Chained Trickster

Arashi’s eyes snapped open when he woke next, and looked around frantically. However, he instantlyregretted that as his head started pounding again. “Easy there, kid.” That voice… Familiar but…he couldn’t place it. He let himself settle and the world slowly came back into view. He was in LeBlanc’s attic. He could feel multiple blankets on him. And Sakura sat next to him in a chair. Somehow, the older man had a look of worry on his face. Why…? Why was he worried…? Arashi was nothing but some stupid kid that had gotten into trouble and gotten a criminal record. He really didn’t understand why the man was so worried about him. “What…? Why am I at LeBlanc…?” Arashi’s voice was small and his head pounded. He put a hand on his head, squeezing his eyes shut. He heard the sound of some rattling. “Here… I have some painkillers for you. Your head hurts, huh? That Sakamoto kid said you took a pretty nasty tumble to the ground.” Arashi forced himself to open his eyes and he saw Sakura leaning forward, a couple pills in hand along with a glass of water. The man helped him take the painkillers and Arashi slumped against the pillow again. Wait… The mattress felt…a lot nicer than last night. “Did the delivery company come then…?” he asked quietly. Sakura nodded. “Yeah, this is your new mattress. It should be a lot more comfortable than the other one I had up here. Are you hungry? Do you think you could keep anything down?” Arashi shook his head. “No… My stomach is doing backflips.” Whatever had happened in the castle… That hadn’t all been a dream, right? No, Wild Card; that was no dream. That foul defiler will meet his justice in due time. Arsene’s voice rang in his head and he sighed. How was he supposed to explain this to Sakura? It was absolutely ludicrous. Castles, weird outfits, a bobble-headed cat, a king in a speedo, and strange beings that came from his mask… He had no idea how to explain that without sounding insane. Sakura would definitely commit him if he told him all of that. But he also didn’t want to lieto Sakura either… What was he supposed to do? He glanced over at the clock and saw it was evening. He frowned. “How long was I out for?” “Well, it was around noon when I got a call from that Sakamoto kid on your phone… The school then called me to pick you up.” So he was out for around seven hours… Yeesh. “What happened to you, kid? Walking to school shouldn’t have had thatsort of effect on you. And why did you miss half the day in the first place?” Sakura’s tone was worried more than anything else. Arashi rolled over and grabbed one of the extra pillows, hugging it tightly. “It was weird. You won’t believe me.” Weird was the understatement of the century, but he didn’t know how else to describe it. It was just beyondbizarre. Sakura wouldn’t believe him. He’d just drop him off at the psych ward. Arashi felt certain of that. Sakura took his glasses off and rubbed the bridge of his nose. “I’ve seen some strange things, kid… An old friend used to research some very, very oddball stuff…” His tone was heavy. Clearly, something had happened to that old friend. What it was, Arashi wasn’t certain. But ‘oddball stuff’, huh? He doubted it was even half as strange as what he’d experienced today. It still felt unreal, but the strain on his body and psyche definitely were real. He would still have to go to school tomorrow, though, no matter how he felt… All of this was likely the strain of having to keep Arsene under control… The Persona went on a rampageif not controlled well. He wished he had more explanation for what all of this was… He’d have to try to track that cat, Morgana, down again… Arashi remained silent for a while. “Look, kid, I’m not going to yell at you. Just…tell me what happened. I’m your guardian now and I’m worried… You seemed doggedly determined to get to school today, but then thishappened. It just doesn’t add up.” Sakura’s voice remained quiet, a worried edge to his tone. Normally he’d be on guard, but he was just…too tired. Reluctantly, Arashi recounted the tale of what had happened. It was then that he remembered what seemed like an app closing on his phone. He patted his pockets for his phone but frowned. “Where’s my phone?” The app would be the only physical proof of what he had said. He knew he had it when he got out of the castle. “Ah, it might be in your backpack…” Sakura got up and rifled through the outside pockets, then came back with Arashi’s phone a moment later. He handed it to Arashi and Arashi opened it. He hadn’t installed any apps beyond what it came with since he really didn’t needanything else. He pointed to the weird eyeball app. “This… I think this is what got us to the castle.” “That…doesn’t look like anything I’ve ever seen before.” Arashi opened it. Input coordinates.