Chapter Text
"Don't worry, I'll bring you your happiness. Pleasant dreams, for as many days or years as you may have."
Akira vaguely remembered those words echoing in his head. Hm...Who was that again...He turned to his side, dust falling off the blanket. He was tired. Wasn't there something he had to do?
Something...He tried opening his eyes, but they felt too heavy.
Oh well.
He turned once more and went back to sleep. It didn't matter anyway.
"Sojiro- Curry!" Futaba grinned, barging into the small cafe, everyone behind her laughing and talking. They wanted to celebrate Haru's and Makoto's graduation, so of course they had ended up in their "hideout".
Her mother smiled, siping her coffee in one of the barstools as Sojiro laughed, shaking his head as everyone poured in. For some reason, she felt her chest tighten a little when she saw her. Her eyes wandered away to the stairs to the attic -
Wait.
Was that a bug? LeBlanc didn't have an attic - And sure enough, as she blinked in surprise, she only saw the wall. Weird.
"You guys again? I'm going to have to start charging you if you keep freeloading like this." He laughed, along with Wakaba as he walked towards the small kitchen.
"We're thankful for always treating us boss." Makoto smiled politely. Haru nodded cheerfully.
"Perhaps it's time for us to start actually paying - we three are after all no longer highschoolers." Akechi hummed.
"I-Is it possible to open a tab for later payment?" Yusuke looked away. "I am a little short on cash-" Sojiro laughed.
"Forget it - I'm not charging my favourite regulars."
"AW, heck yeah! You're the best boss!" Ryuji shouted and almost everyone put a hand on their face.
"Vulgar as always..." Morgana sighed taking a seat.
"Oh, shut it-"
"Come on you too!" Ann rolled her eyes. "No fighting on Haru's and Makoto's graduation party!" Haru giggled.
"Well, it certainly is in character for them to argue."
"There's no helping it huh?" Makoto sighed. Akechi grinned.
"Idiots..." He mumbled.
"What did you say!?" Both Morgana and Ryuji shouted at the same time, making everyone laugh.
Wakaba took the last sip of her coffee.
"Well then - I have to get back to my work now." She said getting up, ruffling Futaba's hair. "See you later pumkin~"
"Mooooom" Futaba whined, fixing her hair. "You're embarrassing me!" Wakaba waved goodbye with a smile, exiting the cafe.
"Awww, Futaba, you're so cute!" Ann giggled.
"Shut it!" She pouted.
"W-Well, no one is as beautiful as you Lady Ann-" Morgana started leaning against her, making Ryuji roll his eyes as Ann gave him a playful shove away. Kasumi nodded cheerfully.
"You really are Futaba-senpai!" She immediately put a hand over her mouth. "Ah, I forgot! No formalities! I'm terribly sorry -" she started getting flustered. "What I mean -" She continued mumbling as everyone laughed and Sojiro passed plates of curry and hot coffee -and cocoa- for everyone.
"I'll leave you to celebrate then." He smiled as he went to leave. "Remember to -" he turned towards behind the counter, but stopped. "Huh. I could have sworn-" He shook his head, putting on his hat. "Well, nevermind. Just don't burn this place down while I'm gone, alright?" He left as everyone said various versions of "Yes boss!"
Sometime later, the conversation had started to die down, as everyone had finished their food. Makoto was doing the dishes, Kasumi hovering over her. Futaba couldn't shake away the feeling that something was wrong. No scratch that - it definitely wasn't only her. Everyone looked uneasy. Makoto kept scrubbing the same dish with a worried look, Kasumi almost didn't finish her second plate and was now pacing the tiny kitchen, Akechi kept looking from his nearly empty cup to the wall in the back, back to his cup and back to the wall again with a puzzled look on his face. Ann, Ryuji, and Morgana kept turning towards an empty spot behind the counter as if to include someone who wasn't there, their grin dying down a little each time they did. Yusuke kept looking towards the entrance as if the secret to his next painting was somehow hidden in that small corner and Haru kept crossing and uncrossing her fingers, looking down her lap.
"H-Hey..." Futaba started. "So, um, is it just me or...something's wrong?" Everyone fell silent. Makoto closed the faucet.
"So, it wasn't just me..." She turned towards everyone with a grim expression. Kasumi -why did it feel weird to call her Kasumi? That was her name, it's not weird to call people by their names- nodded hesitantly.
"I've had a rather peculiar feeling..." Yusuke said, straightening his stance. Ann uncrossed her legs with a sigh.
"I-I think I feel it too." She admitted.
"I didn't want to say anything in case I was the only one..." Haru said in almost a whisper. "But-" Ryuji sighed.
"What the eff man?" He leaned back. "I thought I was the only one." Morgana crossed his arms.
"I hate to agree with Ryuji but...What is going on?"
"S-So, we're all feeling like something isn't right here?" Makoto mumbled.
"It seems like it isn't a bug..." Futaba looked down.
"Could it be 'cause you're, like, graduating? Life moving forward or whatever?" Ryuji offered.
"That can't be..." Haru murmured.
"Akehi's been awfully quiet," Yusuke said, everyone, turning towards him. He was still looking down at his cup but looked up at the mention of his name.
"Sorry I-My head is killing me." He sighed. "I'll have to take my-" He blinked, as time seemed to slow down, the soft afternoon light that filtered through the windows dimming down as a golden butterfly appeared out of seemingly nowhere in the middle of their group "-leave..." his sentence died out as everyone stared at the fluttering insect. Everyone looked back and forth at it and each other, surprise clear on their face.
"I-IS EVERYONE SEEING THAT THING?" Ryuji broke the silence first.
"Though it's appearance is puzzling it posses a certain mystical beauty-"
"Shut it Inari!"
"I-I feel drawn to it..." Morgana almost purred. "What- I feel like I should know what this is but-"
"Never mind that! It's moving towards the exit!" Ann shouted. Sure enough, the butterfly quickly flew towards the door, glimmering in the now dark room, before disappearing into a cloud of glittering golden dust as it touched the door. Which now had a soothing, blue glow coming from behind it.
"Should we follow it?" Makoto asked. Everyone nodded, crowding towards the door, opening it without a second thought.
The next thing they knew they were falling.
The world around them seemed to melt and shine, twisting and falling into columns of light. What was going on?
"It's a pleasure to meet you." A voice, strong, but gentle and soothing at the same time rung around their heads. "I am Philemon. A dweller between consciousness and unconsciousness. People live by wearing different masks. You seem to have been forced to forget yours, but your will is strong enough to rewrite that reality. " They felt a sharp pain around their head as their masks appeared. It was a familiar weight, yet it felt almost foreign.
Everything faded into blue light, a soft piano melody along with a singing voice sounding in the distance. A door appeared beneath them and dragged them in, almost unceremoniously.
"Until we meet again." The voice echoed, one last time.
When each one had woken up this morning they didn't expect to end up falling through a glowing door to an entirely blue room. Blue ceiling, blue curtains, blue soft velvet -thankfully - covering the floor. They had all ended up falling onto each other on a neat little pile, much to the amusement of a strange girl, holding a book. She stifled a laugh behind her gloved hand. A weird man was sitting in a blue -of course- chair behind the girl, hands crossed on a fortune-telling table, a man playing the piano and a woman singing standing on stage behind him. The man coughed, shooting a look to the girl, who was still trying not to laugh and she flushed with embarrassment as she did a small bow to them as they were trying to get up, without falling on each other again.
"Welcome to the Velvet Room."