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Chapter Text

The town of Morioh. Known as "The Town of Golden Hearts", it's a quiet and humble town filled with bright skies and friendly people with very little to disrupt it's peaceful life. That is, until one faithful day. This is the story of a boy, a girl and the bizarre adventures that resulted from their meeting one fateful summer...

The afternoon sun shone brightly over the Jabberwock Cafe. It's warm rays made Makoto Naegi sweat, even as he took another sip of his cool iced coffee. Makoto cursed the early-May heat internally, wondering if it would ever let up. He questioned why he and his friends are outdoors today. 

"Yo, Makoto," Leon Kuwata called, getting the brunet's attention. For a pair who'd been friends for so long, Leon and Makoto couldn't look any more different if they tried. Leon was tall verses Makoto's modest height; his hair was bright red and smoothly gelled up while Makoto's was a pale brown and spiky, pointing downwards; Leon's face had a few piercings and bore a full goatee while Makoto disliked the mere thought of piercings and had no facial hair to speak of, and likely never would; Leon was pale and blue-eyed while Makoto had a slightly darker complexion and hazel eyes. He wore a white tank top under a white jacket with blue jeans and black sneakers while Makoto wore his usual green hoodie, black jeans and white shoes. "You okay, buddy? You seem kinda out of it." 

"You haven't come down with something have you?" Kiyotaka Ishimaru asked, his large red eyes giving away his concern. Known to his friends as "Taka", he was around Leon's height and his short, spikey black hair was combed neatly. He was the youngest of the group, still in high school, albeit in his final year. He wore a white long-sleeved blazer that was unbuttoned, revealing a white tank top with matching pants and black boots. On his arm was a red band that symbolized his status as a member of his school's moral's committee. "They had to close school today because a couple of students got sick, and I'd hate for that to happen to you, too."

"I'm fine, Taka," Makoto replied with a shake of his head. He unzipped his hoodie, revealing a short-sleeved shirt the same color as the coat and draped it over his shoulder. "It's just this stupid heat is all. God, it's so hot out today..." 

"Yeah, I hear ya, Koto," said the last member of the group, a girl with black and white-striped hair and navy and purple bangs with the top of her head done up to look like horns. Her normally vibrant pink eyes were currently drooped low and she was currently fanning her pierced face with her gloved hand. Her clothing consisted of a white short-sleeved shirt with a black skirt that reached mid-thigh and had a studded belt on it. She had on knee-high socks covered with holes, one of which was blue and the other pink along with white sneakers that had blue and pink laces  This was Ibuki Mioda, Makoto's co-worker over at the local music shop. "Ugh, Ibuki would do anything for some rain right now!"

"Yeah, yeah, the heat sucks, whatever," Leon dismissed with a lazy wave of a hand. Not for the first time, Makoto wondered if there was anything Leon took seriously. Well, aside one thing...

"Anyway," Leon continued, "as I was saying, the Battle of the Bands is next month. If we're to win this year, we've gotta buckle down and practice as often as possible." 

Ibuki scoffed. "Leon, we're as practiced as can be. We've already got what it takes, there's no way we can lose this time." 

The group's band, "The Stardust Crusaders" was Leon's pet project. A garage band formed in Makoto's bedroom back during junior high, it initially consisted of just him and Leon, with Ibuki and Taka coming in later on. Despite its odd origins, Leon was fully convinced that the Crusaders had what it took to make it big. Makoto wasn't as optimistic, but didn't want to hurt Leon's feelings, so he kept silent on the matter. 

"I don't know, Ibuki," Taka interjected. "For once, I think Leon's onto something."

"Yeah- Hey! Fuck you, too, man!" Leon yelled, causing some customers to jump. 

"Language, Leon! We're in public!" Taka replied, just as loud. Ibuki and Makoto sighed. "Anyway," the high schooler continued, "we can't afford to grow complacent, Ibuki. Not with the concert coming up so soon. Because I distinctly remember doing just that last year, and look where that ended for us." 

"Yeah..." Makoto thought as an old, painful memory came back to him. Taka seemed to have noticed as he quickly adopted an apologetic expression. 

"Oh, Makoto, I'm sorry," he said. "I didn't mean to..."

