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The second Wednesday of the month usually marks the time where people pack their own lunches and avoid the cafeteria, on account of the head chef having free reign on that day to try her “experimental” dishes.
(To the chef’s credit, she’s been at the school for 50 years and is otherwise a talented cook when she doesn’t get the urge to experiment and is just about the sweetest woman ever, so no one has the heart to tell her everyone’s taken to calling her original concoctions Mystery Food X after a teacher slipped up and called it that.)
There are very few exceptions, one of them being Yusuke, who’s diet of generally anything he can find that’s edible has left him with an iron stomach.
As such, Yusuke’s a little surprised to see someone else there when he gets to the cafeteria.
“Oh, hello! Did I miss something?” A girl with close-cropped white hair asks. “No one else is here.”
“No, most people just avoid the cafeteria on these days,” Yusuke explains. “If you don’t mind me asking, are you one of the Italian exchange students?”
“Yes!” she says, sticking out her hand. “Maria Lucrezia Fiore.”
Yusuke opens his mouth to speak but she keeps going.
“And it’s either Maria Lucrezia or just Lucrezia, I never go by Maria, that’s my oldest sister. She’s Maria Teresa but she goes by Maria, my second oldest is Maria Alessia, my younger sister is Maria Sofia, we’re all Marias, so only Maria Teresa answers to Maria.”
“I’ll keep that in mind,” Yusuke says. “I’m Yusuke Kitagawa, a third year student in the art department. You?”
“Art as well, though I’m with the second years.”
“Well it’s a pleasure to meet you, Fiore-san.”
“Please, call me Maria Lucrezia at least.”
“If you insist. Are you in the joint art show?”
While the Italian students were at Kosei, they were challenged to try a painting inspired by a Japanese artist, while the Japanese students were challenged to try a painting inspired by an Italian artist.
The best pieces from each year were going to be on display in a few weeks, along with some cross-cultural music and poetry reading, at a farewell gala the night before the exchange students leave.
“Yes! You as well?”
Yusuke nods. “I wish I had had more time to touch up the piece, but the professor approved of it anyway so there’s nothing I can do about it.”
“Great! I’m excited to see it. Who did you base yours on anyway? I picked Taikan.”
“I decided to go out of my comfort zone and try something inspired by Boccioni.”
“Bella, bella! I’m sure it’s wonderful.”
“Thank you,” Yusuke says.
“Kitagawa-kun!” The head chef says. “Good to see you! And Fiore-san, I’m so happy you’re here! I’m hoping you two can tell me what you think. I want to try and create some fusion cuisine for the gala, so I was hoping to get student feedback.”
The head chef takes them back to the kitchen and plates them… well it looks like sushi. However instead of rice the chef used spaghetti and made a dip for pasta sauce.
Yusuke takes a bite, and is a little caught off that the spaghetti is warm.
But he never turns down free food, so he gobbles it up.
“Ah! Delicious!” Maria Lucrezia says.
“Yes, thank you for the meal,” Yusuke says.
“I’m glad you think so, but do you think the other students will like it?” The head chef asks.
“Probably not,” Yusuke says bluntly. “The consistency is very strange.”
“I think it’s great! It kind of feels like it’s crawling down my throat on it’s own!” Maria Lucrezia says. Then she thinks for a bit, “though my brother thinks all my favorite foods are gross, so I guess I can’t speak for anyone else.”
“Well, thank you for your honesty. I just can’t stand the thought of making regular hors d'oeuvres for the gala! I mean it’s a celebration of two cultures coming together! That should be included in the food.”
“Well Italy and Japan have to have a lot of culinary staples that overlap,” Yusuke suggests. “I mean they’re both more or less surrounded by the ocean, at the very least they have to fish.”
“Yes! Seabass, cod, swordfish!” Maria Lucrezia says. “So maybe you can do sushi the way they’d make it if it originated in Italy! So use orzo instead of rice or something!” She gasps. “Oh or you can make a Japanese Timpano!”
The head chef nods thoughtfully. “Yes, yes, I must consider this. Both of you, out!”
She shoves them out of the kitchen.
“It’s good to see someone passionate about food!” Maria Lucrezia says. “So many people think of it as just something to eat.”
“Well it is,” Yusuke says. “I do agree that it’s nice to take the time to savor your food, but good food made with care isn’t always available.”
Saying that makes Yusuke miss Leblanc. He hasn’t been in awhile.
Futaba’s busy enjoying her school life to the fullest, and Ren’s back home, so neither of them have invited him over and he can’t go on his own. Otherwise he’d be taking advantage of Boss’s hospitality.