“It’s a navigation app of some sort…” He pondered. “Kamoshida. Shujin. Castle.” Too far from source to activate Metaverse navigation. “Metaverse…?” He shook his head, not able to make anything of it. “Well, that does seem to prove your story,” Sakura said. “It’s odd, but I believe you.” He sat back in the chair. “For now, just relax for the evening. If you feel up to eating, you do have the last remains of your meal from a few days ago. It’s late and I need to get home. But if you need anything, you call me right away,okay?” Arashi nodded, though he knew he wouldn’t do anything like that. Sakura left and Arashi stayed flopped against the pillow, staring at the ceiling. He had no ideawhat to do with himself. The pounding in his head was fading bit by bit, but he doubted he was going to eat anything tonight. He laid there for a long while until the worst of the pounding went away, then changed into his pajamas and took his contacts out. He flipped out the light and got ready for bed, curling up on the mattress and falling asleep. However, he soon found himself in shackles and a jail cell again. He sat up and looked around, only to see Igor and the two lolis again. Great… His mind was so stressed he was having this dream again. He reallydidn’t want to confront them but he had no choice apparently… “Get up, Inmate! Our master wants to speak with you!” the more aggressive one said. She banged her baton against the cell bars again and he sighed. He just wanted to sleep. Why, whycouldn’t he just be left alone after today? All he wanted to do was rest. Why was his mind badgering him like this? He really didn’t want to deal with this. But he got up and walked to the front of the cell. “Welcome again, Trickster. It appears you’ve awakened to your powers, so your rehabilitation can truly begin,” Igor said. “Just shut up and let me go back to sleep,” he said. He still felt the heavy exhaustion from his waking life. Weren’t dreams supposed to be an escape from reality? Why did this feel so real then? This was the second time he’d had this dream… And weren’t dreams supposed to be inconsistent? “That’s no way to speak to our master!” The girl hit the bars with her baton again, but he just didn’t give a damn. “How about you shut up as well? I just want to sleep for fuck’s sake.” Ugh. He was so tired.Why did it feel like this was just an extension of the real world to some degree? Why did he feel so exhausted? All he wanted was to be in the peaceful depths of oblivion that came with sleep. “My, may, quite the response. Very well. I do hope you enjoy the Metaverse Navigator and train well as a thief. Your rehabilitation and the ruin the world may come to will depend on it,” Igor said. With that, oblivion took him again, but it felt like only a moment until he was awake again. He sat up and the pounding in his head had at least subsided for now. That was a mercy. He still felt sluggish and weak, but he needed to go to school… He really couldn’t afford to miss anything more. He would probably already be sent to the guidance office… He hated all of this, but there wasn’t much he could do about it. He got dressed and headed downstairs where Sakura stood behind the counter. A brown paper bag stood next to him. Sakura was already cooking and had a bento next to him. Arashi winced. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t eat the bento from yesterday.” Food wasted because of him. He didn’t like it one bit… But it wasn’t like he had triedto skip school or lunch or anything. The weird-ass castle had taken where the school was. He wished he could just have a normal-ass day at school, but that hadn’t happened. He just… He was trying… He really was, but life kept throwing him curve balls. Sakura shook his head. “Kid, you could have died yesterday. I think a bento should be the lowestthing on your list of worries. I already cleaned it up yesterday when I brought you back to LeBlanc.” He paused. “However, I did make an appointment with a doctor for you. She’s local and within walking distance. I just want to make sure you’re physically fine after all of that.” He sighed. “I made it for later in the evening just in case you go back into that castle… For some reason, you strike me as the type to not sit around on your laurels.” Well… That definitely was pretty true. He wasn’t the type to just sit around with his thumbs up his ass. “I’ll have to talk with Sakamoto.” That was all he’d say on the matter. With whatever beef Sakamoto had on the king, he had a feeling Sakamoto would want to go back into the castle. He’d already confirmed that the Metaverse Navigator was how they got in there… They just had to avoid triggering it on accident… That was probably what had landed them there in the first place. Somehow, he’d accidentally tripped the Navigator. Sakura nodded. “All right then.” He cleared his throat and held up the paper bag. “Here, kid, I got you this on my way home last night.” Arashi blinked. A gift…? What sort of gift would Sakura get him? They were entirely strangers at this point, though Sakura was definitely coming across nosy. He did take the paper bag and peered inside. He pulled out a round, fat shiba inu plush that was incredibly soft. He took it in both hands and stared at it for a long moment, then looked up Sakura. “What is this for?” It seemed completely unrelated to