Persona 5: Metanoia

Chapter 2

Akira stood on the sidewalk, dressed in his Shujin Academy uniform and waiting for the rain to stop. 

Next to him was a teenage girl, dressed in a Shujin uniform as well, with a track jacket over it, and a blazer over the jacket. Her skirt peeked out from under the jacket over bright red leggings. She had light blonde hair pulled into two curly pigtails, and large blue eyes. 

She was really pretty. 

Evidently Akira was staring too long - she looked back at him and smiled. 

Akira smiled back, and looked away. That's a good start, at least. He sighed and looked back at the road.

Suddenly, a white car pulled over to the sidewalk. The window rolled down.

"Need a ride to school?" asked the guy inside. He had a strange haircut that made him look like a triangle and a large chin. His nose was ugly as well. The girl tensed, but nodded with a small "Thank you" and got inside the car. The guy turned to Akira. "Do you need one too?" 

Akira smiled and shook his head, raising his hand. "Nah," he said. The car drove off, and as the window rolled back up, the girl looked down with a look of discomfort and sadness.

"UGH! Screw that pervy teacher!" A blonde-haired boy ran over to where he was standing. Akira looked over to him.

He was also wearing a Shujin uniform, but it was slightly modified. He wore a red shirt under his blazer that read "No mo' rules" on it. His belt loops hung loosely over his uniform pants. His hair was messy and bright blonde.

"Pervy teacher?" Akira asked, tilting his head. The boy's eyes narrowed. "...What do you want? You plannin' on rattin' me out to Kamoshida?!"

Akira blinked. "What do you mean?"

The boy's eyebrows raised. "Huh? In that car just now. It was Kamoshida." He kicked a pebble.

"He does whatever the hell he wants. Who does he think he is- the king of some castle?" The boy looked away in anger. "Don't you agree?"

Akira tilted his head. "The king of a castle...?" The boy flinched.

"N-no, I mean..." He studied Akira for a moment, then crossed his arms. "Wait, you don't know Kamoshida? Are you for real? You're from Shujin, right..?" 

"You go to Shujin too?" Akira looked at him in interest. The boy laughed.

"What..? Are you kidding? No other high school's got a uniform like this." He looked at Akira again. "Huh, a second year. We're in the same grade, then. Never seen you before, though."

He paused, thinking, then seemed to realize something. "Oh, you a transfer student?" Akira nodded.

"Huh, no wonder you don't know 'im. This rain ain't too bad. We'd better hurry up, or we'll be late."

He turned to leave, but the two of them suddenly felt an odd pain in their heads. "Ngh!"

"Uugh... my head hurts... Dammit, I wanna go home..." the boy groaned.

Akira followed after him, running to catch up.

︵‿︵‿︵‿︵‿︵

Sae regarded Akira. "...There was a terrible subway accident that day. You remember it, don't you?"

She folded her hands. 

"I assume you know of the uproar that the public calls the 'psychotic breakdown incidents.'"

Akira looked down. "What does that mean?"

Sae sighed in exasperation. "It was all over the news, and one of the victims included a teacher at your high school. I've no doubt you heard about it." She looked at Akira with a determined stare. "On that day... were you still an 'ordinary' student?"