Chapter Text
The motion of the cart swayed Akira left to right, over and over. The world around him became a haze, covered with clouds filled with crowds that to him felt like white noise. Though it felt like it was just him and him alone in this carriage. He was alone with his thoughts. He was alone with the vast emptiness of his mind, which was something he was dreading for the longest time. He instead chooses to focus on his surroundings to escape his inevitable spiral. The windows, shining from the sun's harsh glare, fed the cart with a healthy glow of light. Maybe it was to stop the train from a depressed atmosphere, or stop any passenger from being in the unknown or maybe it was a bit of both. But to him, this felt refreshing. After months of darkness, to feel such a ray of light was energizing in some way.
After all, he had gone through so much and kept his head down for so long, it was nearly euphoric to feel something that wasn't constant melancholy. But now, a new feeling arose in his gut; anticipation. He was going to start a whole new year of his life in Tokyo, with some guy called Sojiro Sakura. According to him, Sakura was a family-friend's favorite barista. Sure, he didn't serve anything that wasn't curry or coffee but his palate was still so satisfying to the tongue that most customers left recommending him to everyone. Which in turn, let Kurusu's parents know about the barista and ended up being quite convenient for him thanks to his current situation. Now, he'd have a place to stay and a new school to go to. Shujin. Shujin Academy. A school notorious for its academic prowess and athleticism as a collective. Which meant that every student here was gifted in some way though the truth couldn't be said for our unremarkable, unlucky high school student.
Before he could continue with his internal monologue which was somehow set in the third person, the trains opened and blew a gust of air towards him. The illusion of him being alone for quite some time was shattered like a mirror immediately, and he was subsequently brought back into the reality of a packed train. The previous moment of silence and tranquility had been abruptly interrupted by the smell of a bustling area. It was a concoction of cologne, the smell of jackets rubbing together and overused hand-sanitizer which people rubbed on to avoid catching some sort of illness. It didn't irritate him but he definitely wanted to get out of there as soon as possible.
He eagerly shuffled in between the gaps of the crowd and finally got off the train, where he was met by another breeze but this time, it was from the train leaving. At last, he was finally off of that thing. Now all that Akira wanted was to meet his new caretaker and fall into some sort of bed. He didn't care if it would be some sort of luxurious king-sized bed or a humble little couch, his body craved for rest and was going to fail him if he didn't serve what his body needed. By now, he was too tired to do anything but walk and daydream. Apparently, he was too dazed to realize that there was a person about to collide into him.
Time seemed to have sped up exponentially and he didn't have any time to react, but the impact left him shocked and roped him back into reality.
The person he bumped into had to do a quick double-take and stumbled back a couple of feet but left it at that due to how crowded the place was.
He had slightly messy chocolate brown hair that reached his shoulders and soft yet vibrant red eyes. If you looked closely enough, you could see the faintest of freckles tickle his face and how surprisingly smooth his skin was. He also wore a uniform which consisted of a tan peacoat with black buttons, striped black and white tie, black pants, black gloves and black loafers. Everything contrasted well, very nicely. Black and white, black and white. For a high schooler, his appearance was remarkably professional. One might say that it was princely, even.
It was a shame that his face was wrinkled slightly from him furrowing his eyebrows. The boy winced as he glanced at the perpetrator.
It was just a regular Shujin kid.
“My apologies..” He dismissed as he continued making his way, a scented aroma following him. One that smelled of cologne though with the faintest hint of maple. Something about it bugged Akira in the strangest way. It wasn’t even negative, but it definitely piqued his interest.
With this, the school-boy mysteriously disappeared into the bustling sea of people.
Akira simply glanced back to find him but to no avail. He continued his way towards his destination until he finally reached the street of Yongen-Jaya.
The street wasn’t as bustling as how he thought it would be but regardless, this was a lot livelier than his hometown. An invisible force pulled him to an alleyway, which contained a couple of shops but one that stuck out was a nifty, homemade little store. The sign was a dull shade of vermillion and the windows were foggy beyond belief; if you wrote something on the glass, it would remain there for days.
He remembered his parents saying that he worked in a coffee shop and walked towards the destination, finally arriving at his one place of solace. Now, he could finally rest and sleep his troubles away.
Akira gently swung the door open, which was accompanied by a sweet little bell which rang - alerting everyone. Which included a man in his late 40s or 50s, with wrinkles covering his face. His hairline was receding and a scruffy sideburn which connected to his bushy beard. He sported a pink collared shirt with an apron, surprisingly clean and ironed which aired an exuberance of cleanliness towards him.
The man turned his head towards the student and eyed him up and down, clearly waiting for him to speak his business or order. Kurusu got the hint and spoke up,
“Are you Sojiro Sakura?”
