Chapter Text
4/11
Monday
It was rainy again.
She could hardly see her feet through the deluge of grey, moving by memory more than sight. By now, her body knew the route on its own.
The anniversary was just around the corner. She thought she’d have more time to get prepared, but the weather was a cruel joke; a perfect reenactment of the worst day of her life.
She'd planned on skipping school, but something in the dull haze of habit had her heading out the door anyway.
She tried to ignore the ache in her stomach.
It'd been almost seven years now.
Through the anxious fog, a noise broke through.
The puttering of a car shocked life into the empty road.
She adjusted her umbrella, squinting through the downpour, but details blurred in the rain.
She checked her phone.
It was about that time.
He took the same route every morning, no matter the weather.
She couldn’t risk it being him.
She tucked her umbrella away, ducking into the alleyway next to the street. She pressed her back to the nearest building, praying she wouldn’t be seen as the falling rain seeped through her uniform sweater.
Darkness.
She could depend on the darkness.
Brakes squealed. The car got closer, rolling to a slow stop in front of her.
The window descended. She tried not to breathe.
“Good morning! Do you want me to give you a ride to school?” Masculine and friendly, nothing was amiss on the surface. “You’re gonna be late.”
It was him.
Kamoshida.
She held her breath. He shouldn't have been able to see her. There had to be somebody else on the sidewalk.
Anyone else.
The man's question was met with silence, but his car door opened and shut, and the window slid back up.
The engine revved, and the car cut through the river gathering on the street.
She froze as the cascade crashed into her, biting the cry before it could escape. The splash reeked of foot traffic, seeping through her clothes, the flood turning her clean blonde hair to a dripping, brown mess.
At least he didn’t see her.
Shivering, she edged towards the corner of the building. The rain had thinned to a mist, but her clothes clung heavy and cold against her skin.
She peeked around the wall, checking the awning.
Kamoshida had picked someone up when he stopped. She’d heard the door shut, so she was surprised to see there was still someone left on the porch, standing in the wet light like he didn’t know where to go next.
The boy was tall. A messy mop of black hair hung over his eyes and covered half of his glasses. She didn’t recognize him, but he was wearing the black and red tartan of a Shujin student. They looked about the same age, but shuffling through the glossary of faces in her brain, she came up short looking for his.
As much as she wanted to get out of the rain, she couldn't risk the unpredictability of a stranger, so she bit her tongue, staying out of sight. She could follow him at a distance when he left.
Footsteps splashed from the far side of the building, fast and angry. A boy sprinted into view, his arm still raised like he’d been waving someone down.
“Oh, come on!”
She froze.
That voice, she knew well.
As Kamoshida's tail lights disappeared around the corner, Ryuji Sakamoto came skidding into the frame of rainlight. Out of uniform, of course. Bleached hair, blazer half-off one shoulder, a yellow shirt screaming through the grey.
“Dammit!” Ryuji spat. “Screw that pervy teacher!”
The dark-haired boy flinched, straightening as Ryuji stormed up. His hand tightened around his phone.
She couldn’t blame him. Ryuji always made an entrance.
She’d known Ryuji for just over a year now, ever since their first day at Shujin. They’d been in the same class then. His desk sat directly in front of hers. They’d never spoken more than passing pleasantries, but she’d had a plethora of free time where her eyes wandered to the back of Ryuji’s head.
She’d learned a lot about him that way.
Rain still hissed against the pavement as voices carried under the awning.
“Pervy teacher?” the stranger asked quietly, trying to connect the accusation with the man in the little white car.
Ryuji spun. “What do you want?” His voice sharpened. “You plannin’ on rattin’ me out to Kamoshida?”
The dark-haired boy blinked rain from his lashes. “Kamoshida?”
Ryuji narrowed his eyes. “In that car just now. It was Kamoshida.” Ryuji's glare deepened. “He does whatever the hell he wants, like he’s the king of some castle. Don’t you agree?” The words were falling out of him whether the other boy actually cared to listen or not.
The stranger didn’t answer. He frowned, chasing after a conversation that had started without him. “The king of a castle?”
Ryuji faltered, rubbing the back of his neck. “N-no, I mean—wait. You don’t know Kamoshida? Are you for real?” He leaned closer. “You are from Shujin, aren’t you?”
The other boy scratched his head lightly, phone still grasped in his free hand. “I mean, I think so?”
So the boy with the glasses was new. Stepping out would be a gamble, but least she could count on Ryuji as a safe bet.
Besides, her teeth were beginning to chatter.
She took a deep breath and emerged from the shadows, trying not to look like she’d been watching them the entire time.
“Brynn?” Ryuji’s voice cracked on surprise, eyes wandering whatever disarray the morning had left her in. “Forget your umbrella?”
