Chapter Text
2/5
Akira Kurusu awoke with a start on the subway car. Looking around, the high school student could see it was packed with adults dressed in mostly suits and other proper attire.
“Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for riding with us today. We will be arriving in Shibuya shortly. This is the last stop for this ride. Please transfer here for all subway lines.”
He sighed. Looking down at his bag, his mind began to wander back to the day everything changed...
“Please help!” A woman yelled. Akira clenched his fists and quickly ran to the scene of the woman’s distressed call. Looking ahead of him, he could see a man in tinted glasses holding a woman by the wrist as she struggled against his hold. “I’ll...I’ll call the police!” The woman threatened.
“Ha, ha go ahead!” The man challenged. “The police are my bitches here! I dare you!”
Akira gritted his teeth. This guy was throwing his weight around just to force that woman to submit.
“She doesn’t want to go with him into that vehicle...” He thought. “I gotta do something!”
“What are you looking at!?” The man slurred. “Get lost before the police come!”
His blood began to boil. It’s quite clear what was happening here, and he didn’t like it. Marching forward he took the woman’s wrist and pulled it away from the drunken man. The action caused him to stumble and fall backwards onto the pavement. The man groaned in pain before putting his hand over his head and feeling the small cut that had formed there.
“Damn brat!” He shouted. “I’ll sue!”
The three of them could hear police sirens in the distance as the black and white cars appeared and began conversing on their location. Akira suddenly turned to the woman formerly in distress.
“Run!” He pleaded. “If the police come who knows what’ll happen! You heard him, he’ll turn anything you say onto you or me!”
Stunned at this student’s intervention, the woman nodded quickly and was about to move when the officers arrived and came to the scene, stopping her.
The rest became a blur to him. Without warning, he found himself being held by both police officers as he was cuffed and led to the back of one of the police cars...
Shaking himself out of his bad memory, he looked outside and watched the buildings fly by as he arrived in Shibuya. The train soon rolled to a stop, and he exited through the double doors. Walking onto Central Square, he held his phone out as he followed the directions toward Yongen-Jaya. He soon came to the end of the sidewalk, and waited for the light to turn green.
“How the hell do I start over now?” Akira thought. “My life just ended, and everyone abandoned me...”
He could feel the tug of his heart at the horrible week that had led to this predicament in the first place. The teen remembered the pain of those terrible days echoing deep into his mind. Frustrated, he shook it off and waited for the signal to change so he could cross the street.
A few hundred meters back, two girls were talking amongst each other. One girl had dark, auburn hair tied in a short ponytail with a beauty mark below one of her brown eyes, while the other girl had bright red hair that flowed down her face and behind her back. The girl also wore glasses over her red eyes.
“Hey no need to be so down!” The auburn-haired girl said. “You’ve just gone through a growth spurt, and you’re as tall as me now! See?” The girl raised her hand and compared their heights as they continued walking.
“You don’t get it Kasumi.” The red-haired girl replied. “Every time I perform, I’m always second-best. I’ll never be as good as you.”
“Well...it’s just my right as an older sister! That’s all!” The girl named Kasumi said cheerfully.
“We’re in the same class though...”
“Regardless!” She continued. “You just gotta keep going! You’ll get better for sure.”
But it was clear from the red-haired girl that nothing she said was registering with her.
“You’re still not getting it!” She shouted as she started running.
“Hey! Sumire wait!” Kasumi called. “Stop!”
The girl named Sumire didn’t stop, however. She kept running further and further down the street as she started bumping into people. Sumire didn’t care though, she just couldn’t take it anymore.
“Kasumi is the one everyone wants...” Sumire lamented. “She’s the talented one, the one who wins and gets first place! She’s always the best! And I’m nothing! I will always be Sumire the loser. Sumire second best. SUMIRE THE FAILURE!”
“SUMIRE! STOP!” Kasumi kept running, trying to catch up.
“I’m nothing...I’m a nobody. A disappointment. A talentless, feeble, nobody!”
Sumire soon reached the end of the sidewalk and took a step out onto the street.
“LOOK OUT!” Kasumi shouted.