anything. “I saw how you picked up that pillow last night when you woke up. You’ve…not had anything like that in a long time, right?” Arashi blinked, still looking up at Sakura. He was right but… “I don’t really needthis.” “You might find you need it at some point.” Sakura smiled. “I’ll go put it upstairs for you while you eat.” He put a plate in front of Arashi and took the plush, then headed upstairs. Arashi started to eat, still puzzled by it. Plushes were for kids. He wasn’t a kid anymore. He was still a minor under Japanese law, sure, but mentally, he was waymore mature than a lot of people his age… Growing up on the streets had really made him wise up and grow a lot faster than he should’ve. He knew things most people his age wouldn’t. However, he froze when Sakura came back downstairs. “Wait… Did you go through my bag for the bento?” “It was on top.” Arashi let out a breath and deflated the tension in his chest quite a bit. He didn’t want Sakura to know about the lockpick kit in his bag that he always had with him. He’d managed to find it in the trash of someone else’s house while on the street and it’d been invaluable to his survival on the streets. He used it to get into the house that he should have been living inand locked dumpsters that would have good supplies in them. That was it. He only ever used it for survival. That was all he wanted… To survive. Like everyone else. “Okay.” He finished up eating and then grabbed his bag, gently putting the bento inside. “I’ll be back when I’m done either with school or going through the castle.” It felt strange to tell Sakura about the bizarre encounter, but, somehow, the man had believed him. It was still really weird to think about. He hadn’t made anyof it up either… The Metaverse Navigator made sure of that. It had shown that the castle was real and the coordinates were Kamoshida’s heart… He headed out and followed the route through the subway, winding back up where he’d met with Sakamoto and that blonde girl. Sakamoto walked up and grinned. “Hey, man! You up for more castle scaling after school?” Arashi put his finger to his lips. “Don’t go shouting about that in public! People will think we’re nuts.” Sakamoto sighed. “Right… Sorry. Anyway, wanna meet up after school and talk about it?” “That’s probably the best thing to do. It’s best to just act like normal students for now. Though I have to meet with Kawakami-sensei before class.” He sighed. “Do you think you could show me the staff room?” “Yeah, sure. Just follow me.” Sakamoto led them through the alleyway that had led them to Kamoshida’s castle but…it was just the school. Well, that was a relief. It still didn’t stop the prickling on his neck, though. He felt like he was being watched for some reason. Something wasn’t quite right here. But he didn’t say anything and just followed Sakamoto. He had a talk with Kawakami about mundane things and he got a lecture about showing up to class on time that he had to endure for a little while. But she sighed and looked at the clock. “Come on. Class starts soon…” He followed her down to the classroom and sat at the desk she directed him to. He blinked when he saw the blonde girl from yesterday. “Hey… I met you yesterday morning,” he whispered. She turned around and looked at him. “Yeah… We did. Do you want to talk at lunch?” “Sure.” Arashi let classes pass by and took as many notes as he possibly could, trying to make sure he absorbed everything. However, one of the teachers bitched at him and attempted to throw a piece of chalk at him. With his lightning reflexes, he dodged it quickly and easily. Stupid adults. They had no idea what they were getting into with him… Fucking bastards, the lot of them. Were the teachers here really so vindictive that they had nothing better to do than bitch at a student and attempt to assault them with physical objects? Eventually, classes broke for lunch and Arashi pulled out his bento. It felt odd to have a bento… When he did attend class, he never got lunch from the school or anything like that. He just had to go without as usual. He wasn’t complaining about it; he definitely wanted the food. It was just odd to have it at all. There were somany adjustments he had to make. Schools turning into castles being one of the least of them. The blonde girl turned around with her chair. He could hear whispers and the other students looked at him. His shoulders dropped a bit. It would be nice to have a friend in class but… “…You probably shouldn’t talk to me. People are staring. Since you and Sakamoto knew about me…I can only assume other people do, too… You shouldn’t associate with a criminal,”he whispered bitterly, squeezing his eyes together. “Nah, I’m an outcast anyway. Most people…don’t treat me kindly…especially as of late.” The girl’s voice was quiet and Arashi looked over at her. A lump formed in his throat and he nodded a bit. He didn’t want other people to get dragged down because of him, but in the end, it was her choice. All he could do was dissuade her, but it seemed like she didn’t care. He wondered what her