Chapter Text
Junpei knew what death felt like.
Well, how it could feel. Like searing-hot knives slicing flesh, sinew, and organs all at once, without mercy. Deep claw marks that even a bear wouldn't inflict in a fell swoop.
April 9th, 2009, Late Night.
He awoke with a sudden start to an aforementioned pain in his chest. Perhaps describing it in that way really downplays the severity of it, but it was critical enough to bolt him from dead sleep. He grasped at his ribcage where the pain and warmth radiated from, heat and tension rising in his head as he felt wetness on his fingertips, drawing back to see deep red.
"Wh-what-!" He started out breathlessly but that was a critical mistake, as his next breath caught, unable to be held whatsoever, one of his lungs feeling like it had folded in on itself.
He frantically tore his shirt off over his head, only to see the gristly sight of blade-sharp, but thick gashes down diagonally across both his ribcage and down to his stomach, seeing things which he didn't want to see. Ribs, sliced through to show the spongy interior, organs which he never wanted to get the opportunity to see.
He- He was suffocating.
His world was going dark with how much blood he was suddenly losing, collapsing instantly as he attempted to get out of bed, calling for a father who he knew didn't care for him, who beat him. Trying to cry out like a terrified child despite his lungs being unable to hold air.
And as he struggled in a pool of his own blood, his world went black, his thoughts ceasing in an instant.
April 9th, 2009, Early Morning.
The next moment he knew, his alarm was going off.
He thrusted himself up out of bed, gasping for air as his body cried out from a phantom pain. Attention turned to the skin on his chest, and after rushing to the mirror in his bathroom, Junpei found no scars to be seen, though the ebb of soreness remained. Today's date- The calendar!
He rushed back into his bedroom, attention on the manga-themed calendar he had hanging up beside his bed.
"April 9th..." He grabbed at his phone, flipping it open. Same there. "...I swear I went through all this already. ...Must've been a dream, huh?"
That's all he could consider it. As harrowing and nightmarish as it was, he was living and breathing, so it had to be a dream. He started to get ready for the day, bag slung over his shoulder, breath held as he snuck his way down from his room out the front door.
Cigarette smoke and booze, an abhorrent combination, one he was familiar with. Junpei managed to keep it out of his room, but alcohol was an especially upsetting thing for him to catch whiff of.
He had to be quiet. His layabout of a dad was probably sleeping downstairs on the couch after a late night bender, and any slight affront to the man's self-destructive routine was met with at least verbal lashings.
Once he managed to escape the landmine of a house, it was generally smooth sailing from there. His legs felt like butter at first, eventually easing out as he made his way to the Iwatodai station, eyes scanning over a pale individual who simply stared off into the ground as though it weren't there while seated on the steps leading up to the station.
Apathy Syndrome. A plague that seemed to be starting to pop up here and there in the city. He sidestepped to give the person a wide berth, not wanting to risk anything. Those who came down with Apathy Syndrome became unresponsive to life as a whole, barely eating, barely drinking, only muttering strange, short statements. Those in this condition required around-the-clock care, and without it would die.
Quite a few students hung out around the upper level of the station, awaiting the next train into Port Island, a few of which he recognized, catching sight of a familiar pink sweater and blue hair.
The new transfer student, Makoto Yuuki, and at his side in the pink sweater and skirt Yukari Takeba. Living in the dorms endorsed by the school itself, with many rooms of which are mostly vacant, at least that’s what he’s gathered from banters with Yukari.
A new transfer student, huh? He knows the feeling, how isolating and confusing as it can be. He’d transferred back into the area about five or so years ago after moving out five years before that. Unfortunately for him, he didn’t have a dormitory to go to in order to still get social interaction with others outside of class hours. People rarely if ever went to his home, both for his cluttered and distracted room and the alcohol and smoke-infested air, so he preferred to spend as much time beyond the house as he could, even risking the fury of his perpetually drunken brute of a father just so he could breathe easier.
…Yukari and Makoto were too far ahead in the crowd for him to go over and chatter away, but who wasn’t, was Kenji Tomochika. They were familiar with each other, casual and friendly, but Junpei wouldn’t call the two of them friends.
“Hey, Kenji!”
The blonde-haired student turned around to the greeting, eyes widening slightly. “Oh, morning Junpei. What’s up?”
“Eh, not much. I had a really nasty nightmare last night though.” With those words he could feel eyes in the crowd resting on him, glancing to the side, making eye-contact with Makoto through the lines of bodies before returning to the prior conversation. “Hey, what’s today’s date again?”
Kenji blinked before smirking at him. “What, did you lose your phone again man? Here.” He flipped his phone up to show the screen, which, as expected, displayed the date ‘April 9th’.
“Come on dude, that was one time, and I didn’t lose it, Miyamoto was fuckin’ with me.” He crossed his arms. “Thanks though, I just felt deja vu this morning.”
“Eh, can’t blame you. The routine can make the days feel the same.” Kenji shrugged. “Oh. The monorail’s here.”
April 9th, 2009, After School.
The feeling of repetition wasn’t going away as the day went by. If anything it only got worse. Mister Ekoda’s whole rant, him specifically using outdated phrases like “da bomb” put that unsettling itch in the back of his mind. Despite this, he tried to shove the worry to the wayside, looking around as the final bell rang for a distraction, catching sight of Makoto packing his bag up.
“Yo, dude.” Makoto’s head flew up at the greeting as his pencil case was dropped into the bag. “Wanna-”
“Go do something after school?” He was interrupted before he could finish. “Paulownia Mall?”
“Shit man, it’s like you read my mind! You’re new here though, so I should give you the tour, huh?”
“Yeah, well this is Paulownia Mall! Not a whole lot but there’s an arcade, karaoke, a place you can rent CDs, and even that club there. Not like I’ve ever been in myself.” His eyes hovered over to the crane machine. “Oh hey that’s- …” He stopped his eagerness, squinting in confusion. “...Huh?”
“Something wrong?” He looked to the side as Makoto came into his view, the other student tilting his head slightly at his hesitation.
“Aah, no it’s… Um…” Junpei rubbed the back of his head. “All of this feels too familiar. Today, I mean. I had a whole ass dream about today, and it ended-” He tried to continue, feeling his tongue freeze up. “Ended- Eeeeennndddedddd... …Ah screw it! It was a nasty ass nightmare. But I feel a really, really bad sense of deja vu here.” He shook his head. “Well, whatever. Lemme give this game a try.”
April 9th, 2009, Late Night.
It was getting close to midnight. Junpei had hurried home after spending the evening at the manga cafe close to home, and try all he might, sleep wasn’t coming to him.
Every time he closed his eyes he would see that nightmare. Staring down at him to see blood running down his legs, seeing the cross section of his ribs, and the organs-
He choked back the nausea he felt going up his throat. No. No no no no. He’s NOT gonna think about it. Not at all. He really doesn’t wanna vomit right now. He can’t really make any noise either, lest he wake his dad up.
“It’s just… With the nasty feeling I had all day… I just…” His eyes moved to the clock by his bed. “I can’t help but feel it was more than a dream.”
Slowly but surely, he couldn't fight the need to sleep, and despite the images flashing in his mind, laid back in bed to rest.