"Don't worry about it," the smaller youth replied. "I'm over it, really." Whether it was Taka or himself he was trying to convince, Makoto could not say. 

Just then, a voice called out, grabbing the quartet's attention. "Hey, Crusaderps!" The woman said. Makoto turned around to see a pink-haired woman wearing a waitress uniform, the name "Ruruka" written neatly on her nametag. 

"Ando..." Leon muttered, annoyed at the waitress' intrusion. Makoto couldn't exactly blame his best friend's hostility as he remembered quite clearly how Ruruka Ando treated them in high school. Still, Makoto saw no reason to be rude and merely asked what she wanted. 

"Look, I'll level with you guys," Ruruka said, twirling a well-groomed lock of hair. "My boyfriend's birthday party is this weekend and-"

"Aww, happy birthday!" Ibuki cheered. 

"Yeah, thanks," grunted Ruruka, who always hated to be interrupted. ""As I was saying, Sonosuke's cousin was supposed to do the music for the party, but he had to cancel. Said something about a baby or some shit. Anyway, now we're down a musician and since you're the only band that lives nearby, well..."

"Oh, doth mine own ears decieve me?" Leon teased, a grin growing on his face. "Is Ruruka Ando asking us mere peasants for help?" 

Ruruka's face flushed and she gave a pointed glare. "Look, will you do it or not!?" She asked, her patience having reached its limit.

"Crusaders, huddle!" Leon declared as the four proceeded to do just that. 

"So, do we do it?" Asked Taka. "I mean, I don't care either way, I'll just do what you guys want." 

"Well, it's not like it's her party," Ibuki said. "Besides, Sonosuke's cool. I say we do it." 

"Ibuki, this is Ando we're talking about," Leon retorted, as if that explained everything. "Don't you remember all the stuff she pulled? All the mean names, the setting us up on fake dates, the having sex in Taka's van, the-"

"You know, Kuwata, I'm standing right behind you," said the irritated woman who was standing right behind Leon. "I can hear everything you're saying just fine." 

Leon gave a rude gesture in response and faced his friends once more. "I think I've made my point," he said, crossing his arms.

"So that's one for, one against and Taka doesn't care," Ibuki counted. "Looks like Makoto's the tiebreaker."

"As usual," Makoto internally snarked. After weighting the options for a few seconds, Makoto turned to Leon. "Look, man, I get where you're coming from and all," he said to his frowning friend, "but you're the one who just said we need to practice more, and a gig like this sounds like a good enough excuse. Besides, it's not like we have anything better to do."

"I'm kind of behind on my studies," Taka interrupted. 

"Anything important," Ibuki replied, causing Taka to glare. 

Leon looked Makoto in the eye, trying to convince the brunet to surrender, but Makoto shook his head. Leon sighed and then turned to Ruruka. "Alright, we'll take the gig. But first, what're you paying us?" 

"A hundred, just because I like you guys so much," Ruruka said with a smirk, obviously happy to have gotten her way. 

Leon scoffed. "Gonna have to try a little bit harder than that. Two hundred."

Her smirk vanished. "You losers wish you were that good. Hundred twenty." 

"Better than the guy you hired before. Hundred seventy-five." 

The two glared for a moment before coming to an agreement. 

"Hundred fifty!" They shouted at the same time. 

"You happy with that?" Leon asked, ignoring Taka's plea to keep his voice down. 

"No," replied the pinkette. "You?" 

"No." The two then shook hands.

"Party's Saturday night at eight," Ruruka explained. "Be at Sonosuke's place over on Kodaka Street at around six so you can set up." And at that, she walked away. 

"This is gonna suck," the redhead muttered as he took a bite of his sandwich. He glared at Makoto. "If this goes south, I'm blaming you." Makoto rolled his eyes in response. 

Not too long after, the Crusaders left the cafe, heading their separate ways for the time being. Ibuki and Makoto walked back to work, discussing Sonosuke's party. After a few minutes, they arrived at M78 Records, the neighborhood music store. Despite its small size, it had been a popular hangout spot since when their parents were kids and still enjoyed a steady amount of business. 

"Ah, there you two are," said their boss, a tall man with blonde hair wearing a messy suit and fedora. This was Koichi Kizakura, the owner of M78 for the last decade or so. "You know, I could've sworn I said you had half an hour. It's been almost an hour. Don't you know it's irresponsible to leave your poor boss all alone to handle the place?" 

