Chapter Text
Moving to the big city had to be one of, if not, the most overwhelming thing Akira had experienced in his life. He couldn’t stand it- the busy streets, the crowded places; it overwhelmed him, and it wasn’t too exciting for him.
So now, here he was– squished inside one of the most crowded train carriages he had experienced in his life. Though he was sitting down, he had no sort of personal space, with people rushing past him left and right. Akira bit his lip, bringing his bag closer to his chest in an attempt to appear as inoffensive as he could.
Criminal.
What an odd word. It echoed in his brain constantly, making him unable to think about anything else at the moment. Him? A criminal record? That had to be some sort of joke from the gods, he was a good person! Well, he thought he was.
Akira bit his lip, his expression souring as he looked down at his lap. Thoughts began to occupy his mind, making Akira’s expression blank for a while. For one moment, he came back to reality, and used that fraction of a second to tear his gaze off of his hands, and look at something else.
His silver eyes looked to the side, staring at the person whose back was facing away from him. He examined them, taking a mental note of their haircut- decently neat, tied in a half-up ponytail like some sort of attempt of keeping it away from the person’s eyes. His eyes squinted at the hair color, however.
Akira was used to seeing black and brown hair, sometimes even blonde! But… ginger? It caught his interest a little. Maybe that guy had bleached their hair, and never bothered to redye it? Or perhaps it was just natural, and Akira was simply overthinking hair color.
He tore his gaze away, moving it to his right. Close to the doors, stood another person. Earbuds sat in her ears, obvious by the cord extending from her phone, to underneath her hair. Her fingers tapped against her hip, lost in whatever song she was jamming to.
Wait, dyed hair?
On her shoulders rested colorful hair; periwinkle, he deducted. It faded into a more natural, dark brown. Well, as natural as hair that looked self-cut could look. But what stood out the most for Akira, was the fact that both of them wore the Shujin uniform. Or well, a version of it.
While the ginger had his blazer discarded and sleeves rolled up, the girl had a long skirt- much longer than the average student. And… flipflops? With socks?
‘Are people in this school really that weird…?’ Thought Akira, before shaking his head at what he just thought, ‘I suppose I fit right in, then…’
Akira’s hand slid to his thigh, resting next to his school back. He shouldn’t think like that- Akira knew better than to judge books by their cover.
The intercom began to boom, a loud voice announcing; “The next stop, Aoyama-Itchome district.”, and then repeated the words. With a dissatisfied sigh, Akira rose himself up from the chair, pushing past the sea of people that surrounded him in an attempt to get to the door.
“Awh, seriously? Why did it have to rain…” A girl whined, holding tightly onto the handle of her umbrella. Her shoes bounced against puddles, holding her friends hand.
“Come on, let’s hurry up before we get soaked…” Another girl complained, trying to stay as protected as she could underneath her friends small umbrella.
He should’ve checked the weather forecast. Akira mentally slapped himself, immediately taking refugee underneath the first store he saw. His back pressed against the cobble wall, counting the seconds until the rain passed. Late on his first day, what kind of impression was he supposed to make?! That he was a troublemaker who came whenever he pleased?
Akira’s ears caught on footsteps, a voice coming from his right, “No, I’m not going— what do you mean I have to attend?!” Complained the girl, making Akira’s head tilt to the right. He stared at the side of her face, noticing her annoyed expression, and the faintest furrow of a brow.
The girl went silent, fidgeting with the hem of the white turtleneck that she wore. Her lips parted, teeth showing while the brunette inhaled. How weird it was, that he ran into the same person that was on the train.
“But you know why I don’t wanna go…” Responded the brunette, lowering her head in silence. Her dark lips pursed, switching her weight back and forth from the tip of her feet, to the soles. A little sigh came from her mouth, voice going softer, “I don’t really care about that… I’ll come up with something.”
A final nod came from her on the phone, and she slowly pulled her phone away from her ear, staring at the contact with a worried expression. She pressed the ‘end call’ button, and sighed deeply. The brunette’s hazel eyes closed, matching Akira’s action by resting her back against the wall.
The world went silent around them- awkwardly silent, that is. His head tilted innocently, and he opened his mouth to say something, maybe even introduce himself. But the moment a small noise came from his mouth, her voice rang out; cold and annoyed.
“Why are you standing there like an idiot?” She asked, her eyes opening to look at him. She crossed her arms over her chest, and scoffed, “You’re from Shujin, right? You’ll be late on your first day, fluff-boy.”
“Fluff-boy…?” He repeated, raising one hand to his hair to poke at it. ‘What an odd nickname’, he thought. A little scoff came from her lips, and she turned around.
