The Phantom Revisers (A Persona 5 AU fanfic) Chapter 1: The Opening Pages
[Link to the Prologue is here]
[April 4th, 2017]
“We’re almost there, sweetie.” Wakaba spoke up to Futaba as they were going down a narrow road in Yongen-Jaya. Man, the delivery truck took up the whole road, getting in the way of onlookers and walkers. It was just something they were going to have to deal with. Futaba originally was listening to the ambient sounds around her, including the sound of other cars going by as they drove towards their new place. However, she found herself attracted to the book she brought with her. It was about someone who found out they had some incredible powers and could change everything.
That only elicited a long sigh from her. The past two months had been beyond her control, and she was feeling sick and tired of not having any say about what happened to her. She was distracted from her story upon hearing her mother’s voice. She instinctively looked out the door and was observing her surroundings. It was a tight knit little neighborhood they were slowly making their way through. Soon, Wakaba turned into the area where Amimaya’s house resided.
“Okay, Amimaya-san should be at his café. Café lupin. Honestly that is quite like him to name it that. Sheesh, I swear he tried to “steal my heart” all the time. Good thing I had no intention of getting together with him. He was cute though.” It was rare for Wakaba to admit that since she usually didn’t judge people by their looks. Just their actions and intentions. Well, she was amused at the very least. Now, it was time to go meet him.
Futaba was recalling the last time that she saw him. He was still acting like that charming, suave individual he always was. It was surprising that Wakaba and him got together as well as they did, even if it was purely as friends. She kept recalling a bit more about him as they made their way to Café lupin. For whatever reason, he disappeared after that last encounter, and it wasn’t until Wakaba made a desperate call to him after the verdict that he would be in their lives again.
Entering Café Lupin, they saw how small and cozy the place was. A big counter took up a big chunk of the area, with seating at the counter and behind it. He was serving curry and his own specialty blend of coffee. Apparently, he was claiming that it would help people with their love life. Yeah, as if that could happen. There was also a flight of stairs leading up to attic.
And then there was Ren Amimaya himself. An older man, in his late 40’s, with a stubble and a beard that was unkempt, wearing fake glasses still because it made him “attractive and nerdy” and still tried to keep his messy hair from when he was younger. To limited success, anyways.
“Ah, the Isshiki family. Wakaba, as always, it’s lovely to see you, you know, that look of desperation somehow makes you sexier and—” He was immediately interrupted by her.
“I told you; I’m not entertaining your remarks to me. You’re a friend, nothing else.” Ouch. Once again, he was being friend-zoned.
“My heart, it hurts. Anyways, I guess you two are here to get settled in huh? Well, I have some news for you. Futaba’s going to have to live in the attic of this café. At least for the time being.”
Both Futaba and Wakaba would look at each other with a puzzled expression. This was certainly not the plan that they agreed to. They didn’t know there was an attic to the place until just now. “Hang on. Ren, this was not what I agreed to.” Wakaba spoke up after that initial bit of surprise wore off.
“Heh, sorry about changing the terms last moment. However, I realized that I couldn’t have both of you at my house. Too small and there’s only one guest room.”
So, she was now going to be confined to an attic like some discarded thing huh? “Now don’t you worry your little heads. I made sure that there were sufficient outlets, and you can use the café internet. Though I am weary with that little charge on your head, Futaba-chan.” It was most likely that she was innocent but hearing that did make him a little uneasy about this whole thing. “However, if you promise to never do any nefarious things then I can ignore those transgressions.”
Futaba’s urge to explain heavily that she was not involved in that rose up, but she was forced to push that back down. Last thing she needed to do was get in more trouble and possibly ruin their chance to have a new start. So, she just nodded. “I understand…I won’t do anything like that. I might cheat in space cadet pinball though.”
“What? By tilting the table or something?” He laughed heartily at her expense before turning to Wakaba. At least he knew what pinball was. “Plus, that means it’ll just be the two of us and—” He was promptly interrupted once again.