"Heh, sorry, boss," Ibuki said, rubbing the back of her head. "I guess we lost track of time... again." 

"Ah, whatever," Koichi waved. "It's a slow day, so I'll let it slide this time." 

A few minutes later, Makoto was lazily flipping through a magazine when he came across a familiar sight. It was a picture of a blue-haired girl around his age with a bow in her long, silky locks. She wore a bright pink dress that flattered her body well along with white boots. Most noticeable to the young man however, was her smile. Bright and wide, it looked like the kind of smile that could inspire anyone to do anything. Despite his better judgement, Makoto allowed himself to remember a time when that smile had that very affect on him. 

His train of thought was interrupted when the door to the shop opened, the bell next to it ringing and causing Makoto to look up. What he saw surprised him.

She was a woman, around his age, maybe a little taller than him. She had long hair, reaching down to her thighs and colored lavender with a single braid on her right side. Her pale face held a neutral expression as well as a pair of purple eyes. She wore a purple coat over a white dress shirt and orange tie with a black skirt and black knee-high boots. Most curiously, she wore a pair of studded gloves over hands. Makoto then realized he was staring at her like some kind of creep and turned away, finding a random assortment of records rather interesting. 

The woman handed Koichi a brown paper bag. "That's the second time this week," she said, her voice showing no hint of emotion. "Try not to make this a habit." 

"Heh heh, sorry about that," the older man chuckled. "But you know what they say, first thing to go when you get old is your memory. Or is it sight, I can never remember it right..."

The mystery woman said nothing and then turned around to leave. "I have to get back to class. See you at home." And then, just as quickly as she entered, the lavender-haired girl left the shop. 

"Hey, Koichi, who was that?" Ibuki asked after Mystery Girl left. 

"She's my niece," Koichi replied with a grin. "Well, not really my niece, but her dad and I were friends back in the day." For a brief moment, the usually light-hearted manager looked melancholy before shaking out of it. 

"Oh, really?" Makoto asked, trying not to look too interested. Koichi chuckled. 

"You look a little curious, Makoto," he smirked. "Don't tell me you're thinking about asking her out." Ibuki giggled at Koichi's teasing while Makoto blushed. 

"What? No! I- Uh, hey is that a customer?" Makoto pointed at the door as someone came to the shop. 

"Oh, so it is," Koichi noted. "Hey there, how can we help you?" 

Eventually, six o'clock came around and M78 closed for the evening. Koichi went to his car, while Ibuki and Makoto took the bus home.

"Man, it's been way you too long since our last gig, you know?" Ibuki asked, getting a nod from Makoto. 

"Yeah," he replied. "Hey, did you catch the news this morning? Another guy got hit. This one made it, though." 

"Oh, that poor person," Ibuki frowned. "Urgh, why does this keep happening!? If Ibuki ever finds whoever keeps doing it..." she trailed off from there, but Makoto understood he meaning. 

As of late, various people around Morioh had been shot by something strange and unidentifiable. While most had survived with zero problems afterward, some had died in the process. Thankfully, nobody Makoto knew had been hit, but he still worried that his luck would run out and that his friends, parents or sister would end up in the hospital from a mysterious wound. 

A few minutes later, Makoto reached his stop. He waved goodbye to Ibuki and exited the bus. Makoto crossed the street and arrived at his apartment complex. He checked his mailbox for anything and pulled out a couple of envelopes. He then took the elevator up to the fourth floor and crossed the hall to his apartment. 

Makoto opened the door and his nostrils were greeted by the overpowering scent of incense. Makoto coughed as he covered his face with his shirt. 

"Hiro!" He called out to his roommate as he set the mail on the kitchen table. When he didn't get a response, Makoto tried again. Suddenly, a door opened to reveal a person happily walking away while a man with brown dreadlocks counted bills off a stack of money. This was Yasuhiro Hagakure, known as "Hiro" to his friends. 

"Hey, Makoto," Hiro greeted, not taking his eyes off the money he earned. Hiro was a fortune teller by trade and apparently one of the best in the business, an "Ultimate" if you will. This was his justification for charging enough so he and Makoto could pay the rent and then some. Makoto disagreed with this, but it wasn't enough to sway his roommate. 

