"Ultraman, open your eyes, I am Zoffy." The alarm, which should have gone off promptly at 7:00, was delayed until 7:30, then 8:00.
In the bedroom of a luxurious duplex apartment, Awa Subaru, who had played Street Fighter VI all night, finally regained a sliver of consciousness. The moment she realized she still had a physical training class at the performing arts academy today, she suddenly sat up, responding to Zoffy's call, "I'll go with you! Quickly take me to the Land of Light!"
At this point, perhaps only a trip to the Land of Light could save today's class schedule.
The phone on her chest flew up with the data cable, then slammed against the wall and bounced under the bed. The phone screen glowed in the darkness, like a legendary treasure waiting for a hero in a dark cave.
She fumbled along the edge of the bed, reaching her head down, looking at her phone under the bed with a tearful expression.
Awa Subaru gestured the distance between herself and the phone.
After a moment of hesitation, she carefully pushed aside the warm duvet. Her smooth, fair feet lightly stepped onto the cold floor, making her shiver. Then, she painstakingly lay on the floor, crawling under the bed like a trench commando.
'Ugh, so cold...'
The unlocked phone screen displayed today's weather forecast.
[April 27, 2024.]
[AM 9:04.]
[Typhoon warning.]
After a while, Awa Subaru, having sufficiently appeased her phone, slipped on her slippers and rushed into the bathroom, turning on both the heater and the lamp.
Turning on the faucet, she splashed cold water on her face with a towel, finally feeling a bit more refreshed.
"Typhoon warning…"
Awa Subaru looked at the still clear sky and couldn't help but complain about the unreliability of the weather station, "Isn't it still sunny?"
No sooner had she spoken than a cold gust of wind squeezed into the bathroom.
The sky outside the window, clear as a mirror, instantly turned gray, the cloud sea pressed low, and with a sudden clap of thunder, it was as if the floodgates of a reservoir in the clouds had opened, and a swirling waterfall descended from the distant and vast stars.
Torrential rain swept over the tall buildings. Neon lights reflected dazzling, mottled streams of light in the boundless curtain of water. It was as if day and night had reversed, with pedestrians walking through the raging downpour with umbrellas, the various colored umbrellas like flowers blooming on the streets, without a refreshing fragrance, but rather a dampness filled with the unpleasant smell of stagnant water, annoyance, and complaints. The blurry light of a ramen stall sign by the roadside glowed, and a white-haired customer asked the equally old, monkey-thin chef for a steaming bowl of tonkotsu ramen.
Students and office workers rushing to school or work crowded at the entrance of the train station, sweat and rain mixing into a terrible anxiety as time ticked by. The not-so-spacious road outside the station was completely blocked by traffic, but adhering to traffic regulations, even the most impatient drivers didn't honk their horns, barely maintaining a peaceful and harmonious atmosphere.
----------------
Beep, beep beep, beep...
The alarm pre-set on the phone began to sound.
Kurusu Akira, slowly waking from his sleep, glanced out the car window. Rain trails formed winding water marks on the glass, and outside was an endless, iron-gray, high sky. The window sill was covered with a faint spray of water, pulling out long white lines. The cloud sea on the horizon blurred into a vast mist, and nearby station workers waved electronic glowing sticks, spreading deep red halos in the dense fog. Distant high-rise buildings, shimmering with neon lights, seemed to spread like pulsating root systems to the end of this boundless rain.
The weather forecast saying that rain clouds were drifting towards Kawasaki City was indeed true. When the train had just arrived in Kanagawa Prefecture, the weather was still fair. After closing his eyes for a short nap and then opening them again, he only saw rain pouring like a waterfall outside the car window, strong winds tearing countless cherry blossoms into the rippling water channels. Water flowed everywhere, both in the sky and on the ground. Listening with his eyes closed, it seemed as if the entire world was submerged in rain.
Kurusu Akira then looked at Iseri Nina, who was sitting by the car window.
Iseri Nina, in the next seat, was wearing Bluetooth headphones, likely playing Diamond Dust's "VOID." Her right hand gently cupped her cheek, her elbow resting on the car window, and her head tilted as she aimlessly watched the slow-moving rainy scenery outside the window.
'This girl is quite cute when she's quiet.'
Kurusu Akira thought idly.
'Too bad, she'll probably start making a fuss soon...'
As expected, after hearing Kurusu Akira's alarm through her headphones, Iseri Nina rubbed her eyes and looked out at the torrential rain, her mood immediately plummeting. With a look of panic, she started pestering Kurusu Akira with endless questions like, "What should we do if we don't have an umbrella?"
