden long enough to make some friends in the new school. Come up with some good excuse for transferring, like… his parents were traveling overseas and he was staying with family in Tokyo until they came back.
Sojiro-san’s crotchety face popped into Akira’s mind. No, that would never work. No one would believe they were related.
Besides, someone who’s related to you doesn’t stick you in the attic of their restaurant. Honestly, this place might as well have been the strange blue prison of his dreams. The air was stale up here, and though he had dusted he still felt like he was inhaling it every time he took a breath. The floors and the ceiling both creaked every few moments as the place shifted, which kept Akira even more on edge. Outside, in the distance, he heard cars honking their horns at each other nonstop, and people walking outside speaking to each other in low voices.
Did no one ever sleep in Tokyo?
Giving up, Akira sat up and checked his phone for the time. It was just past midnight. And, there was the app again. Why. Akira swiftly deleted it, seriously considering if he should take it into some shop or something - when he thought he saw something move in the corner of his eye.
He eyes shot up from his phone to where he saw the shadow. He held his breath, staring into the darkness for any signs of movement. Nothing. Akira let out his breath. He was being paranoid. He was in a new place, and he wasn’t used to his surroundings yet. There was nothing there.
He saw movement on the stairs.
Akira sucked in through his nose. His heart rate skyrocketed. Whatever movement he thought he saw was gone, around the corner of the stairs into the main area of LeBlanc - but he knew he saw it. Something.
Maybe there were rats in this place…? Akira shivered at the thought. Does Tokyo let a restaurant run with rats?
He honestly wouldn’t be surprised. But, what he saw looked way too big to be a rat. Then again, he thought he read something once about Tokyo having giant rats.
And… now that he was looking, there seemed to be something else. Some sort of light coming through from downstairs. He could see it on the stairway, and through the cracks of the floor. He hadn’t seen it at first, but as his eyes adjusted to the darkness he could definitely tell it was there. What on earth could be making that light?
Well, he couldn’t just sit there wondering about it. He knew what he saw, and if a giant glowing rat destroyed LeBlanc, Akira was sure Sojiro would hold him accountable. He couldn’t have his first night in Tokyo be his last night. He knew he saw a golf club earlier when he was cleaning the attic, so he slowly stood from his bed, trying his best not to let the old springs make a sound. He tiptoed across the attic, wincing at every creaking floor board. He grabbed the golf club and slowly made his way down the stairs, armed for battle.
From his spot on the stairs he peaked down to LeBlanc’s first floor. What he saw made his heart leap out of his chest, and made him want to run back up the attic stairs as quickly as possible.
There was someone down there.
They sat on one of the stools at the counter of LeBlanc, lazily looking around as though they were a customer waiting for someone to serve them. A pair of headphones covered his ears attached to an incredibly old MP3 player around their neck. The music it played sounded warped and broken, looping the same beat over and over like a damaged record that wasn’t quite on the player correctly. The person didn’t seem to notice Akira watching them from the stairs just yet, judging from how they tapped the counter impatiently. Though, their taps made no sound.
Akira wasn’t sure what to make of this. He was sure Sojiro had locked the door when he had left, the man had made that clear and Akira had triple checked before he went to sleep. From what he could tell, though, the door didn’t look like it was broken into. The sign was still flipped to closed, too. But, the person sitting in LeBlanc didn’t look like an intruder. In fact, he looked like a student. He was wearing a school uniform, and had a club band spelling S.E.E.S. on his forearm.
A student could intentionally break into a café, Akira supposed, but why would they do that in their uniform?
There was also an odd sensation Akira got as he stared at the boy. If he looked at him straight on, it was as though his vision became a bit fuzzy. Either he was tired, or he needed to switch out his fake glasses for real ones. Not even squinting, or blinking rapidly, fixed it. He also looked for the source of the glowing, thinking it might have been the fridge, but it was closed tight. In fact, it seemed like the light was coming from the boy himself.
Finally Akira, still completely unsure what to do, cleared his throat, and walked the rest of the way downstairs. The boy turned to him lazily, not even surprised at the stance Akira was taking.
“Finally,” the boy said. His voice was oddly echoed, like Akira was hearing it through a tunnel. “Were you planning on keeping me waiting here?”
Akira blinked, confused. Did the boy think he was a waiter or something…? “Um…” Akira said, holding out his club in a defensive stance, “…Sorry, but we’re closed right now…”
“Oh, I’m not here for coffee,” the boy said dismissively. And vaguely.