"What did you tell this one?" Makoto asked as he pulled out some leftovers and went to re-heat them. 

"That they would soon meet a person who would change their life forever," Hiro replied as he looked through the mail. "It might happen, y'know. 30% success rate and all." 

"That's still a 70% chance for failure," Makoto thought as he pulled his dinner out of the microwave. As he ate, Makoto's thoughts drifted towards the woman from earlier, Koichi's "niece". He wasn't sure why, he only saw her for a brief moment and didn't say a word to her at all. He didn't even know her name! And yet, there was something about this person that instinctively made him want to know every little thing about her. 

"Hey man, everything okay?" Hiro asked, causing Makoto to return to reality. 

"Oh, yeah," Makoto nodded. "I'm fine. It's just this gig coming up this weekend. You remember Izayoi from high school?" Makoto then started talking about the party and how the Crusaders were performing, which managed to get the mystery woman out of his head for a little while, thankfully.

Kyoko opened the door to her and Koichi's house, greeted by the smell of dinner. A small smile came to her face as she exhaled. After a long day of schoolwork, a meal was just what she needed. 

"Hey, you!" Called her uncle from the kitchen. "Dinner's almost ready!" Kyoko nodded and went to her room, dropping her bag on the ground and taking her boots off before joining Koichi downstairs. 

Dinner was a mostly silent affair, as it normally was. Not that Kyoko minded. Small talk was never really her strong suit to begin with, not even with Koichi, and she had known him since infancy. Instead, she used this time to think about how her day went, particularly after dropping off Koichi's lunch. 

The brown-haired boy- Makoto, according to his name tag- had stared at her for a good few seconds before looking away, believing he avoided detection. They never did. Normally, Kyoko would have said something, but she was in a hurry, so she left right after dropping off her uncle's lunch. 

The oddest thing was that for the rest of the afternoon, she couldn't ger her mind off this Makoto person. This confused Kyoko to no end. He was hardly the first person to ever gawk at her and it wasn't like he was particularly attractive or interesting- because he wasn't- though to be fair, she knew him for all of one minute. If there was one thing that Kyoko Kirigiri knew in her twenty-one years on the planet, it was that people were rarely what they seemed on the surface. 

Kyoko mentally shook herself. She was overthinking again, a habit she really had to break. She helped Koichi clean the dishes before retiring to her room with a cup of warm coffee in her hands. Kyoko set her drink aside to check her phone and saw that she had a message from Aoi Asahina, a.k.a. Hina, her best friend since moving to Morioh a few months ago. 

Hina: Guess what? My neighbor has a b-day party Saturday and I'm invited! Wanna be my +1? 

Kyoko shook her head and replied in the negative. Not even a minute later, Hina replied back.

Hina: Aww, come on! Sakura already said no and I don't wanna go alone. ;_;

Kyoko: So I'm really just your second choice? :/

Hina: No! No! It's not like that, really! 

Hina: It's just that you only ever hang out with me and sometimes Sakura, and I like being friends with you and all, but- don't you ever get lonely?  

Kyoko sighed. She really didn't get lonely despite her limited number of friends and saw no point in going to a party for someone she didn't know, even if it was for Hina. Speak of the devil, she thought as Hina sent another message. 

Hina: Look, I know this isn't your kind of thing but I feel like you could use this. The semester's almost over and you've passed all your classes pretty much. Treat yourself, girl! And if the party's a bust, I swear I'll never make you go to another one again.

Kyoko looked over the message for a brief moment before responding. 

Kyoko: Alright, I'll go. But only because you won't stop annoying me until I say yes.

Hina: Yay! Can't wait! This is gonna be awesome! 

Kyoko let out a light chuckle at her friend's antics before taking a sip of her coffee. She still had her reservations about this, but she vowed to have a good time, if just for Hina's sake. Kyoko pulled her mouth away from the hotter-than-expected cup and placed a hand on the cup's bottom for a second. She then took another sip, the taste this time being much cooler. Content, she took out a textbook from her bag and began studying, seemingly forgetting that boy from earlier entirely. 

Before long, Saturday had arrived and Makoto was outside his complex when an old, white, beat-up looking van came up to the sidewalk, Taka in the driver's seat. Dubbed by Leon as "The Crapmobile", the van was a gift from Taka's cousin when the boy got his license and despite its shoddy appearance, it got him and the others from Points A to B. 