“I should’ve realized you had an ulterior motive to all of this. How many times must I explain to you that we are just friends?”
“Woah woah, put your claws away. I know we’re just friends. Now then, I may also have both of you work in the café. This will be your way of paying rent and all that. I can’t exactly easily afford having two new individuals to take care of without you all contributing in some way.” A more serious tone was on his lips as he spoke. “Not today though. I’ll let you all get moved in and then we’ll go from there. I’m sure Futaba-chan is going to want to get ready to enroll in her new school.”
“Thank you, Ren. It’s been a long trip and we’re ready to get moved in. I suppose it only makes logical sense for us to work for you. I’m pretty much unemployed currently. Reduced to a laughing stock in the scientific community for daring to defend my daughter…” A frustrated sigh left her. “Well, it doesn’t matter now. Come on Futaba dear, let’s get your stuff.”
The rest of this long day would be spent with the two of them grabbing Futaba’s stuff and taking it to the café and attic. Despite them being sticklers about packing, it wasn’t all too bad. Ren would even agree to close the café early to facilitate making the moving process easier. Despite all the messing and teasing, he knew that they were just down on their luck and wouldn’t be doing this unless they were desperate.
Being forced into a situation against their control, he knew all about that. It wasn’t something that he would bring up in casual conversation though. All that would do was make him look more like a failure than he already perceived himself to be. A failed love life, people not trusting him due to his antics, it was all weighing heavily on him. And he had to admit, the constant friend-zoning just got to him. Even if he wouldn’t show it.
Ah well, he had his café that wasn’t particularly successful. It was his baby, and it showed by the way that he took care of it. Well, mostly anyways. There were some aspects that he let by the wayside that would bite him in the ass. But that was for his future self to take care of. He watched as the last of Futaba’s stuff got hauled upstairs. The attic was fairly spacious, but stuffy because of a lack of air circulation. A fan of some sort was a high priority.
Most of Futaba’s belongings were her books and clothing, along with the computer and laptop, all of which were in boxes. There was a makeshift bed that was just a mattress on top of some milk cartons. “Sorry about the bed Futaba-chan. This whole thing was last minute and all. Gotta get you a proper frame eventually. Once I can afford it anyways. Now then, have a good night!” Leaving Futaba to her devices, the whole café went silent, aside from the sound of the door closing.
“Alright, let’s get to work. New place, new rules. Maybe I am the protagonist of my own story. That would be nice.” She decided to get a good look around. It was dusty as all heck and the whole place needed a good clean. Good grief, it was like Ren never really bothered to take care of the place. Then again, it was the attic to a café. He probably wasn’t up here that often anyways. “First priority is to dust. He probably won’t mind me dusting the area down.”
Her work would go deep into the night, dusting everything from top to bottom, cleaning the floors a bit, opening the window to let in some air, getting rid of that stuffiness as a breeze blew through. And after ensuring that the room was as clean as possible, she started to take out her stuff. Posters of the Featherman series and other assorted anime and her prized Egyptian Hieroglyphics poster went up on the wall. She put her computer and accessories on the desk that was in the corner of the room and made sure that it was still booting to an OS. Eventually, everything was put up as best as she could.
Checking the time on her phone, it was 23:10. Man, time really flew. It was like when she got into a big reading session, or a gaming binge. Next thing she would know, it was time for her to get prepared for bed. She went down to the bathroom of the café and did the nighttime routines, brushing her teeth, washing her face, that sort of thing. A wave of exhaustion would hit her as she walked up the stairs. Time for bed.
She had orientation tomorrow for Shujin academy. Probably not a good idea to be staying up too late anyways. Getting into bed, she adjusted herself, getting her phone on a charger as she always did, and then rested her head on the pillow. God this mattress was uncomfortable and lumpy. Oh well, nothing she could do about it for now. Closing her eyes, she fell into a deep sleep. And this is where everything would start to change.
