Chapter Text
One of the hard truths Ann had needed to learn was that people everywhere could seize upon the most ridiculous things to hate and bully each other. Even in the places where her blue eyes and blond hair were not considered “exotic”, she still had to put up with people who disliked her, claiming she was conceited because she supposedly liked to show off how rich she was. It was true that she tended to have nice things, because, after all, her parents’ jobs as international fashion designers earned them a pretty penny. But this was at the expense of leaving their daughter alone, and no trendy clothes or last model tech had ever been enough consolation for Ann. This made it all the more painful when she found that people in Japan disliked her not only because she was a “foreigner”, but because she was apparently an arrogant foreigner that liked to flaunt her wealth around. This was untrue, not that that had ever stopped them. For example, she actually had a normal cellphone model, one that was acting up right now.
“Seriously, what is this?”, she mumbled as she stared at the strange app with a Red Eye as an icon. It had suddenly appeared out of the blue, and no matter how many times she deleted it, it reappeared again and again.
Ann would be the first to admit that she knew little of technology, but the only person she could ask for help, Shiho, hadn’t know what to do either. Both girls had tried to poke around, but the app only asked for a text input and seemingly did nothing else. Nothing else on Ann’s phone seemed affected, but the app would sometimes randomly open and again ask for keywords. They had tried several locations, but it did nothing. Ann was about to input her own name, but Shiho stopped her, believing it wasn’t wise. What if the app was a virus that was trying to steal her info? Under Shiho’s instructions she had even rebooted her phone, but the app remained there. They had finally decided to go to a technician, but that would have to wait since Shiho had volleyball practice most days of the week, and Ann would rather not go alone. So in the meantime she continued to fiddle with the strange program, not really getting anywhere. While riding the train, she tried to uninstall it again three times, input all words she could think of, and when nothing worked, she felt like smashing the phone and just crying.
It was a little silly, she couldn’t help but think, that this seemingly minor phone virus was causing her such distress. But sometimes when one was already overwhelmed the little things were enough to tip one over. Since she started at Shujin things had just gotten worse. Shiho was busier than ever with volleyball, and while there were high hopes that the team would make it to nationals, the dark rumors that had always surrounded volleyball in Shujin were growing. And yet, the school authorities seemed unbothered, even as injuries multiplied, and girls suddenly left the team amidst whispers of abuse. Ann could see this closely, in Shiho’s seemingly permanent patches and bandages, in the way she could barely walk sometimes. But despite this, Shiho continued to fight for her dreams, and Ann couldn’t stand in the way. However, he had noticed this, noticed that Ann would do anything to protect her friend. His demands had growth, as did his implicit, falsely playful threats. Ann couldn’t put up with it anymore, she just couldn’t. But what other option did she have? If she refused, if she rebelled, then what would happen to Shiho? This now went further than merely a starting position, if Shiho was still being hurt like that even when Ann was complying. She just had to endure it, even when the disgust and shame was so insupportable, and it seemed there was no possible out.
Ann suddenly hear a car’s horn and immediately jumped out of her skin, looking frantically around. It was a white sedan, and the very sight of it made her heart drop and despair fill her veins. She backed slowly into an alley, but the car’s occupant had already seen her most likely and there was nowhere to run and, and – it turned out to be someone else. Not him. She was flooded with such intense relief that she almost crumpled to the ground right there and then, in spite of the puddles that remained on the ground due to the early morning’s rainfall. Her legs felt weak, so she leaned against the wall even though she knew she should hurry up and get to school as soon as possible. He took that route in the mornings, and if he saw her, they both knew she had no option but to accept a ride. And then likely he would demand something to open the door, his smile apparently gentle but also full of triumphal sadism. She finally pushed herself off the wall when a close voice spoke up.
“Oy, Takamaki!” the male voice said. She whirled around, panicked. Was he there? Had he planned it to get her alone in an empty alley? But, thank God, it was not him. Relief came again, only to be quickly transformed into anger upon seeing who it was.
“Sakamoto,” she hissed. “Are you following me?”
He rolled his eyes, in clear exasperation. She kept up her glare.
“Hey, I just saw you run into this alley all scared and wanted to check on you! And this is the thanks I get?” he grumbled.
She turned around, mostly so that he couldn’t see her face. All her haywire emotions had left her exhausted, and she felt that she might cry if she tried to explain herself. She especially didn’t want to cry in front of Sakamoto.
“As if you cared,” she said quietly.
“Are you for real?” he all but yelled in reply.
She had nothing more to say, so after a few seconds of silence she started walking out of the alley. But Sakamoto interrupted again.
“Hey, wait, Takamaki! I saw that bastard coming that way. He’s going to be here any second now. Just… don’t go that way, alright?” he said, and there was something akin to concern in his voice. But Ann couldn’t hear. She was only wondering why, why had he decided to care right now, of all times?
“And?” she said simply.
“What, you want him to give you a ride?" he asked roughly, all his previous concern replaced with anger.
“Look, what I do hasn’t anything to do wi–", she started, but he interrupted her loudly.
“Like hell it doesn’t!” he snarled, stepping closer to her. She refused to back down, whirling around and glaring right into his eyes. “I just don’t get what the eff’ you doing being all buddy-buddy with Kamoshida!”
“What do you know!?” she snapped back. “You know nothing Sakamoto!”