Makoto got in the van, greeting his friends and carefully avoiding the equipment. Once he was in, the Crusaders drove off. 

"So, Taka, what's the story you gave your old man?" Ibuki asked as they drove to Sonosuke's house. Taka's father, Takaaki Ishimaru, was a cop at the local police station and had never been a fan of his son's taste in friends or the idea of him playing music. 

"I'm at Makoto's because he wants a study partner," replied Taka, who wasn't thrilled about having to lie to his dad. But as he and the rest of the group knew, there was no way Officer Ishimaru could know the truth. "I told him I'd be staying the night. That's alright with you and Hagakure, right Makoto?" 

"Sure," Makoto nodded. "Hiro loves hanging out with you." He didn't have the heart to tell Taka that it was because Hiro thought the boy was an easy target to swindle. 

The Crusaders arrived at Sonosuke Izayoi's house not too long after and with help from Ruruka's friend Seiko, they were all set up within an hour. Several speakers and amps were set around the quartet and they were currently at their instruments, making sure everything was in order. Leon, the frontman, was doing a mic check while Taka was beating on his drums and Makoto and Ibuki, lead and bass guitar respectively, played a few brief solos and made sure the strings were attached right.

"Check 1, 2! Izayoi's a tool!" Leon sang. "Check 1, 2! Ando has fake boobs!" 

"LEON!" Exclaimed his band-mates, who were exasperated at his antics. And judging from the looks Ruruka, Seiko and Sonosuke were giving, so were they. 

"Are you trying to get us kicked out?" Ibuki frowned. 

"He's doing a good job of it," the birthday boy glared while Seiko rubbed her friend's shoulders in an effort to calm her down. 

"Dude, knock it off," Makoto warned. Leon had been like this all week leading up to the party and it was getting on his last nerves. Leon was his best friend, had been for years, but there was only so much Makoto could take. 

"Alright, alright, I'll stop," Leon relented. After that,t here was no more problems. Around 7:30, people started pouring in the spacious backyard and the party was soon underway. 

"Hello, people of Morioh!" Leon greeted, his voice travelling throughout the yard. "It's your very own Stardust Crusaders, here to help our buddy Izayoi have an awesome birthday! And I'm not just saying that because we're getting paid!" And at that, the party was underway.

A few hours passed and the party had so far been a blast. Sonosuke seemed to like all his gifts, even though most (including the Crusaders') were just gift cards, the cake- made by Ruruka herself- was delicious and the Crusaders were having the time of their lives performing for the first time in months, getting song request after song request. 

In the middle of one song, Makoto's line of vision stumbled upon a familiar sight. It was the girl from the other day- Koichi's niece. She was standing next to a tanned girl with brown hair, both in the middle of a conversation. Makoto returned his focus to the crowd in general as the song finished. 

Leon smirked into the microphone. "Yo, we're gonna take a quick ten-minute break, okay?" He told the audience. "Don't you go anywhere!" He then gestured Makoto to follow him, which the latter complied to, curious as to what he wanted. 

"So, what are we doing?" Makoto asked as they walked. 

"Dude, I saw you checking out that chick with the purple hair," Leon replied, still grinning. "Man, why didn't you tell me you were trying to get back in the game? What part of "Bros don't hide secrets from Bros" eludes you?" 

""Eludes"? That's a pretty big- Wait, no!" Makoto insisted as a blush came to his face. "It's not like that! I wasn't checking her out, really!" Leon rolled his eyes playfully. 

"Yeah, and this is my natural hair color," he sarcastically said, gesturing to his hair. He slapped Makoto's shoulder. "Be not afraid, Mi Bromigo! You've got the Ultimate Wingman by your side! With his help, she'll be all over you in no time!" 

"Really, where is he?" Makoto snarked, getting a light punch in the arm for his troubles. 

"Man, fuck you!" Leon laughed, getting Makoto to do the same. 

The party wasn't bad, Kyoko had to admit. The music- done by a local band, she heard from Hina- was decent, the food was good and everyone seemed to be having a fun time. 

"So, what do you think?" Hina said, a teasing smile coming across her face. "Fun or what?" 