Her eyes fluttered open as she heard sounds akin to computerized noises. That was weird. Maybe she left her computer on overnight? Well, when she looked around, it wasn’t the attic. All around her were flashing lights and stuff that looked like computer components. What the heck? This couldn’t be real, could it? She naturally pinched herself but wouldn’t wake up. So that was a thing. She pushed herself off the bed? Though she was resting on a graphics card suspended on the wall. There was a main room that she looked at.
The floor was the lid of a cpu, and in the middle of the room was a table, and a strange looking old man with a long nose. “Welcome, to the Velvet Room. My name is Igor. Please, come closer.” Futaba made her way up to the desk and then a holographic display popped up. A place to put a signature on. “Only those who sign the contract are allowed to reside here.”
Contract? What was he talking about? Contracts were binding. “A contract for what?” Futaba asked in a hesitant tone, unsure of whether to sign this without any sort of context of what was going on.
“It is merely a contract stating you will be responsible for what happens over the course of the year. You will find that many things will change, and your narrative will change in ways that you could never expect. Now please, sign the contract.”
There was a pause for a moment. Her narrative was already changing in ways that she couldn’t expect. Hesitation still had a grip on her. However, she then realized that maybe this would mean changes in a good way. Maybe, just maybe this downward trend was going to realign itself. The narrative structure would change for the better. So, she wrote her signature on the display before it went away. “Excellent. Once we meet again, things will about to be in motion. Until next time…”
[April 5th, 2017]
Before she knew it, the world faded into white, and she found herself jolting awake. Her eyes scanned around the area, and she saw the sun rise out the window. When she checked her phone, it was 7:15. Phew. She hadn’t overslept, that was good. However, what was that dream she just had? And why was it so vivid for a dream? There were many questions rummaging through her brain, but there wasn’t any time for it. It was time to get herself dressed and ready to go.
A new school meant a new school uniform. She grabbed her Shujin academy uniform from the box with her clothes in it and sat down on the bed, getting the wrinkles out just like her mom showed her. She was going to have to present herself accordingly, because if she knew anything from her time on the internet, the rumors about her were going to be abound. So, pressing all the wrinkles out of her outfit, she changed from her pjs to her academy outfit. And man did this thing ever itch. She hated wearing a new uniform; for some reason it always made her itch and feel uncomfortable for a bit.
With a little bit of time before her mom was expected to take her to school for orientation, she booted her computer up and was looking up things about Shujin academy, along with just keeping up with things in general. Her usual perusal of news-based outlets uncovered a mysterious death. Apparently, it looked like black ink was pouring from their eyes, nose, and mouth, and even pores. Damn. What the hell happened to them?
Checking news about Shujin academy, it seemed like there wasn’t anything that was standing out. At first glance anyways. Which was good. Last thing she needed was to be enrolled in a school that was embroiled in drama, right? There was a model and a popular coach for teachers it seemed, along with the regular assortment. She was still going to miss her old homeroom teacher, Yoko Sawa though. She seemed nice. Pushing that aside, she was interrupted by the sounds of someone coming up the stairs.
“Good morning, Futaba dear. Ready to head out?” Wakaba seemed to be exhausted. Did she not sleep well? Now that she thought about it, she was looking particularly stressed out and exhausted for a while now. It was understandable considering the circumstances, but it was still something worth being concerned about.
“Yeah. Give me just a second.” She put her computer into sleep mode and grabbed her phone and bag and they headed down.
Ren was there and was working on a batch of curry that apparently him and Wakaba workshopped on back in the day. As she was about to leave, she was stopped by him who handed her a sealed container of food. Oh, it was curry. “Here ya go. Can’t have such a lovely young girl like you going on an empty stomach. This is a one-time offer though. You’ll have to fend for yourself from now on.” He knew that was a lie. Treating her to some food was the absolute least he could do, after all.
“Well, uh, alright. Thanks. I feel like I’m getting my starting inventory here.” She appreciated it though, because it was going to be a long day and she was going to be hungry during it. Her hunger gauge was going to be low, as she would put it. Putting that aside, she made her way out of the café with Wakaba to head to the station. Along the way, she saw another Shujin Academy student who had the goth vibe to a tee. Messy bob haircut, choker, earrings, dark, glittery lipstick. All of it.