But the train had already arrived at the station. The Phantom Thief made a chopping motion with his hand and lightly tapped her forehead, "Let's go. They must sell umbrellas at the station!"
Iseri Nina immediately quieted down.
The train ride from Tokyo to Kawasaki was over an hour long.
No wonder Sakura Sojiro felt at ease letting them travel far... these two places were too close.
After walking through the magnificent hall and buying umbrellas, the two stood hesitantly at the station entrance.
Waterfall-like rain poured down from the square doorframe with a gushing sound, like a moving wall—even the wizards in "Harry Potter" would feel trepidation when passing through that wall at King's Cross Station to reach Platform Nine and Three-Quarters.
Iseri Nina believed she didn't have the courage to pass through this wall.
Although she seemed carefree on weekdays, she was still a girl, and being drenched in the rain on the street was definitely one of the things she hated most.
A passerby, also hesitating before this wall of water, exclaimed, "What heavy rain…"
Iseri Nina carefully poked Kurusu Akira's arm, "Where are we going next?"
"...Shin-Kawasaki Performing Arts Academy." Kurusu Akira was looking down, fiddling with his phone's navigation.
"That's a place for training acting skills, right?"
"Yes."
The Phantom Thief looked at the route displayed on the navigation and felt a twinge of discomfort, "Taking a taxi directly might cost several tens of thousands of yen."
"What if we don't take a taxi…" Iseri Nina looked at the rain curtain outside the station and silently stopped her foolish question.
The girl said dejectedly, "How unlucky, the weather turned so bad as soon as we arrived in Kawasaki."
Kurusu Akira patted her shoulder gently in a comforting gesture, "Don't worry, it's just a 'Typhoon warning' now. By the time we return to Tokyo, we'll probably run into a real typhoon."
The amount of information in that sentence was a bit much, leaving Iseri Nina stunned in place for a while. "Does that mean… we're going to be trapped in Kawasaki City by the typhoon?!"
Kurusu Akira fiddled with the umbrella in his hand, "Probably."
He looked up at the gloomy sky beyond the rain curtain, "We have to find a place to stay quickly now."
----------------
At the same time.
In the bathroom of a high-end apartment.
Awa Subaru scrutinized herself in the mirror, trying to force a smile... then suddenly deflated, listlessly turning on the faucet and filling the sink with hot water.
Then came the slow, leisurely process of washing, facial cleansing, and changing clothes.
The class schedule, it no longer mattered.
When a person is about to be late, they feel time is extremely pressing, every minute and second like expensive diamonds falling from a great height into a cliff, wealth disappearing with the stench of capital into the rushing cold wind. They become mentally tense, anxious, emotionally fragile; any failure at this point could shatter one's rationality. After rationality comes uncontrollable panic and anger projected onto the environment.
When a person is already a little late, they feel very nervous and timid, constantly thinking about the punishment and the cost they will have to bear due to being late. They will be restless until they know the outcome of their situation, only then will they suddenly relax and return to their normal state of work or study.
But what if... what if they were already very late, and knew for sure that no matter how fast they rushed, they couldn't catch up...
She found sports shorts from her wardrobe, then put on a dark gray short skirt over them, followed by a white shirt and a black hoodie.
Although the weather was cold, it was pouring rain. If she wore long pants, the cuffs would get wet and she'd have to wash them again, which would be troublesome.
Finally, she put on long rubber boots, donned a raincoat, and slung a single-shoulder bag containing the "sticker god tablet" deck, symbolizing darkness and evil, over her back.
Awa Subaru opened an umbrella she had bought at a "Sword Art Online" merchandise exhibition and took the elevator downstairs.
After hesitating for a moment in front of the apartment building's main entrance, she stepped into the curtain of water.
The black umbrella, with its tip like a dark spear, cut through the torrential rain and merged into the crowd.
The drizzling rain, the overwhelming rain, fell on the road surfaces covered in puddles, creating countless ripples as water splashed. The misty, varying heights of the bushes, like Kappa demons covered in Buddhist robes, hung their heads and closed their eyes, undergoing a baptism beneath the rain.
The damp red bricks covering the ground, emitting a stimulating pig's blood color, formed a strong contrast with the dense green belts around. Silvery-gray, sticky spider silk wove a large net in the sky, enveloping the entire Kanagawa.
Awa Subaru fabricated a story on her phone about the "difficulties and hardships of the journey to school," and then sent it to her teacher at the Performing Arts Academy.
After receiving an urging reply from the teacher, she finally breathed a sigh of relief, opened her umbrella, and set off for school.