"It's fine," Kyoko replied. Hina's grin then turned into a genuine smile. 

"I told you it'd be good," she said. Hina's focus then turned to a pair of boys coming their way, much to Kyoko's chargin. The opposite sex was the furthest thing from her mind at this moment and she would rather keep it that way. 

"They seem nice," Hina suggested, bumping her elbow against Kyoko's arm. The lavender-haired girl frowned. 

"Come on, at least say hi," Hina insisted, pulling Kyoko forward while the latter struggled comically. 

"Dude, stop being such a Taka and go for it!" One of the boys said to the other before pushing his friend forward. Kyoko came face-to-face with him and was shocked to see that it was the boy from the other day- the one who worked for Koichi. 

"Hey there!" Greeted his friend, a red-haired man with more piercings than what should have been considered acceptable. "My buddy and I were just hanging around when we saw you fine ladies. Mind if we chat a bit?" 

"Not at all!" Hina replied as she and the redhead walked off together, leaving Kyoko and the other man alone. 

An awkward silence followed for a few seconds, with both Kyoko and her psuedo-stalker silently darting their eyes away from each other. The quiet became too much for her and Kyoko spoke up to him. 

"I remember you," she said neutrally. "You're Koichi's employee, the one who was leering at me the other day."

"You're Koichi's employee, the one who was leering at me the other day." 

Makoto's eyes widened and a pit began to form inside of him. She recognized him? And apparently she thinks he's some kind of pervert. "Great going, Naegi!" he scolded himself. Makoto internally breathed as he tried to figure out a way to diffuse this problem. 

"Um, sorry about that," he stammered. "I- I didn't mean too, honest!" He scolded hinself again at his flustered reaction while continuing to talk to her. "Wh- what I mean is, well, I'd never seen you before and well, I got curious, I guess. But I swear, I never meant to look like a creep or anything, so I apologize if I came off that way!" Makoto bowed his head and folded his hands together in an effort to look as sincere as he sounded. 

"It's fine," she replied nonchalantly, as if there wasn't a problem in the first place. "But if you really want to make it up to me, start by telling me your name." 

Makoto offered a shy smile and rubbed the back of his head. "It's Naegi," he told her. "Makoto Naegi." 

"Makoto Naegi," Kyoko thought, testing the name inside her head. "I suppose I should give my name as well. I'm Kyoko Kirigiri." 

Naegi's smile became slightly more relaxed. "That's a nice name," he said. The combination of his words and his surprisingly captivating smile made her feel more at ease. Kyoko internally tried to shake away from these thoughts. "No," she bluntly told herself. "Don't even think about it." 

"So, um, how come I've never seen you around?" He asked. "I've been working for Koichi for a while now and this is the second time I've ever seen you." 

"I moved here a few months ago," she replied, hoping he wouldn't dig too much into it. "I'm still trying to adjust." 

"Oh, I see," Naegi nodded. "So, where were you before you came to Morioh?" Damn. She had to think of something. 

"Around," she said after finding a good enough excuse. "I've moved quite a lot. After a while, everywhere starts to blend together." 

His curiosity wasn't exactly satisfied, but Kyoko could tell that he understood her disinterest in talking about her past. "Oh well, I hope you stay- I mean, uh, I want to get to know you more- No wait!" 

Kyoko smirked, amused with Naegi's flustered reactions. "I don't plan on leaving any time soon, if that's what you're wondering." 

"Oh, that's... good." Naegi smiled softly, his hazel eyes meeting her purples. His eyes then widened and then darted away from hers. Another awkward silence followed. Just as she was about to say something however, Kyoko was interrupted. 

"Yo, Naegi, come on!" Called the voice of Naegi's friend, who had returned with Hina. "We gotta get back to the stage. Ibuki and Taka are probably going nuts looking for us." 

"Stage?" Kyoko asked, trying to hide her annoyance at the interruption. 

"Yeah, those two are part of the band," Hina said, her blue eyes twinkling over something. 

"Oh, really? Well, don't let me keep you," Kyoko said, turning away from Naegi. 

"Oh..." He muttered, sounding somewhat dejected of all things. "Well, um, it was nice meeting you, Kirigiri," he said shyly before departing along with his friend, who gave the two young women a wink and a thumbs-up.