He nodded, “Yeah, that’s me. You must be the kid that they were talking about..” (in the game sakura says to himself “they did say it was today” and was slightly bothered by his presence)
Sojiro sighed quietly and placed a hand in his pocket, and stood up from his stool which was placed out and faced the customers. The chair swiveled and creaked slightly. He stretched his neck towards the direction of the stairs behind the last set of chairs. Akira got the hint and followed.
Above the creaky stairs was an attic, laid bare yet cluttered to the point of ridiculousness. Dust had traveled in groups and rubbish was scattered everywhere. Unnecessary items like broken bicycles and boxes which gave off a weird yet comforting feeling. There was a solemn bed which sat by the window and was only covered by a thin and puffed out blanket with a simple white pillow.
“You better appreciate what I went through to get you to sleep here, I at least provided a bed and sheets.” Sojiro remarked, placing a hand on his worn out hip. Akira wasn’t complaining yet the barista got a feeling that he was going to be an ungrateful one.
Boy, was he going to be wrong.
Akira had no choice but to mutter a small ‘thank you’ and quietly sat down on his new bed.
“Oh and,” Sojiro spoke up, “you’ll be attending Shujin Academy. You’ll be starting tomorrow.”
He remembered his internal monologue from before about Shujin, but hearing it from someone else sounded different. It sounded more like a punishment rather than a new beginning, a consequence from doing something wrong. Which was preposterous since all that Akira had done was protect an innocent bystander from being taken advantage of.
He stared at his hands and twiddled his thumbs, most of what Sojiro was saying was going in one ear and out of the other. It wasn’t like he wasn’t listening but he was just only letting the important information in.
“Do you understand?” He asked, which had gotten the other’s attention.
“Yes.” He lied. And with this fib, the barista made his way down the stairs and back to his job and back to his usual group of elderly customers. Sojiro didn’t completely buy that he understood but at this point, he didn’t care. So long as the kid doesn’t cause him trouble and understands the important parts - they’ll get along swimmingly.
Well, as swimmingly as two people forced to interact with each other. Which is just the bare minimum of tolerating each other.
Kurusu laid his body back, waves of pressure washing away as he relaxed for the first time in a long while. His chest heaved as he finally exhaled all of his problems away and his back nestling into the puffed up, mauve covers. The bed wasn’t too luxurious but at this point, felt like a cloud to him.
His eyes fluttered between the state of being awake and asleep as his mind tried to calm down. It was clear how much of a toll his situation was taking on him as his eyelids were fighting to stay awake, being merely tickled by the strands of dark hair that covered his eyebrows.
At last, he succumbed to his desire to sleep and finally closed his eyes. He was ready to kiss today goodbye and welcome tomorrow with welcoming arms.
.
Akira awoke to the faint smell of curry and his caretaker yelling out his name. It took him a second to recognise his surroundings but he finally familiarised himself. He’s at his new home for the year.
“Kurusu. Get changed into your uniform and get down here.”
Akira was reluctant but obliged. He slipped into his Shujin uniform and made his way down the wooden steps where he was greeted by no customers and only Sojiro, who was standing behind the counter with a plate of curry and a cup of water in front of him.
The student took the hint to take a seat and sat himself down on the stool which was directly opposite from the barista. The scent of the curry now permeated throughout the store and you could even tell which spices were used in it. Cumin, paprika, cinnamon, etc.
“Here,” Sakura gestured to the plate, “Eat up. I can at least give you breakfast.”
Once again, Akira muttered a small thank you before digging into his meal. He had to suppress his reaction to his food. It tasted extraordinary. It was unlike any other plate of curry he’d ever had. He finished it in less than three minutes before downing the cup of ice cold water. Without even looking, the Shujin student could already guess that Sojiro had a smug grin on his face. Which was proven exactly right when he looked up to thank him once again.
He smirked, “Seemed like you enjoyed that.”
Akira nodded. He hoisted on his school messenger bag and stood up from his stool.
Now, his true journey really began.
-
The radio inside the car only produced white noise to Akira. It didn’t really mean anything since he wasn’t really paying attention to anything aside from the brisk movements of the pedestrians on his left. It was just speech and speech about mental shutdowns, trains collapsing, victims, etc. It wasn't like he didn’t care at all, but he was too entranced in his mind-space to even really think about anything other than Shujin.
Sojiro, however, was extremely attentive to what was going on as he was concerned with the situations going around Tokyo. First was the train collapsing in Shibuya, then it was a regular politician somehow collapsing on the road with no internal or external wounds. It was sickening at how this was all going on and no one did anything to help.