Fine streams of water flowed down the umbrella's edge, merging into the inky shadows.
----------------
Clang, clang, the frosted glass sliding door slowly closed. Along with it came the steaming mist from the hot water and a short cry of pain.
Iseri Nina spent a full five thousand yen to rent a single room at a convenience hotel.
She hurriedly took a hot shower, then slipped on the foamy, wet tiles and fell. Looking at the empty shelf, she couldn't help but wail. She had no choice but to push the door open naked, was frozen and sneezed, and finally found the change of clothes she had forgotten to bring into the bathroom on her bed, shivering as she put them on.
Now lying on the soft, large bed in the hotel, she began to lament the many misfortunes of the day.
Kurusu Akira was staying in the room directly opposite hers.
The phone on her pillow was buzzing incessantly.
Iseri Nina took out her phone and saw that her bandmates in the chat group were all sending caring greetings to her and Kurusu Akira.
[Ijichi Nijika: It seems like a typhoon is going to hit Kawasaki today!]
[Yamada Ryo: The typhoon seems to be bypassing Kawasaki City... It's actually going to pass through Tokyo.]
[Kawaragi the Part-time Job God: Don't even mention it, I finally found a new part-time job last night... Looks like I won't be able to do it soon. (Kirito crying.jpg)]
[Togawa Sakiko: It's the same for me, many part-time jobs won't be possible.]
[Togawa Sakiko: @Kumamoto Genius Girl Nina (Iseri Nina) @The great cosmic being is so scary (Kurusu Akira), it should be pouring rain in Kawasaki right now, right? Have you and your classmates figured out what to do?]
[Togawa Sakiko: According to the typhoon path prediction from the meteorological station, you might be stranded in Kawasaki for the next few days.]
[Ijichi Nijika: That's right! Make sure to stay warm! Try not to get caught in the rain! Otherwise, getting sick will be very troublesome.]
...
Iseri Nina, who had just recovered from a serious illness, looked at the constantly scrolling chat box on her phone with a bitter expression.
There were no 'classmates traveling together'; this time, it was just her and Kurusu Akira in Kawasaki.
Tapping on the numeric keypad, after thanking a few friends, she received a private message from Kurusu Akira.
Concise and to the point.
[The great cosmic being is so scary: Open the door.]
Iseri Nina looked at her somewhat thin clothes and her un-dried hair, sighed, got out of bed, put on disposable slippers, pattered to the door, confirmed through the peephole that it was Kurusu Akira outside, then pattered back into the bathroom, grabbed a dry towel to wrap her wet hair, and only then went to open the door for him.
"Too slow."
The first thing Kurusu Akira did upon entering was to close the door.
Iseri Nina, not to be outdone, craned her neck and met his gaze, "We're trapped here now!"
"Do you have enough money?" The Phantom Thief glanced at her.
"Enough... enough, right?" Iseri Nina herself was a little unsure.
"I still have 120,000. Considering various living expenses, this money can only support my actions in Kawasaki for a week at most," Kurusu Akira went straight to the point. "Within a week, if the planned great sinner doesn't repent, we'll both be living on the streets."
He looked at Iseri Nina, "You, a runaway girl, probably don't want to ask your family for money, do you?"
Iseri Nina's momentum instantly plummeted to rock bottom, but she still weakly said, "I earned some money working part-time in Kumamoto before, and they also sent some living expenses to Sakura-san. Sakura-san gave me all the money when I left, so it should... be enough for a long time?"
Having parents is amazing.
The Phantom Thief, who currently had no parents, was momentarily speechless.
After deliberating for a moment, he reopened the topic, "Anyway, take out your phone first."
Iseri Nina obediently took out her phone, unlocked it, and handed it to Kurusu Akira.
"You said before that the 'Metaverse Navigator' completely disappeared after it dragged you into the Mementos, right?"
Iseri Nina nodded like a pecking chicken.
Kurusu Akira fiddled with it for a while, confirmed there was nothing unusual, and then returned it to her.
"But the enemy's goal has been achieved..." The Phantom Thief walked to the small sofa by the window, gripped the armrest, and sat down. "They just want me to be paranoid, constantly worried about the safety of those around me."
"Amamiya, so... uh, President! So, are you going to tell the band about these things?"
The Phantom Thief pulled back the curtains and looked at the snake-like streams of water coating the glass. "My 'Psychological Health Education Department' still has a large shortage of members. I'll just find an opportunity to bring them all in."
Iseri Nina hesitantly asked Kurusu Akira, "But everyone is just a normal person. They'll definitely be a burden to you when danger strikes."