Brynn shot him a look, shaking droplets from her sleeves. “No, but whoever was in that car really knows how to aim for a puddle.”
The stranger turned, giving her a quick look up and down. Brynn felt her cheeks heat.
She probably looked like a drowned cat.
She lifted her chin, pretending this was the first time she’d been getting a good look at him, too. Like she hadn’t been lurking.
“I’m Brynn Sato,” she said, giving him a small, awkward wave. “I see you've met Sakamoto-kun."
"Ryuji," he corrected.
The boy nodded once. “Ren Amamiya.”
Nothing else.
She and Ryuji exchanged a glance.
“So I take it you’re new?” Ryuji shoved his hands in his pockets. “Y’know, given the uniform and all.”
Ren shrugged. “Transfer student.”
Ryuji's nose scrunched. “Oh, no wonder you don’t know him.”
“Know who?” Brynn knew, of course, but wondered if he’d say.
“Coach Kamoshida. I was just sayin’ he’s bad news.” Ryuji eyed her hair. “You have him to thank for the street shower, y’know.”
Brynn sighed. “Great.”
The silence stretched until Ryuji cleared his throat. “Uh, we’re second years,” he said, glancing at Ren, who was staring at his phone.
“Me too." He flicked his gaze toward the street. “We should probably go. School’s that way, right?”
Brynn followed his look, stomach sinking. Two more blocks in this weather, wet and cold and haunted by memories.
She should have just gone home.
Ryuji must’ve read it on her face. “I know another way.” He was already shrugging off his blazer and handing it to her. “Through the back streets. It’s covered, you’ll stay dry.” He nodded toward the mouth of the alley she’d come from. “C’mon. It’s faster.”
He didn’t wait for agreement. Brynn stood for a beat, jacket in her hands, then followed. Ren trailed behind, phone still in his grip.
The alleys were narrow and quiet. The rain dulled to a hiss, and every step echoed a little too loudly off the walls. Brynn pulled the blazer tighter, grateful for the warmth, though it couldn’t stop the chill creeping under her skin.
Ryuji led confidently, throwing conversation over his shoulder like the sound could fill the emptiness. Ren only murmured in reply. Their voices bounced off the brick until it was hard to tell who was speaking.
No one else was around.
For morning rush hour, that was strange. The streets should’ve been alive, but here, only the wind moved. It was making her paranoid, the way Ryuji’s blabbing could cover the footsteps of anyone walking behind them, and the way it seemed to get darker by the second. She checked over her shoulder periodically, but nothing changed.
Maybe she needed to relax.
Pain flashed behind her eyes, sharp enough to stop her mid-step.
The bout of lightheadedness was enough to make her heart jump, but was gone quicker than it arrived. She would have brushed it off if it weren’t for the way she saw Ryuji wince in her peripherals.
“My head hurts,” he muttered, pressing his palms to his eyes. “Dammit… I wanna go home.”
Ren halted. His head turned slowly, glasses flashing as he looked back down the alley.
“Nobody's following us,” Brynn told him. “I checked.” She glanced over her shoulder. Only darkness, the same shadows that had hidden her from Kamoshida.
Ren’s eyes kept moving: walls, pavement, rooftops. Searching for something she couldn’t see. The air felt charged, something off-balance.
“Amamiya-kun?” she started.
Then every hair on her arms lifted.
A scream tore through the dark.
Ryuji.
He’d kept walking, and now he was so far ahead that his shout barely reached them.
They ran.
Instinct, no discussion. Shoes slapped against wet ground as they sprinted toward the alley’s narrow outlet, where Ryuji’s silhouette stood frozen in the light beyond.
“Are you—” Brynn called.
Oh.
“What!?” Ren panted, squinting. The flicker of panic was the first emotion she'd seen on him. It worried her more than it should have.
Ryuji’s jaw was on the ground.
Before them, where Shujin Academy should have been, rose a castle.
An actual, real-life castle.
Yellowing stones climbed into a sky caught between storm and sunlight, everything washed in a bruised shade of violet. Eight spires split the clouds, the tallest capped in tiles the color of blood.
“This can’t be real.” Ryuji turned to where they'd come from, frowning. “We didn’t… Yeah, no, this should be right.”
Brynn met his eyes, searching for the same reassurance she didn’t feel. “There has to be an explanation,” she said. “Some kind of event venue, maybe—” Her words cut off as she spotted the sign at the gate.
Shujin Academy.
The air felt colder.
The wind carried a low hum, like the world holding its breath.
She pulled out her phone.
No service.
“My phone isn’t working,” she said.
Neither were theirs.
Ryuji swore under his breath. “This doesn’t make any sense.” His grip on his bag tightened.