His stomach aches for the warm curry, though.
“That’s such a shame.”
Maria Lucrezia’s words shake Yusuke from his thoughts.
“Getting to enjoy food you like is important! It’s a part of being alive, no?”
“I couldn’t agree more,” Yusuke says.
Yusuke stares at the piece he submitted for the Gala. Their teacher is keeping it in her office since too often students will try to edit or touch up already submitted works, but he can see it through the window.
Honestly, he doesn’t know if he wants to touch it up or take the katana he hasn’t touched since February and slice through the canvas.
He’d told his teacher he was inspired by Umberto Boccioni and the Futurist movement, but that was a lie.
In reality futurism happened to be well suited to capturing the spirit of the Phantom Thieves. The futurists had declared:
“We shall sing the great masses shaken with work, pleasure, or rebellion; we shall sing the multicolored and polyphonic tidal waves of revolution in the modern metropolis.”
And how could Yusuke resist?
The form, light, and dynamism of Boccioni’s artwork reminded Yusuke of his friends, who, even outside of the Metaverse, are leaping forward into the future.
And here he is. Still doing the same thing he’s always done.
Everyone’s off trying new things, pushing themselves to grow and be better than they were, and Yusuke doesn’t even know where to start.
He does know he misses them.
But at the same time, he can’t distract them, clinging to them just because he feels lost.
Yusuke doesn’t know how he got volunteered to be on the planning committee for the gala, he just knows he’s here.
Maria Lucrezia’s there too, and she instantly invites him over to sit between her and a boy who must be her brother.
“Ok, so we’ll need to split into groups to do tasks. Since some of you joined late you’ll be assigned, and— Kitagawa and Fiore-san, you’re on flier duty.”
“Huh? But I heard there was an option for arranging the food that was still open!” Maria Lucrezia says.
“You’ll just encourage the chef to get experimental,” her brother says. “Not all of us can eat trash like you two.”
The head of the committee looks sheepish, confirming that it’s exactly as the brother said, and continues on with the assignments.
“I’m sorry for my brother’s rudeness,” Maria Lucrezia whispers. “This is Benito.”
“Hello. Nice to meet you,” Yusuke says, offering his hand.
Benito simply glares at it. “Don’t cause trouble for my sister, alright?”
Maria Lucrezia rolls her eyes. “Yes, yes, very helpful Beni.”
“I’m serious, Lucrezia. I’ve heard about him, he’s the weird one. Think about it, how out there does he have to be to be weird to the eccentrics at this school.”
“I can hear you,” Yusuke says.
“I know.” Benito turns to his sister. “He doesn’t even have any friends despite being about to graduate.”
“I have friends,” Yusuke interjects.
“No you don’t.”
“Yes I do, they just all go to other schools.”
Benito rolls his eyes. “You can’t come up with a better lie?”
“Why would that be a lie? There are lots of schools in Tokyo.”
“Sure but if every single one of your friends goes to another school, and no one else has heard of them, that’s a lie.”
“Hifumi Togo’s met one of my friends.”
“Oh, the shogi prodigy?” Benito fake gasps. “You mean the one currently at a tournament in Nagoya and thus can’t verify that you have friends?”
Yusuke rolls his eyes and pulls open his sketchbook. “Think what you will.” What does he care if this random exchange student believes Yusuke’s friends exist?
“We can meet them at the gala!” Maria Lucrezia says. “We’re the Flier Squad! So we’ll make sure they know about it!”
Yusuke blinks. “If they can come.”
Benito scoffs. “Oh sure, they’re all going to be busy, right? How convenient.”
Yusuke’s grip on his notebook tightens. “You never know.”
Yusuke stares at his phone as people walk past him in the underground passageway.
There’s no point in asking Ren, Ann, and Ryuji since they can’t make it out to Tokyo. Futaba, Haru, and Makoto will be around, and maybe it’d be worth asking Sumire as well on the off chance she doesn’t have a gymnastics meet?
He sends a picture of the flier to each of them.
Yusuke: My work is going to be on display, would you like to come?
There. That didn’t sound desperate. He’d hate for them to drop plans to come out of pity.
The task done, he puts his phone in his pocket, and tries to focus on watching the people passing by. Normally he’d work on capturing individual people, but since he’s on a bit of a futurism kick, he tries to capture the movement of the crowd itself, and the leaving, breathing bustling of the subway.
He’s almost in the zone when his phone buzzes, at which point Yusuke practically drops his sketchbook to drop his phone.
4 New Messages.
Yusuke takes a deep breath and checks them
Futaba: Sry, next Friday I’m in a gaming competition. Tell me about it after tho! Is there an award? Kick ass!