He opened his mouth to reply, but something caught his eye, and he suddenly pushed her behind his back, standing straight for once. The action so surprised Ann that she stayed quiet, held into place by his grip on her arm. She didn’t dare say anything until he released her, and his tense muscles relaxed. Finally, she stepped away and pointed a finger at his chest.
“What was that for?” she shrieked, her voice going shrill.
“Just be quiet,” he hissed back, and then motioned for her to look around the corner. There it was, another white sedan. Only this one belonged to Kamoshida, she was sure. She recognized the license plate. Her body went stiff, and she stared at the car in sheer fear for what felt like hours. But then Sakamoto, with a surprisingly gentle touch on her elbow, brought her out of her stupor.
“Listen, Takamaki, I know a shortcut that doesn’t go through that street. We can get to the school without havin’ him see you,” he told her, again with surprising gentleness. She nodded, her stomach churning at the very idea of going out there and having to accept a ride from Kamoshida. They walked in silence a couple of streets, before it became too much and she just had to say something.
“Why are you doing this?” she asked softly. Once more, her emotions had drained away, and she just felt tired. She half hoped he hadn’t heard her question, in fact. But his eyes glanced at her, his gaze sharp, and she knew he had. He remained silent for a few seconds more nonetheless, and she thought he wouldn’t answer at all. But then he grunted a reply.
“Because I hate Suguru Kamoshida.”
In her bag, her phone made a sound, but she didn’t notice.
“I’ve seen how you react when he’s around Takamaki!” he continued. “You have to hate him too, don’t you?”
She just hummed, and this irritated him more than any other answer might have.
“Come on Takamaki!” he exclaimed, stupidly loud. “Kamoshida’s acting as if he ruled over Shujin! As if it was a castle and he was its kind of some shit .” Two unheard pings from her phone. “There are rumors, ya know? I know we weren’t tight or nothing, but I just can’t believe them. But you gotta give me something, Takamaki.”
“I don’t owe you anything, Sakamoto,” she replied in a low, deadly voice. He didn’t care at all, she knew. And even if he did, what good would it do to tell him anything? He, more than anyone, should understand how useless it is to try to rebel. “You know nothing. Just drop it.”
He glared at her for a few moments more, before looking to the side. “Fine,” he spat out.
They redoubled their pace, both clearly sick of each other’s presence. What’s worse, her head had started to throb painfully. She refused to show it, maintaining a stoic face. She was so focused on herself that she didn’t notice the way Sakamoto closed his eyes in pain, just for a second, before his own stubbornness made him put on a brave face. Finally, they rounded the corner that should lead them to the school. Instead of the familiar entrance, there stood a grand castle, like something out of medieval Europe.
She stared up at it, dumbfounded, before she turned to him. “What the hell is this, Sakamoto!?” she yelled. “Is this some kind of prank!?” The idea that he, of all people, could grow to hate her so much that he would be deliberately cruel like this, caused a dull ache in her heart. But she ignored it in favor of her anger. That feeling was easier to deal with than the hurt.
However, he kept staring at the castle gate, seeming sincerely confused. “I don’t get it,” he muttered, more to himself than to her. “The school should be right here.” He glanced around at the way they came from, and then back to the gate, scratching his head in clear bewilderment. Ann watched this, her own uncertainty growing. Sakamoto had always worn his heart in his sleeve – she doubted he could pull a prank like that. They had, furthermore, just walked from the alley in the direction of the school, she was sure of that. She was even more sure that Aoyama-Itchome did not have any kind of castle around it. Where were they?
“This has to be the school,” Sakamoto concluded at last and started walking to the gate. Not knowing what to do, Ann followed him. “Did they decorate it for something?”
“But it all looks so real”, she said, looking around the grand hall. The carpet, the carved rock walls, the golden decorations, the gas lights… It all looked completely genuine. This was no cheap painted carboard, put up there as part of a school festival. It was as if the school had been demolished and a castle erected in its place. But there was no way Shujin could be transformed so radically in just one day – yesterday, it had been completely normal. Ann was also pretty sure that Shiho would have told her if their school had become a castle all of a sudden.
The sound of heavy steps interrupted her thoughts, and she and Sakamoto both turned to see an approaching group of tall people, in green masks and metal armor complete with large swords and shields. She took a step back, freaked out by the entire situation, but Sakamoto instead came closer to them.
“Woah, man! That’s a nice costume! But you scared the shit outta me,” he said, lightly. “Is there a play on or somethin’?”
“Sakamoto”, she whispered, fear evident in her voice. The knights continued to encircle them, their swords high. Some were staring at her with their empty eyes, making her shiver.
Sakamoto finally seemed to grasp that something was wrong. “C-come on man, this ain’t funny!” he snapped. “What’s going on?”
His answer came by a hard shove to the ground. “Get away from the princess, ruffian!” the knight barked.
“Sakamoto!” she screamed, moving to check on him. But two knights seized her arms then, and roughly pulled her back.
“This can’t be the princess!” one of them exclaimed. “She must be an imposter! The true one knows how to dress and to stay in her chambers.” It looked at Sakamoto, who was being picked up from the floor by two knights, still curled into himself in pain. “And the true princess knows to stay away from such trash,” it finished sternly.
“Who you calling trash!”, Sakamoto shouted defiantly, and was punched in the stomach for his trouble.
“Sakamoto!” she yelled again, but then felt a sword pressed against her throat.
“Be quiet impostor”, the knight said sternly. She saw no option but to comply, remaining silent as she and Sakamoto were hauled away.