His thought-train was halted to a stop as he realized that he was nearing the school’s entrance by at least half a kilometer.
“C’mon.” Sojiro ushered, “Get out of the car, we need to get off here.”
The raven haired student diligently did as told and unbuckled his seatbelt and left the car, making sure to slam the door locked shut. From the looks of it, Shujin Academy looked like a regular old school - which he was grateful for as the last thing that he needed was something to complicate his life even further. He’s just here to stay for a year, behave and leave. That’s it.
Or so he thought.
By the time that they arrived into the office, Kurusu and Sojiro were met by two faculty members. One, with a very rotund build: to the point where his neck wasn’t visible, was sat in the swivel chair behind a neatly formed desk while another, much slimmer and a woman with casual fashion - stood by him with her shoulders as stiff as a statue.
“I am Principal Kobayakawa,” The man announced, locking his fingers together and cracking his knuckles.
Kobayakawa was an overweight and bald middle-aged man. He wore a light beige suit, with a white undershirt and a flashy little red bow tie which stood out in contrast to his other colours like browns and whites. It seemed like his eyebrows were constantly furrowed, which gave off the impression that he was constantly angry and annoyed.
Words of chatter only flew above Kurusu’s head as the adults continued talking. He was so used to staying silent while the grown-ups were discussing trivial matters. After all, it wasn’t his place to speak - only nod and stay silent.
“Do you understand, Kurusu?” Once more, his train of thought was interrupted by a voice. At this point, this was starting to become a bit of a grievance Akira had with the world, along with many.
“Yes.” He automatically responded, not even understanding what the question was.
It took lots of signing, lots of discussion and lots of warnings for Sojiro and Akira to finally leave the office. For a split second, the raven haired boy could’ve sworn that he was given a pink pamphlet with a woman as a maid being drawn on it - to which, the teacher who called herself Kawakami, quickly hid it and stashed it inside her pocket.
Nevertheless, they were finished with their business and it was finally time to head on home. From tomorrow onwards, Akira Kurusu will officially start living as a quiet, honourable student who’ll behave and get through his probation.
At least, that’s what the shallow part of his mind wanted. Deep down in his subconscious, he wanted to scream, to yell and fight. Instead of staying silent, subconsciously he wanted to live how he genuinely wanted to rather than submit to the adults’ wills. Why was he painted as a criminal? Why was he being treated as if he was an unstable bomb, ready to blow?
It really pissed him off but what could he do? He had no power.
At last, the two returned back to the café but Akira was left alone quickly as Sojiro went back to his own house. Unlike him, Sojiro had an actual place that he could go back to where he permanently stayed. In the juvenile’s eyes, Sojiro Sakura was an incredibly lucky man. There weren’t any expectations on him nor people condemning him 24/7. But he shook his head and internally told himself to stop thinking and just go to bed.
‘Starting tomorrow.. I’ll be attending Shujin.’ He thought against his will as he was getting ready for bed. In less than a moment, Akira had finally laid down and hugged the blanket closely. Twilight in April was far too cruel to those without proper heating so thanks to the blanket, he was able to get the bare minimum amount of warmth needed to peacefully sleep.
But he didn’t get his wish.
His thoughts were racing in his mind, as if to surpass each other. His mind wandered to the state of his room. Thankfully, just before he went to bed, he deep cleaned it as much as he could and it wasn’t looking as cluttered as before. But what got his attention was the pack of cards which were sitting on the desk by his feet, taunting him.
It was a gift from his parents. Maybe it was some sick, twisted attempt at an apology for sending him away so he wouldn’t get bored. But who cares? He doesn’t hold much hostility towards his parents, at least not as much as he should have. Regardless, something about the deck’s intricate design made the cogs in his mind stary turning.
There was no doubt that it was beautiful, but a part of it was extremely ominous. The deck was a bright shade of red with four small, black dotted flowers on each corner. But the thing that stood out to him was the skull in the middle of the deck, wearing a decorated black and white mask that covered its eyes.
It was almost enticing to stare at, after all, it looked much more impressive than the small poker tournament trophies that he had won in his first year in high school. They were made of fake gold, of course, with a messily carved drawing of dies on the nameplate which read,
‘Kurusu Akira ; Winner of the Yasoinaba Poker Games’
Remembering this brought a small smile to his face, but said smile felt a little strained as he remembered that his muscles were too relaxed to even give a grin. Briefly allowing his mind to quickly reminisce about the silver bike ring he had during his childhood and remembered that he placed it under his pillow just before laying down. His eyelids grew heavier and heavier as reality slipped from underneath him and he fell into a deep sleep, one that he craved for what felt like years.