The girl glanced one more time at him, pushing her blazer off of her shoulders, to instead place it over her head, “The rain won’t end you. Stop moping like that.”, she scoffed, and stepped out into the rain- going the opposite direction of Shujin.
‘Weirdo…’ Akira thought, turning his head to the opposite side instead. Silver eyes immediately widened, staring at the other girl sitting next to him. He watched her pull her hood off, blue eyes meeting with his own silver ones, and he smiled.
“Stupid, frizzy haired fuck, and his ugly glasses…” A girl murmured, her hands shoved deep into the pockets of her long skirt. A huff came out of her lips, walking deeper into the different alleyways of the Red Light district. It was emptier than usual, that much was obvious; no normal person frequents this place in the daylight.
Her bangs dropped over her face, the girl’s head snapping upwards the moment a voice came out from right behind her. “Yyyyou! The.. the brunette over there….!!” Came from a raspy voice, making the girl’s brows furrow in annoyance.
Her nose scrunched up in disgust at the scent, making her blink. Alcohool? Maybe a hint of cigarettes too. Her hand lifted up underneath her jaw, fingers picking at the face mask underneath her chin. She pulled it upwards obscuring the bottom half of her face.
“What’s someone like yew… doin’ here… hmmm?” Asked the voice, making the girl’s eyes close from the sudden casualty that he had. Male, in their forties, she guessed. The girl turned around, and blinked innocently.
“Me?” Asked the girl, bringing a hand to her chest. Cautiously, she stepped backwards, putting the slightest of distance in between her and the person. Her eyes were slightly widened, playing it off as innocence rather than annoyance.
“Yes, you…..! Who…. else is hereee…?” He questioned, and hiccuped loudly. The girl crossed her arms underneath her chest, her expression faltering ever so slightly, “Sorry, but shouldn’t someone of your age be at work right now…?” She asked, the softest of venom mixing with a fake, higher-pitched voice.
“Work…” He repeated, getting silent right after. His eyes squinted, sorting out his thoughts for a small moment, “Nnnnnahhh…. You’re more interesting, aha…” He smiled, grinning from one ear to another. “What’s yer name, girlie…?”
The girl’s expression soured, blinking in what seemed to be pure annoyance. A scoff came out of her lips, and she murmured, ‘Is this guy for real…?’. Dissatisfied, the girl turned around, continuing to ignore the person rather than continue the chit-chat.
“Hey. HEY!!! Don’t leavveeeee!!!” He called out, immediately rushing towards her. His hand reached out, gripping onto her wrist, and the brunette’s head immediately snapped back, glaring at his actions.
“Did I say you can touch me?” She asked, her voice lower than before- her anger radiating from her voice. Her other hand reached out, gripping his own arm, and then twisted it until it hurt. She went silent for a moment, and then continued, “If I was you, I wouldn’t approach strangers and touch them. I’d rather not lose a tooth.”
The girl let go of his hand, the guy now stumbling back on the ground, hissing in pain from the grip on his skin. He rubbed the area, trying to soothe the horrible stinging sensation against his flesh. She turned around, her steps growing hurried while she walked away, retreading to one of the main streets, where people would see if she were to get approached once more.
The teacher, Ms. Kawakami, cleared her throat, grabbing the attention of the class. “Attention, everyone,” she demanded, holding a book in her left hand. “From today, a new student will be joining us.” Explained the woman, and took a step backwards. “Please, introduce yourself.”
The whole class went silent, all of the attention falling onto him instead. His fists tightened inside of his pockets, and with a quiet voice, he said: “My name is Akira Kurusu…”
He turned around, stepping towards the chalkboard. Once there, his right hand moved to the first piece of chalk he saw. He picked it up, lifting it towards the chalkboard as he began to write out his name.
The teacher nodded, watching him turn around. “You can sit… um…” She thought outloud, scanning the class for the empty seats. Her brows furrowed, thinking very hard about where to seat him. “Right there. second to last seat, window row.”
Akira let out a meek nod, going to right where the teacher had pointed them. He kept his head low, ears catching onto low whispers- whispers about him, speculating and taking things out of proportion.
“Isn’t that the guy on probation…?”
“I better not get on his bad side… what if he gets violent?”
His brows furrowed, and Akira dropped his bag onto the desk with a little thud. He tried to ignore them; the chattering, the little murmurs about him, the speculation that he was going to do something horrible… Akira pulled out his chair, and sat down.