Brynn mirrored the motion, almost without thinking. “Maybe we should go back.”
Ren tilted his head, eyes fixed on the towering gate.
Ryuji followed his gaze. “Or we could go inside. Ask what the hell’s goin' on.”
Brynn hesitated. Every instinct told her to run, but Ryuji was already halfway to the gate, and she wasn't going to leave by herself.
This was going to be fine.
She held her bag close, ascending the long wooden drawbridge to the castle’s entrance. The structure was solid, barely slippery despite the rain. A moat churned below them. Well-built. Old wood. Steady under her feet.
Ryuji, fearless as ever, was striding in front.
Brynn glanced up at Ren, laughing softly because it maybe it'd make this feel normal again. “Talk about a shitty first impression, huh?”
His hands were in his pockets like they were on a casual stroll.
She was just happy her vocal cords were functional as the rest of her floundered to pretend at normalcy. “I promise Shujin's usually a lot more boring than this.”
“That’s the hope,” Ren muttered.
“The hell!?” Ryuji stepped through the high marble archway, voice echoing against stone. “What sorta place is this?”
Breaching the threshold into the main hall felt like stepping into another world. Black and white checkered tile adorned the floors, with plush, red velvet carpet leading to the room’s center and up two curling flights of stairs. Candles lined the stone above their heads, making the crystal chandeliers glitter among the vaulted ceilings. Paintings of landscapes adorned the walls, a present reminder of how peaceful the world was when they were anywhere but there.
It was beautiful, so why did it feel like stepping into a trap?
No. No. No.
She shook her head, like a dog clearing water from its ears.
This was going to be fine.
“Is this our school?” Ren asked. He sounded impressed.
Brynn inspected him, shocked to see the timid transfer had the ghost of a smile on his lips.
“Is this funny to you?” She hadn't meant to sound so biting. Fear was beginning its squeeze. It wouldn’t take very much for this to go very wrong, very quickly.
With her track record, it probably would.
“To be fair,” Ryuji said, “it should be. It said ‘Shujin’ on the gate.”
“I saw.” She clamped her mouth shut. Control.
Ryuji had to crane his neck to inspect the chandeliers. “I’m thinkin’ we’re on a prank show. How ‘bout you guys?”
Brynn's heart hammered. Something was wrong. “I don’t see any cameras.”
Ryuji hooked a thumb over his belt. “I’m outta ideas then.”
Something behind her scraped. Metal on stone, shrill and terrible.
Ryuji spun. “Shit man, you scared me!”
It was a figure in full knight’s armor, stood in the archway, sword and shield gleaming under candlelight. Each movement groaned like steel grinding against itself.
“Who’re you?” Ryuji called. “You a student?”
“You still think this is the school?” The panic in Brynn's voice exposed the alarm bells blaring in her head.
Ryuji took a step closer, half-laughing. “Man, that costume’s insane. That armor real?”
The knight slammed its shield into Ryuji's arm.
The impact rang.
"Hey!" Brynn yelled, lungs responding to the stab of panic.
Ryuji staggered back.
Another knight appeared behind the first.
“Hey, what’s goin’ on?!” Ryuji tried again, voice cracking.
Ren stepped closer to Brynn. He didn't believe it. She knew he didn't.
“We just need directions, okay!?” Ryuji's voice was loud, but his bravado was gone.
The first knight emitted a low, mechanical groan, raising its sword.
Ryuji shouted, hands up, surrender rejected. “Time out, man—”
Brynn’s feet were cemented to the spot. If she could manage any movement, she’d be straight out the door.
“Run!” Ryuji yelled.
The sword came down.
Ryuji crumpled.
Brynn’s scream tore from her before she knew it. Then instinct took over.
More knights poured from the eastern hall, boots slamming in rhythm, blades flashing.
Brynn spun, back to Ren’s. He’d raised his fists, like that would help, while she scanned the room. The front doors were still open. A straight shot out.
Her heart steadied.
She could make it.
Brynn took a flighty step towards the exit, and that’s when she felt it.
A jacket, slipping out of place on her shoulder.
The jacket Ryuji had given her without a second thought.
She could leave.
She could run, and no one would ever know.
But if she did... she’d see that jacket in every nightmare for the rest of her life.
What’s wrong with me?
It felt like they weighed eight tons, but she forced her feet to move to Ren’s side, her hands shaking.
They couldn’t leave without Ryuji.
She understood, distantly, that the world would not go back to normal after this.
But the nearest knight lunged. Ren swung. A metal hand caught his arm and twisted it behind him, ripping a small cry out of him.
Brynn turned, too slow.
A weight slammed the back of her skull.
Light shattered into sound.
And then, nothing.