Makoto: I’ll be in a study group prepping for a big test, I’m so sorry. Will you send pictures?
Haru: Oh no, I’ll be at a business dinner, you must tell me when the next one is though. I’m sorry!
Sumire : Gah! I’m so sorry Kitagawa-senpai! I’ve got the regional finals that day and I won’t be back until late. I might be able to make it before the end?
Yusuke quickly texts “don’t worry about it” to each of them and leans back against the wall.
Yusuke turns off his phone and slips it back into his pocket. This is fine. It’s not like it’s a show with anything on the line. He’s just showing off a piece that’s already been recognized.
And it’s not like he needs them there to show up some jerk who’ll be back in Italy the next day.
No, he’s being ridiculous. They all have things on the line, he doesn’t. This won’t affect his grade, or his chances of getting into college, or anything.
They have more important things to do because they’re actually taking risks , Yusuke thinks to himself.
Because they’re putting themselves out there and trying things, while Yusuke remains falling back on what he’s always been good at. On what everyone’s always expected him to do.
He’s in place and they’re flying forward.
Yusuke realizes some people are staring at him, and it’s because he’s shaking. He packs up his bag and goes.
No matter how sorry he feels for himself, it doesn’t change the fact that it doesn’t matter his friends can’t come to the gala.
“Please come to Kosei High’s first Biennial Cross Cultural Gala! There will be food, music, and artwork on display!” Maria Lucrezia says.
Every day after school for the last week and a half, Yusuke and Maria Lucrezia have been handing out fliers in different neighborhoods near the school. They really want a large turnout from the local community.
Yusuke’s not sure how many people will actually come, but they have been taking a lot of fliers at least, which is the important part on their end.
“Yo! Inari!” Yusuke turns and spots Futaba running towards him. “Whatcha doing?”
“Handing out fliers,” Yusuke explains, showing her one.
“Oh yeah! The thingie! I’m sure it’ll be cool,” Futaba says. “What’ve you been up to, prepping for this?”
“Yes, pretty much.” We both know I never have anything else to do , is the part Yusuke bites back. He cannot draw his friends into his problems.
“You ok?” Futaba asks. “You eating? Because you’re always welcome at Leblanc.”
“Yes, everything’s fine,” Yusuke says.
“Sakura-san!”
A boy and a girl Yusuke doesn’t recognize run up to Futaba.
“Oh! Hey guys, this is my friend Inari, I told you about him. Inari, this is Aoyagi and Kusanagi, they’re who I’m entering the gaming tournament with. We’re here to practice at the arcade.”
“Nice to meet you both,” Yusuke says. They’re not even wearing Shujin uniforms, so Futaba’s managed to make friends on her own. She never could have done that a year ago.
The swirl of pride in Yusuke’s stomach is weighed down by a tinge of jealousy. Look at how far Futaba’s come, and yet here he is.
“Are you ok?” Futaba asks.
“I’m fine!” He won’t tarnish her moment with his own issues. “I have to keep handing out fliers, I’ll see you around.”
Yusuke runs off before Futaba can say anything, and almost knocks over Maria Lucrezia.
“Oh, there you are, Yusuke-sanpai!”
“ Senpai ,” he corrects her.
“Right, sorry! Sen pai. A month in Japan and I’m still not getting it!”
“You speak it fine,” Yusuke says.
“Ah, thanks. I’m… slow at learning things sometimes, you know? I like to take my time.” She sighs, “the next time we come to Japan, I want it to be for longer.”
“Thinking of studying here?” Yusuke asks.
“Perhaps, I don’t know. I’ve lived lots of places, and they’re all so different! I want time to appreciate them all.”
“Oh, you travel around a lot?”
“Yes, though my sisters and I have a bet to see who can go the longest without going to America.”
“Do you travel for your parents' work?”
Maria Lucrezia’s normally cheery demeanor drops for a second. “No, they died a long time ago.”
“I’m sorry,” Yusuke says. “I understand… my mother passed away a long time ago too, and my previous caretaker is out of the picture.”
“You ever get jealous of people complaining about their parents? Like ‘oh no they make me do homework!’”
“Can’t say I do. I suppose it depends on the parent.”
Maria Lucrezia nods. “Yeah, good answer. Beni’s mom…”
“You have different mothers?”
“Yeah. She was a massive fucking cunt, pardon my French.”
“You’re speaking Japanese.”
Maria Lucrezia laughs. “Kitagawa-senpai, you’re so funny! I seriously don’t get why no one hangs out with you!”