Kurusu Akira glanced at her, "By the time we return to Tokyo next week, someone in the band will probably be able to awaken a Persona. Even if I'm not around, you'll be able to ensure your own safety to some extent."
This was also his plan.
Since he couldn't find a battle-hardened Persona user, nor a psychic with fully developed abilities—he might as well cultivate them himself.
Coincidentally, there was indeed a girl in the band who met the conditions for Persona awakening.
Togawa Sakiko, who was deeply in debt and had sacrificed too many important and cherished things for it, if she were to directly confront her father in the Mementos, whose desires had been twisted by the 'Abyss' and who had single-handedly destroyed their entire family... In such a situation, it would be strange if she didn't awaken a Persona, wouldn't it?
Iseri Nina was startled by Kurusu Akira's answer.
But soon, she looked at Kurusu Akira with some anticipation, then poked herself with her finger, her meaning clear: she also wanted to be a 'psychic'.
Kurusu Akira looked her up and down for a while, a little disdainfully, "Your life is pretty happy right now. Where would you get the deep-seated resentment to awaken a Persona?"
"Didn't you say that you only need a 'rebellious heart'...?" At this moment, Iseri Nina remembered the content of his lecture in the Mementos the day before yesterday.
"Simply resisting school bullying and running away from home to defy parents isn't enough to be considered 'rebellion'," the Phantom Thief answered patiently. "You'd at least need to have your 'most cherished possession' stolen, or experience life falling into despair, and still persist in resisting—at least to that extent to qualify."
He thought for a moment, "However, I do remember two other ways to awaken a Persona."
Iseri Nina, who had been greatly disappointed, immediately looked at Kurusu Akira with surprise.
But the Phantom Thief's next answer quickly dashed her hopes completely, "One is to possess the aptitude for awakening a 'Persona' while also having the courage to face death; the second is to overcome your inner most twisted and dark other self in an alienated world of consciousness through some kind of medium."
"They are quite a bit harder than the awakening method I first mentioned."
Kurusu Akira looked at the slightly less intense rain outside the window, "Of course, there's no need to be too disheartened, after all, no one can say for sure what the future holds... Next, we should go and conduct a field investigation of that performing arts academy."
"There have been quite a few 'missing person cases' and 'suicides' there recently."
"Like Ishihara from Class A?"
"Yes, it's as if they vanished into thin air, leaving no trace whatsoever."
Kurusu Akira told Iseri Nina to quickly dry her hair, while he walked out of the room and began to contact the dean via Line, asking for Principal Shinba's personal phone number.
----------------
At the same time.
Shin Kawasaki Performing Arts Academy.
After a physical training class, the instructor, dressed in a leotard, left the classroom.
The beautiful girls in the dance studio, whose nerves had been tightly strung for nearly an hour, finally relaxed. They gathered in twos and threes, walked out of the classroom, and began chattering in the spacious corridor about their future stardom and career paths.
But this lively and pleasant atmosphere quickly froze. It was as if a harsh winter had arrived, everything was silent, with only the softest whispers between friends, barely audible like mosquitoes.
They eyed Awa Subaru, who was coming in from the stairwell, putting away her umbrella and changing into her dance shoes, with various expressions, as if she was carrying a blood-stained katana. Its gleaming blade reflected the light, ready to cut down the next enemy at any moment.
"Hey, hey, hey, that girl is…"
"Shh! I heard she's been trying to hook up with powerful directors from film festival crews recently."
"I remember she's the granddaughter of that famous Awa Tendou, isn't she?"
"A family of actors, how dirty!"
"So dark, don't ever talk to her, or you won't be able to maintain a pure image later…"
It wasn't until Awa Subaru went up to the second floor via the stairs that the students' voices returned to normal, intentionally or unintentionally exuding a sense of "survivor's relief." As if this would make them feel more integrated and trendy, catering to topics their friends and classmates cared about.
Awa Subaru heard the discussions around her and couldn't help but raise her beautiful eyebrows, starting to imagine if she could pull a katana from her umbrella and chop those buzzing, fly-like people into pieces. But the umbrella was just an ordinary umbrella; trying to pull the handle hard like in various spy movies would only ruin this Kumamon and Sword Art Online collaboration merchandise she bought at a discounted price of nearly 20,000 yen.
She could only grip the katana like a samurai from the Edo period, holding back her edge, walking through the gazes of many, in eyes filled with either jealousy or disgust, heading straight to the mansion where her lord resided—
"Awa, you missed today's physical training class."
Awa Subaru tried her best to straighten her back, maintaining a polite and elegant smile.