“First a delinquent… now a student with a record…” The teacher murmured, raising a hand towards her forehead. She sighed, her voice filled with exasperation, “I’m so unlucky…”
‘Delinquent…?’
Akira’s eyes darted around the classroom, eventually falling onto a chair opposite of him, right on the other side of the classroom. It was empty, notably so by the lack of a person sitting there. His eyes fixated onto the spot, getting more focused on that specific space.
‘That’s their seat, is it not…?’ He thought, putting two and two together from the limited information he had received. His attention fell on that specific seat, today’s lesson fading into a distant background in his ears.
Akira’s hand pressed against the wooden desk, the contact with it making him come back to reality. He dragged his eyes ahead at the chalkboard, raising up his arm to support his head instead. But instead of paying attention, his mind was once more, elsewhere.
‘A castle…? Pervy teacher…?’ He thought, his eyes growing half-lidded for just a moment. He couldn’t wrap his head around it to be honest, and Akira wished it was just his mind playing a silly trick on him.
But it felt too real. Much too real.
He blinked. Once, twice, and then actually realized how the class was already over. He pushed back his chair, cringing at the sound of wood scraping against itself, and then stood up. Akira walked outside of the classroom, but immediately paused.
“Kurusu, one moment,” Called out his homeroom teacher, approaching him from behind. Worry etched onto her features, and she began to explain, “You should head straight home without stopping by anywhere.” Explained Ms. Kawakami, before continuing, “Sakura san sounded pretty angry.”
Akira nodded, and Kawakami spoke again, “One more thing-“ she called out, her eyes widening just slightly. “If you hear someone go by the name ‘Chitose’, please stay away from her. She’s… troubled.”
Her voice grew quiet at the last part, hinting that she knew more than she spoke. Kawakami went silent for a moment, immediately bouncing back right after. “Oh, and about Sakamoto-kun. Don’t get involved-“
Kawakami immediately cut herself off, looking at the bleached hair that was approaching them. “Speak of the devil…” She murmured, and then shook her head in disappointment.
“What do you want?” She asked, placing one hand onto her hip. Kawakami’s eyebrow rose, and she continued to speak, “I heard the police caught you ditching classes today.”
Ryuji let out a little scoff, and then murmured, “Ah…”, looking away in embarrassment. A forced smile came onto his lips, and he made eye contact with the teacher, “It was nothin’…”
The blonde cleared his throat, immediately walking past the teacher in an attempt to escape her gaze. He nudged Akira’s shoulder with his own, motioning with his head to follow him up to the rooftop. Ryuji’s eyes glanced back every now and then, making sure Akira was following him.
Akira leaned back against some discarded desks, fidgeting with his fingers every now and then. He didn’t expect to be asked so suddenly to ‘investigate’, as Ryuji called it, that castle once more. Still, he reluctantly agreed.
“I have a question,” Began Akira, his hand gripping the edge of one of the desks, “Do you know anything about a delinquent?” He asked, staring down at Ryuji with his silver eyes.
Silence fell in between the two, with Ryuji staring at him like he just saw a ghost in real time. “Delin…quent?” He repeated, Ryuji’s lips sitting parted in confusion.
Ryuji went silent for once more, lowering his head for just a moment. The blonde thought long and hard, before, “Don’t tell me you actually met-“ He asked, tilting his head back up.
“Ms. Kawakami told me to avoid someone named ‘Chitose’,” Explained Akira, lifting one of his hands up. He scratched his chin, giving a little nervous laugh, “I was just curious.”
“Ah.. yeah…” Ryuji replied, lifting his hand up to rub the back of his head awkwardly. He smiled nervously, his eyes closing, “I… uh, did run into her once.” He explained, his smile growing more forced, “Really nice girl. A little rude, though. Dunno much about her.”
Akira’s lips pursed at the information, his eyes squinting at Ryuji. The blonde coughed awkwardly, and began to mumble, “She… wasn’t like this in the first year. Met her when we both skipped classes, and talked.”
A little smirk appeared on Akira’s lips, one of his eyebrows raising the next second. “You skipped class?” He asked, crossing his arms underneath his chest. Akira’s head tilted, watching Ryuji’s reaction.
“I– dude, it was a long time ago!!” Protested the blonde, standing up from his chair at the assumption. Ryuji then went silent, blinking at the realization that he got caught red-handed. “Besides,” He continued, sitting back down. “She doesn’t want me speaking to her. Something about… making a reputation worse than it is.”
Akira’s posture straightened, dropping his hands to rest against his thighs. “Did you learn her name?” He asked, curiosity latching his voice.
“Machi Chitose.”