Yusuke tries to keep his face neutral, but Maria Lucrezia seems to catch it. “Oh, I didn’t mean—”
If he wanted he could take her to the arcade and introduce her to Futaba, but all that would do is grant him some satisfaction at the expense of Futaba’s time with her friends.
“It’s fine,” Yusuke says. “Let’s just get back to work.”
The gala, at least, is a resounding success. Tons of people from the neighborhood come to visit, including some Yusuke suspects who are just here for the free food, which he respects.
The head chef’s fusion cuisine has come out well from the looks of it, everyone seems to be enjoying it and she’s beaming with pride.
Once the final performance finishes, people begin to trickle out, and the head of the planning committee grabs Yusuke aside and asks him to help put away things.
He’s joined by Maria Lucrezia and Benito.
“Shouldn’t you be preparing for your plane ride?” Yusuke asks.
“We’ll be fine,” Maria Lucrezia says.
“I don’t want to leave her alone with you,” Benito adds. “Since your friends didn’t end up showing up after all.”
Yusuke rolls his eyes and pushes past Benito, grabbing several chairs and heading back to the storage closet, Maria Lucrezia following behind.
The door slams shut behind them.
"You'll have to forgive Beni," Maria Lucrezia says. "He's doing his best, even if he can be blunt sometimes."
"I'd like to stop talking about this."
"You know what I think?"
"No,"
"You're a real artist, you know? So many feelings that you're pouring out into the world. And it's killing you that no one can match that. Everything you give you'll never get back because your so-called friends don't care about you as much as you care about them. If you were in their shoes, you'd have noticed if they were upset. You would have been there for them. But then again, they can't. Because you're not their whole world the way they're yours."
"Fiore," Yusuke says sternly. "This is not the time for this conversation."
"You're right, you're right, I need to stop playing with my food."
Suddenly she grabs Yusuke's arm and yanks him downward so they're eye-level. She grabs the back of his head with other hand and to keep him still as she plunges a pair of fangs into his neck.
Yusuke struggles to push her off of him but she's too strong and he's rapidly losing feeling in his arms and legs.
"Senpai," Maria Lucrezia purrs when she stops for a second. "You really are perfect, you know? I mean you could be a bit shorter but your blood's worth the extra effort. Anemics taste so good."
"What... what are you going to do if I die," Yusuke breathes. She's completley supporting his weight right now.
"Oh don't worry about me, I've done this for a long time. I know how to be patient, even when it was killing me. By the time anyone finds your body, we'll be flying back to Italy, at least. Assuming anyone bothers to notice." She pulls his neck close again. "Now be a good boy and let me eat. There are worse things to be than a good meal, you know."
Damn it. If he were Fox, he’d be stronger. Faster. Able to fend her off.
If he were Fox he could summon Goemon and have his weapons.
If he were Fox, the rest of the Phantom Thieves would be with him.
But he’s not Fox right now, he’s just Yusuke, and he’s going to die in the back room of a tiny gallery and no one will be any the wiser.
He feels himself fall to the floor with a thud and he can’t even bring himself to move.
So he just closes his eyes and drifts off.
“I’m sorry guys,” Futaba says as they exit the gaming tournament.
“It’s not your fault. Who would’ve thought another gaming competition would have a print stickers contest,” Kusanagi says.
“And this time we didn’t have anyone good at it…” Aoyagi adds. “Still, there were about 20 teams and we came fourth. That’s not bad. Let’s grab our seats and watch the finals.”
“...Actually, do you mind if I leave early?” Futaba asks. “I might be able to make my friend’s thing still.”
“No, go ahead!” Aoyagi says. “Tell him hi for us, and remember that thing I said about my partner’s sister?”
“Yeah, we gotta set them up on some kind of art playdate or whatever. Inari’d totally love another artist he can actually nerd out with. See ya guys!”
Futaba heads out to the front of the arcade and opens up her phone, texting the group chat.
Futaba: Hey, any of you guys still at Inari’s art thing?
Ren: ?
Futaba: He’s doing an art show with school.
Haru: Give him my regards!
Makoto: Me too.
Sumire: Tell him if he doesn’t mind waiting we can swing past and grab some dessert!
Ann: Aww he didn’t tell us he was doing an art show!
Ryuji: Yeah we coulda at least texted him good luck.
Futaba: I don’t think it's a competition, it’s just a display.
Futaba: …wait.
Futaba: So did everyone in the Tokyo group say they couldn’t make it?
Haru: I can’t.
Makoto: Me neither
Sumire: We’re trying, but we won’t get there before it ends without breaking some traffic laws :(
Futaba: Oh shit… when I saw him last time he looked really bummed about something, is it because none of us could make it?