“…Can I help you then?” Akira asked. He lowered his golf club, “Do you know the owner? He’s not here right now, but I can take a message-“
“No,” the boy interrupted. He pushed himself off the stool and walked towards Akira. There was no… tangibility about the way he moved, though. The seat didn’t turn when he pushed against it, and the floor didn’t creak when he walked over it. Like he weighed nothing.
The boy stopped, inches from Akira, simply staring at him. His blue hair covered one of his eyes, the other seemed to be contemplating as it watched Akira’s reactions with mild interest.
Akira shifted uncomfortably under his gaze, “Look, I’m sorry, but I don’t know-“
“I’m here for you,” the boy said.
“M-me?” Akira responded.
“Yes,” the boy nodded, “You want help, don’t you?”
“Help? With what?”
“With your fate,” the boy responded flatly.
Akira’s heart stopped. That… sounded an awful lot like the vivid dream he had had. That couldn’t have been a coincidence. How did this stranger now about that? “Excuse me…?” Akira said blankly.
The boy groaned, a strange sound through the echoed filter of his voice, “Why do you have to make it so difficult? Fine, then, I’ll tell it to you plainly. You’re going to be going through a lot in the coming future, Akira Kurusu. And you’ll feel powerless for a lot of it. But there’s nothing to be done. Time waits for no one, and it’s chosen you to be a bastard to. But that’s what I’m here for. Took me a while to get through to you, too. Guess your head is thicker than Mr. Goody-Two-Shoes. But from one Fool to another, I’d take all the help I can get if I were you.”
Akira blinked, staring at the boy with wide eyes. His heart beat heavily in his chest, “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he finally said, “How do you know my name? Who are you?”
The boy sighed, “You ask a lot of questions,” he said, annoyance in his voice, “I knew this would happen. This better not end up like last time. Well, guess that’s on me for being idiotic enough to do this again. Whatever. Don’t worry about who I am. I’m nobody. Worry about who you are. No one can escape time. It delivers us all to the same end. But maybe, you can keep that end from coming a little bit longer,” the boy stared at Akira a little longer. Finally, he smirked, “I’ll be watching you,” he said.
Akira blinked once again, and the boy was gone.
Akira felt lightheaded.
Was this what they meant when they said City pollution messed with your head?
He must have been dreaming again. That was the only explanation. There was no way a boy randomly vanished out of his sight like some sort of gho-
Nope. Don’t even think about saying the word. That’s how positive Akira was that that wasn’t the case.
He went back to bed, chanting over in over in his head, this is a dream. That wasn’t real. This is a dream. That wasn’t real... until he finally fell asleep, the boy’s voice still echoing in his head.
~The next day~
Akira went downstairs, ready for his first day of school, but incredibly tired. He kept waking up all throughout the night, jumping at every sound he heard, from the loudest car horn to the quietest creak in the stairs. He didn’t get any more unexpected visitors that night, which was good, but as a result he was exhausted. It was tough enough sleeping in a new place in a new city way too big for him to comprehend, but everything he had experienced the night before left him incredibly on edge.
But there was no way this place was haunted. There was no way.
As he ate the breakfast Sojiro had offered him, staring deep into the sauce of the curry and trying hard to wake himself up and clear his head, the man cleared his throat.
“Kid, you okay? You look dead. You gonna make it to school okay on your own? I’m not driving you a second time.”
“I’ll be fine, thank you, sir,” Akira said. He paused, contemplating whether he should say what’s on his mind, but he lost the right to the decision when Sojiro raised an eyebrow at him expectantly. Akira opened his mouth, “Sojiro-san, if you don’t mind me asking… is this place haunted?”
“What?” Sojiro asked, “What are you talking about? Don’t be ridiculous.”
“Right. Right. Sorry, sir. I’ll be heading to school now. Thank you very much for the food, sir.”
Akira quickly ended the conversation and grabbed his stuff, heading out before he made a fool of himself any further. He shook his head as the cool morning air met his lungs.
It was probably a dream. He’s probably stressed from the court case, and the probation, and the move, and the new school, and he just needed some rest.
No more weird prison dreams with long-nosed wardens or ghost boys with blue hair warning him about his fate. Besides, he was just going to school.
What was the worst that could happen?