“Huh…” Pushing that aside, the rest of the trip to Shujin, including getting a student pass was uneventful. Though she was noticing something odd on her phone. An app appeared called the Metanarrative app. When she clicked on it, nothing would happen. Well, she was probably going to use an anti-virus scanner on her phone when she got home. She uninstalled the app and moved on. Soon enough, they would arrive at the station closest to Shujin and make their way there.
Her eyes gazed around the area. It was a nice place. But then again, so was Seiryo and that school was absolutely plagued by bullying. Who knew what sort of issues this place had. It wouldn’t be long until they were greeted by the teacher assigned to head the orientation. Ann Takamaki. That was when Futaba realized this was one of the teachers mentioned when searching up Shujin earlier. A former model who was part American and part Japanese. Apparently, she had to give up her modelling career and found that she could get a teaching job.
“Hiya! Welcome to Shujin Academy! My name’s Takamaki Ann. I’m going to be your homeroom teacher. I also teach English. Now then, I’m going to show you around, and show you to your assigned class.” As she was being shown around, she happened to pass by another teacher who was heading towards the gymnasium. Ryuji Sakamoto. He was that coach, wasn’t he? The one who was once a respected track runner himself, then coached a team that went all the way to nationals and won! But as soon as they passed by each other, she received an icy cold look from him.
“Eh, I wouldn’t worry about him. Probably just grouchy.” Ann remarked to Futaba before continuing to show her around.
“I actually have a question Takamaki-sensei.” Wakaba spoke up. “Are you aware of any major bullying problems here? The last school Futaba was at had a bullying problem. I saw that you all take care of that fairly well. However, I wanted to hear it from a teacher directly.”
“Well, I haven’t noticed any major bullying. It’s impossible to get rid of it all, but Shujin is very inclusive and intolerant of bullying.”
“Thank you. I feel much better already. Hear that Futaba? It should be fine for you here.” It didn’t make Futaba feel much better, but maybe she could just blend in, like a ninja in a stealth mission. The rest of the tour was relatively uneventful, showing the various clubs and such that Futaba had no intention of joining, where the gym was, and so on. “You’ll be assigned to 2-D, my class. Second floor though I’m sure you are used to that. I think you are going to be a great addition to the school, Futaba-chan. I love your hair. It’s so long.”
“Uh, thanks.” A sheepish reply came from Futaba. She didn’t do anything special to her hair but a compliment from the teacher.
“Okay, unless you have any other questions, then you’re free to go! First day of class is tomorrow. I’m sure you’re excited. I’m excited as well.” Ann clasped her hands before letting off a bit of a solemn sigh that broke the façade of her being so cheery and excited for things. “I’m sure you’ll take quite advantage of the library as well.”
“That library was quite nice yes.” She patted Futaba’s shoulder after saying that. “Alright, let’s eat and then head back home, shall we?” Time would pass by in the blink of an eye as she ate lunch with her mom, using the curry that was given to her by Ren. It was quite good, and she made sure to eat all of it. She loved curry as much as she loved sushi, and this was a damn delicious batch. Then they would head home, and Futaba proceeded to play video games and read until night-time.
She had also virus checked her phone in the off chance she downloaded a malicious app, but it didn’t appear to be the case. But that metanarrative app was back there once again. Every time she clicked on it; it wouldn’t do anything but just stare at her with that pentagram symbol with the book in the middle of it. Ugh, this was so damn annoying. She was going to have to re-format her phone to get rid of it, it seemed. Well, she would deal with that later. It was time to sleep.