“Huh?” The red-haired girl turned and saw a car coming towards her at full speed. Before she was struck by the vehicle, however, a strong hand reached out and yanked her back onto the sidewalk. The car honked loudly before skidding by.
She fell backwards...and into the arms of a young man. Sumire looked into his gray eyes and just laid there in complete shock as the gravity of the situation soon hit her.
She had almost died, and this teen had saved her.
But she also noticed was how handsome he was. Black ruffled hair, grey eyes, lean figure, and wearing glasses just like her, he looked to be similar in age to her too.
“Are you alright?” He spoke.
Her eyes widened. “U-uh y-yes! Th-thank you! You saved me!”
A smile broke out onto his face. “You’re welcome. I’m just glad you’re okay.”
They stayed in that position for a moment, before the man spoke again.
“I...like your hair. It’s a nice color.”
Sumire’s face grew bright red. She had never been complimented on her hair by anyone before except her family. “Th-thank you...” She stammered.
“SUMIRE!” Kasumi’s voice rang out. The man’s eyes widened as he realized what he had said.
“Anyway. Let me help you up.”
“It’s o-okay.” Sumire replied. “I’m fine.”
“It’s no problem.”
The boy then lifted her off the ground, allowing her to stand up. They watched as Kasumi skidded to a stop in front of them. She looked frantically between her sister and the dark-haired boy and put two and two together.
“Oh my god...” Kasumi grabbed the boy’s hand and shook it vigorously. “Thank you for saving my little sister’s life! I owe you big time!”
The boy shook his head. “It’s alright. You don’t owe me anything.”
“But I do!” She insisted. “Sumire is alive because of you, and I just can’t let that slide!”
“Th-Thank you so much for saving me.” The girl in question said, bowing. “Please, let us repay you in some way.”
Akira looked from the girl named Sumire, to the auburn-haired girl. It looked like neither of them were going to stop insisting they repay him, so he might as well ask.
“Okay then.” He nodded. “So I’m trying to get to Yongen-Jaya. I’m staying with a guardian for the upcoming semester so---”
“Wait!” Kasumi interrupted. “That uniform! Are you attending Shujin Academy?”
Akira looked down at his uniform. It appeared to match the name she had mentioned.
“Uh...” He started. “Yeah, I guess.”
“That’s wonderful!” She said happily. “My sister and I are going there too! We’re gonna be first years! How about you?”
“Second year.” Akira replied.
“Ooh...” Kasumi said. “So that means you’re gonna be our Senpai! Isn’t that right Sumire?”
“Y-Yes.” The red-haired girl stuttered.
“Oh! That reminds me! I’m Kasumi Yoshizawa!” The auburn-haired girl spoke. “This is my younger sister Sumire Yoshizawa!”
“N-nice to m-meet you.” Sumire said awkwardly.
“It’s nice to meet you two.” Akira replied. “My name is Akira Kurusu.”
“Akira huh...” Kasumi mulled over the name. “Nice! So you needed to get to Yongen-Jaya? We can take you there!”
“Thanks.” He nodded. “I appreciate this.”
“It’s n-no problem at all.” Sumire replied.
“Onwards! Follow me!” Kasumi commanded.
So Akira followed behind the two sisters as they helped guide him to the proper station. As they continued forward, the dark-haired boy suddenly noticed a red and black app appear on his phone. Confused, he tapped it to see what it was.
Suddenly, the app grew larger and activated. Akira gasped as everyone around him (including the Yoshizawa sisters) started to slow down before freezing in place. In stunned silence, he could see that everyone in Shibuya (including the billboards) were unmoving and silent.
Akira looked around in alarm when suddenly in the center of the square he could see blue flames erupting. Staring into them, he could see the silhouette of some creature as well as some familiar yellow eyes that opened up...
Blinking, everyone was suddenly moving again. The blue flames were gone, and the formerly quiet streets were suddenly active again.
“Hey, Kurusu-san!” Kasumi called.
Turning around, he could see the auburn-haired girl waving at him while Sumire was looking at him inquisitively. Shaking his head, he jogged over to catch up.
“Sorry!” He said. “Just felt...a little strange...”