relationship with Kamoshida was, but that felt far, fartoo personal to ask right now. “Anyway, what brought you to Shujin of all places?” “It was where the courts ordered me to come.” “Kawakami-sensei told us you were supposed to start yesterday, but something came up. What happened?” He frowned. “Um… A lot.” The girl looked at him then blinked. “Oh right, I’m sorry. My name’s Takamaki Ann. And you were Honoka, right?” Arashi nodded rage bubbling up inside of him again. He felt strength stir within him, but he pushed it down. He didn’t need Arsene or any of that weird supernatural shit right now. “Yeah.” He hated his birth name but there wasn’t much he could do about it right now. He couldn’t legally begin transitioning until he was 18. It sucked, but that was all he knew. He was pretty sure there would be draconian measures of some kind, considering how restrictive Japan was, but he hadn’t looked them up. No point, not when he’d been on the streets of a small town. “It’s nice to meet you, Honoka.” He pursed his lips together hardand Takamaki looked at him. “Are you all right?” “Yeah, I’m fine… I’m just…not very fond of that name. It brings up bad memories.” Not a lie by any stretch. It did bring up bad memories… He just wasn’t saying whatthe memories were. “Is there a name you’d rather me call you?” “Just call me by my last name.” It was less stressful than hearing his birth name day in and day out. Kurusu was fairly neutral as far as things went. And, well, he knew what would happen if he told anybody that he didn’t identify as female. They’d throw any good will back in his face and mock him at the very least. At worst, he’d get hatred and mockery. Plus, people were nearby. They were probably listening. It’d get arond the school quick that he didn’t identify as female and he did notwant that to happen. “That…feels too impersonal. But if it’s what you want.” Takamaki didn’t look convinced. “Where are you from?” “A ho-dunk village in the mountains you’ve probably never heard of. Maybe a thousand people.” It was a small village that nobody had ever heard of. There was no point in even namingit… It was mostly elderly people and people looking to get away from the city. He absolutely hated it. The people that had all been born there and never moved away knew each other. Everyone was up in each other’s business… He just… “I see. Well, do you have anything to ask me?” “Are you haafu or…? There just aren’t a lot of blondes in Japan. Your hair looks natural.” Takamaki rubbed the back of her neck. “I’m one-quarter American. Both my mom and grandma were blondes. But I was born and raised here in Japan. I have traveled a fair bit, though. I have dual citizenship so I’ve been to the US a fair few times. I’m a natural citizen since my mom is one too.” Arashi nodded. “I see… Has that made it hard growing up?” Takamaki sighed. “Yeah.” He had accidentally struck a nerve so it was best to back up. “Do you have any interests?” There. Nice and safe. “Oh, yeah.” She turned around and got in her desk, pulling out a stack of origami paper and then laughed. “You should see my room. There are countless chains of cranes in there.” She got her phone and showed him some pictures. There were just chains and chains of origami cranes from floor to ceiling. “Wow… I can’t imagine how long that must’ve taken.” The room looked pretty big too… If she’d traveled to the US a ‘fair’ few times, how wealthy was she? He wasn’t about to go asking her for anything, but he just had to wonder. “I’ve been doing this since I was really little, so I can do some pretty advanced stuff.” She smiled. “If you’d like, I could teach you how to make a crane.” They were both pretty much done eating. Arashi closed his bento and put it in his bag. “Sure, I don’t see why not.” Takamaki pulled out a couple pieces of the paper and started showing him how to fold the paper correctly. He messed up more than a few times so she had to have him restart. Unfortunately, they hadn’t finished by the end of lunch period and Arashi frowned. “Sorry for wasting your paper.” Takamaki shook her head. “It’s fine. I’ve been doing it since I was little, like I said, so it’s pretty easy for me. A lot of people aren’t as precise and detail oriented as I am because of it. Don’t worry so much. Maybe we can pick up tomorrow.” She smiled at him and he nodded a bit. “That…might be fun.” This conversation was so…mundane. Talking to someone like a normal person… It really was a novel concept for him at this point. And he’d never been able to have a hobby or anything like that before… Well, unless one counted looking up at the stars and counting them on cloudless nights. He didn’t know anything about astronomy or constellations or anything like that since he’d never studied them before. The stars were interesting even if he knew nothing about them. Takamaki continued to smile. “I’ll bring more paper then! This stuff isn’t that expensive. I have a hugestock of it at home.” “Okay.” The teacher then asked for everyone’s attention and they went back to taking notes and solving problems.