She had that dream again, waking up in what was apparently called the Velvet Room by Igor. He would tell her that things were just about in motion, and that she would find herself seeing things that wouldn’t, or rather shouldn’t be possible, and that the course of her life and the lives of the entire country were going to be changed by her actions. It was up to her whether she would use what she was about to receive a power that could erase and re-write things. “When we meet again, things will be in motion. Take care…”
[April 6, 2017th]
Getting dressed, Futaba was once again ready to go, this time for her first day at school at Shujin academy. However, there was something troubling her, and she was worried that things for her were going to go south, quickly. Looking up info about that coach, she saw some troubling things. Apparently, he was judgmental towards anyone who didn’t do sports. Called them lazy and such. And was incredibly controlling towards his pupils. This was considered an endearing trait. Well, that just sounded like he was an asshole.
In addition to that, she was frustrated at this Metanarrative app that kept appearing. She did everything she could to get rid of it, yet it kept appearing like a plague. Yep, she decided that after school today she was going to back everything up and then re-format her phone. For now, she pocketed it, and grabbed her stuff to head to school. Heading down, she saw Ren once again, cleaning the counter. “Ah, look at you. Ready for school, are we?”
“Yep. This is my new level 1. New game, stats at base.” That went over his head like a missed spell, and he just gave her a stupefied expression. “It’s uh…a video game reference.” Even that went over his head. Oh boy.
“Heh, sorry about that. All I really know is pinball. Anyways, I’ll see you around! Might have you do some dishes tonight, Futaba-chan. Oh and remember, don’t be late.” She knew that of course; she was always punctual. That was a value that Wakaba put on her after all.
Heading out, she made her way to the station and got on the subway. Man, it was just as crowded as yesterday; and without mom being there, there was this feeling of anxiety she had being so packed in like this. Her phone made a noise, and she looked at it. The metanarrative app was glowing but wouldn’t do anything still. How annoying. Pocketing it, she spent the rest of her trip in silence, putting on headphones and listening to music to drown out the noise.
Once she got to the Shujin Academy station, she was heading towards the place, but that’s when she stumbled across another student. He was apparently trying to grow a long beard but also have a punk look to him. It was obviously not working out for him. He seemed to be frustrated at something he saw on his phone, whipping around and almost smacking Futaba directly in the face.
“Oh shoot. Sorry about that. My bad. Uh…oh, you’re that Isshiki kid, aren’t you? Rumors have been floating around you were going to be here. Probably leaked by that asshole. I’m Sakura, Sojiro.”
“Isshiki, Futaba. Uh, nice to meet you.”
“You certainly have the look of a geek and a nerd. That’s what everyone is saying. That only someone who looked sufficiently geeky could do such a thing as hacking into a computer and steal info.” That made Futaba’s heart suddenly race for a second. Of course, there would be talk about her already. So much for blending in. “But, from what I know of from studying psychology, you don’t seem like the type to do so.” This guy was certainly interesting. A guy dressed up as a punk who was studying psychology? Not the type of person you would see every day.
“I guess video games were right. Information really does spread faster than anything.” Futaba remarked, pulling out her phone and looking at that app again. “Who spread information about me anyways?”
“Probably that coach, Sakamoto. He always does that to anyone he doesn’t like. Did it to me as well, after I refused to join his track team. Then has proceeded to make my life a living hell. Controlling, manipulative, the usual for someone like him.” That confirmed the rumors about him that she heard. “I’ll explain on the way there. Follow me. I’ve learned a shortcut to this place.”
She would follow him through an alley way that apparently was a lot faster than taking the official route. “If I had to give the title of a story to him, it would be The Malicious, manipulative Head Coach from hell. He’s so harsh and controlling that it’s driven some students to leave school entirely.” Holy shit, was this guy that bad? There wasn’t anything about that online, but she hadn’t put that much time into her research. “Anyways, my suggestion for someone like him? Keep your head down and blend in. You’ll be fine.”
“Duly noted. I’ll not deal with the villain if I can help it.” (“That certainly explains the cold glare that he gave me yesterday.”) As they approached the school, they would find that something had changed. There was suddenly an enormous sports stadium where the school was! Did they go the wrong way or something? She wasn’t aware of any stadiums around! She looked at her phone and saw that the metanarrative app had activated. What on earth was going on? This was when things were going to change forever…
[Chapter 2 Here!]