But before she could explain, she saw the instructor wave her hand with some annoyance, "Go back to class. The 'performance experience class' is next, make sure you don't miss it again."
"Yes…" Awa Subaru's hand gripping the umbrella handle tightened, truly wishing she could draw a sword right now.
Walking out of the office, listening to the discussions along the way.
Her mood worsened.
Skip class.
This thought had been lingering in her mind repeatedly over the past two weeks.
No one knew where the rumors came from, but in just one day, they became rampant, becoming the main topic at this performing arts academy, and even subtly spreading to her original high school.
Both classmates and teachers began to look at her with strange eyes.
Even seeking help from her family was useless; let alone finding the source of the rumors, they couldn't even stop them.
Online, discussion posts began to appear constantly, large and small, starting with "that granddaughter of Awa Tendou," fabricating disgusting, groundless stories.
Awa Subaru looked at the rain wildly lashing against the corridor window.
'Today is April 27th… it's my birthday.'
'Congratulations, Awa Subaru, you are seventeen now.'
Perhaps it was the irritation accumulated from staying up late playing games, or the gloom brought by the spring-summer seasonal downpour. Emotions accumulated for various reasons finally erupted, unable to tolerate the strange looks and voices around her anymore—she simply walked straight down to the porch, changed back into her rain boots, opened her umbrella, and stepped into the rain.
She decided to be willful for once.
Awa Subaru, the holder of the dark "Runick" deck, was now going to a card shop to randomly pick a lucky duelist for a thrilling game of "Yu-Gi-Oh."
----------------
A softly lit space.
The rustling sound of cards being shuffled.
At the entrance of the "Red-Eyes Black Dragon" card shop.
The Phantom Thief, who had sunk into the Mementos for half an hour with no luck, left the child playing on his phone in the coffee shop and found this dangerous arena, deciding to vent his inner frustration and gloom by playing cards.
"Boss, rent a Tearlaments deck."
"Boss, a free table."
Two voices sounded simultaneously next to the counter.
Kurusu Akira saw that the other person was a very beautiful girl, but he didn't care about looks right now! His eyes were fixed on the deck in her hand… He saw it! It was the purple border symbolizing a "Fusion Monster!"
'Fusion? A Fusion deck that can be played in this era must be Tearlaments, right?!'
'Hmph, it must be a similar type of Visas Starfrost power.'
He took the pre-prepared deck from the boss and looked at the girl who had already received a table number.
And that girl, whom he had never met before, even returned his gaze with a look of mutual appreciation, "Want to duel?"
"Duel." A strong, resounding answer.
"My Fusion is definitely stronger than yours." Such confident words angered Kurusu Akira.
'The grievances I suffered in the Mementos, am I going to suffer them again at the card table?'
'What a joke?!'
The two found an empty table in the corner of the card shop and began to shuffle their decks according to the procedure.
Then, it was the draw phase.
It was as if they were on a Western cowboy duel set, both sides retreating seven steps before beginning a fight to the death.
Pouring life and death into the moment of drawing a card, what romance, what an electric thrill climbing from the fingertips touching the deck to the whole body, making one tremble uncontrollably.
At this moment, Kurusu Akira understood that the game he had been waiting for was not an ethereal data stream and textures, but the passionate shout of "Duel" in reality, and the grand gesture of playing a hand.
Just as a duel begins with the instantaneous drawing of a gun.
The outcome is revealed in an instant—
"I'm activating the effects of 'Runick Tip' and 'Dimensional Fissure.' Do you have a response?"
Kurusu Akira looked at the two green traps, Shaddoll Beast, Shaddoll Schism, and the Field Spell in his hand, his surging passion instantly freezing.
Then he watched as the girl, with a relaxed expression, searched for Runick Fountain and activated the effect of Runick Golden Droplet… The Runick spells in the graveyard began to exert their extraordinary resource recovery ability—
The duelist's will to win decayed in an instant, the belief in battle crumbled in a flash. Runick spells, with their evil power, constantly eroded Kurusu Akira's limbs.
Even the powerful Tearlaments could not exert an ounce of its strength when his hand was bricked.
'Is it not the deck that is weak, but me as a duelist…?'
The moment his deck was emptied, he could only blankly extend his right hand forward, indicating surrender.
At this moment, the only comfort for Kurusu Akira was the beautiful girl smilingly reaching out to lightly touch his right fingertips, "Awa Subaru, it's a pleasure to meet you."
Awa Subaru's smile was brilliant, as if all the accumulated bad emotions had been completely vented at this moment.
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