Ann: When was the last time any of you hung out with him in person?
Haru: That would be, after Sumire-chan’s last meet, right? The victory dinner?
Makoto: That was over a month ago!
Ryuji: Ah shit. I haven’t had a voice chat with him in awhile either.
Ann: Me neither
Ren: Not us.
Futaba: oh noooooo Inari istg if you’ve been all lonely and didn’t want to talk to us.
Futaba: Ok the gallery or whatever isn’t far from here, I’m gonna run over rn.
Makoto: Gonna tell my study group I need a break, I’ll be there ASAP
Ryuji: gl!
Futaba sends a text to Yusuke to say she’s on her way, and sprints/walks over to the gallery.
When she gets there she spots a familiar head of red hair.
“Sumire!” Futaba gasps. “I thought… you’d be…”
“Later?” Sumire finishes. “My aunt was driving and I explained the situation and she, well, broke several traffic laws. But I’m not sure if anyone’s still here.”
“Hold… on…” Futaba says, pulling out her phone. “Yeah… he’s here…”
They follow Futaba’s phone to some storage room, and Futaba pushes it open. “Inari? You– AH!”
There’s a girl with Yusuke’s blood dripping down her chin, and Yusuke slumped over, completely unconscious.
Sumire’s faster than Futaba, and runs over to smack the girl— vampire?!— over the head with her gymnastics bag.
“Hey!” the vampire girl gasps but Sumire keeps going, while Futaba rushes over to check on Yusuke. His pulse is very slow.
The door bursts open again and a dude who looks like the vampire girl runs over and grabs Sumire’s wrist, and she elbows him. Soon the two of them are fighting while vampire girl heads over to Futaba and Yusuke.
Then the door bursts open again .
Makoto’s in the doorway, stares at Futaba holding Yusuke, the vampire girl with blood on her mouth, and the other guy currently wrestling with Sumire, and wastes no time.
She dashes over to the guy wrestling Sumire and throws him off into the path of vampire girl. The dude and the vampire girl look at each other, then turn into bats and fly out the small window .
“What—”
“Vampires! Inari! Hospital!” Futaba gasps, motioning frantically to everything.
Makoto still looks confused, but picks Yusuke up.
“T-take him to my aunt’s car!” Sumire shouts, getting up.
They sprint over, throw Yusuke in the back, and Futaba climbs in while Sumire frantically explains that they have to go to the hospital right now .
Well, Yusuke can’t say he was expecting to wake up, but the smell of antiseptic does make sense.
What’s the most surprising are Futaba, Sumire, and Makoto curled up on various chairs around the room.
Then Haru enters with a mug of coffee.
“Oh good, you’re up!” Haru whispers. “I came over as soon as I heard what happened.”
Yuske’s throat is dry. “Is what happened to the Italian exchange student was a vampire?“
“Yes, apparently.”
“Huh.”
“Are you feeling alright?” Haru asks. “You needed an immediate transfusion with all the blood loss.”
“Tired, I suppose.”
“Then do you… have an insatiable thirst for blood?” Haru asks.
“Um… no?”
“Ok, good. You know there are so many different types of vampires it’s hard to tell how real ones work.” Haru explains. “Ren, Ryuji, Mona-chan, and Ann have been texting info all night.”
“Oh, but Ann has class right now?”
“It’s an emergency,” Haru says simply.
Yusuke feels tears start to drip down his face.
“Huh? Yusuke, what’s wrong?”
“I’m just very happy you all came,” Yusuke says.
“‘Course,” Futaba mutters.
“Sorry, did I wake you up?” Yusuke asks.
“Stop worrying about us you big lug,” Futaba yawns. “Anyway, totally thinking we should have a Tokyo gang group chat so we can hang out more.”
Haru nods. “Great idea! I do feel awkward making plans in the main chat when the others can’t come.”
“I have a break from meets for a while, I’d love to hang out. I see Futaba at school all the time, but I’d like to see the rest of you more. “
“We should do something that’s not too strenuous when Yusuke gets out of the hospital,” Makoto adds.
“The arcade? I need to get good at print stickers,” Futaba says.
“Print stickers?” Yusuke asks.
“Ooh! You take pictures in a photo booth and then doodle on them, you’d be great at it, Yusuke!” Sumire says.
“Also I’ve gotta introduce you to this chick, Ena Shinonome, sometime. She’s an art student like you, you can have art friends.”
Yusuke just starts crying harder. “I’d… I’d love all of that.”
Suddenly he has much less to worry about when he can be with his friends.