Into the Metaverse

Sunday 1st May

Haruto woke to his phone buzzing. He blearily retrieved it from his pocket and blinked until the new messages resolved themselves in his vision.

Kitagawa Yusuke: If it isn't too much trouble, would you like to meet up today? 

Kitagawa Yusuke: There's something I'd like to talk to you about.

Haruto quickly pushed himself upright.

That does not sound good, said Arsène.

"It sure doesn't," muttered Haruto, leaping out of bed and beginning to pull on his clothes. "Still—if it means he's realising what's going on…"

We need to meet him.

"Yeah…"

He quickly grabbed his phone and unlocked it to text back.

Namikaze Haruto: Sure! 

Namikaze Haruto: Anywhere you wanna go?

There was a bit of a pause.

Kitagawa Yusuke: Meet me at Inokashira Park.

The place they'd met, huh? Well, they ran much less of a risk of being spied on that way.

Namikaze Haruto: I'll be right there.

Kitagawa Yusuke: Thank you.

***

Yusuke wasn't exactly hard to spot once Haruto got to the park. He was sitting on a bench, staring gloomily at the lake as though he wished it would swallow him up. Something had happened, that much was obvious.

"Hi," he said, approaching Yusuke carefully, trying not to shock him. "What's up?"

Yusuke still jolted, then turned to slowly look at him.

"Ah, Haruto," he said, and his voice was dull and monotone. "Thank you for coming, I appreciate it."

"You said there was something you wanted to talk about," said Haruto, sitting down next to him.

Yusuke nodded, looking back out at the lake. There was silence for a moment. Haruto waited for him to speak.

"Do you ever find yourself thinking that… it's all hopeless?"

All of Haruto's muscles seemed to tense at once. He'd suspected it was bad, but he hadn't anticipated it had gotten this bad.

"In what sense?" he asked. He needed to keep Yusuke talking.

Yusuke shrugged. "I'm not sure. Life seems… awfully dull of late."

"And why is that?"

Yusuke frowned, his brow contorted, some emotion finally breaking through the haze. "Does it have to be because of anything? Can I not feel this of my own volition?"

Ah, he was getting defensive. At least that was something-breaking him out of the depression.

"No," said Haruto, calmly. "It's just… you seemed so happy on Monday… I wondered if anything had happened, that's all."

"It hasn't," said Yusuke, sharply.

"Alright," said Haruto.

There was a silence after that. The wind whispered quietly through the trees. Dim voices of others walking through the park carried to them on the wind. It would have been peaceful, in better circumstances.

"Have you had anything to eat yet today?" asked Haruto, eyeing Yusuke's thin frame.

Yusuke shook his head.

"Here," said Haruto, handing him the breakfast bar he'd stowed away this morning. "I was saving it for later but I want you to have it."

Yusuke closed his eyes tight for a moment, then took a deep, shuddering breath. It was obvious he was trying to hold back tears.

"Why are you so nice to me?" he whispered, barely loud enough to hear. "No one's ever…"

"We're friends, remember?"

"Friends…"

Yusuke's face was hidden in shadow, his thoughts obscured from Haruto's gaze. But he was thinking. Good. He needed to think.

Eventually he breathed in again and sat up straight, taking the breakfast bar Haruto had offered.

"Thank you," he said, his voice still slightly cracked. "I appreciate this."

Haruto shrugged. "Whatever you need."

Yusuke laughed, but it was strained. "You're so nice, Haruto. I don't understand it."

"You will," said Haruto.

"Will I?" he muttered. "I hope… I hope someday I do. To have a heart as forgiving as yours… it must be a wonderful thing."

But of course, Haruto wasn't forgiving at all. But Yusuke didn't need to know that. Not yet.

"I'm happy you think so," he said.

Yusuke nodded, then began to eat in silence. Something had happened with Madarame, it was obvious. He hadn't found out today, but Yusuke had considered telling him—and it was a step in the right direction. A big one. And he'd find out sooner or later. Whether it came from Yusuke or not.

***

Monday 2nd May

Yusuke hadn't spoken to him at all in school that day—all Haruto's attempts at conversation were brushed off with stony silence. It seemed he was embarrassed by his near breakdown at the park. It was fine. He'd come around again. If something more had happened, he'd have come back to Haruto, and that would have been vastly more worrying than this aggressive embarrassment.

Haruto was used to playing the long-game with victims like him. Sometimes it would take months for them to be in a position to be freed from their abuser, sometimes they wanted their tormentors gone flat—Haruto was used to it now. Knew how to play the game. Wait for the perfect moment to strike—to avoid hurting anyone too badly. Well. Except the abusers, of course.

So he could wait a few more days. And keep a watchful ear out for any more murmurings of hopelessness from his friend. Because if Yusuke did begin to feel actively suicidal, then… he'd have a much bigger problem on his hands.

You should go back downstairs, Arsène offered. Spend some time with Sojiro. You've been too stressed lately-your performance in Mementos the other day was appalling.

"Thanks," muttered Haruto, rolling his eyes, but he knew Arsène was right. Between Shido's Palace, Yusuke's troubles and the potential of another, unknown Metaverse user, these past few weeks had been waring him down.

He made his way slowly downstairs, the exhaustive effect of the last two weeks seeming to pile up on him all at once now he finally had a moment to think.

"You alright there?" Sojiro asked bemusedly as he limped half-heartedly around the counter.

"Here to help," said Haruto.

"Well you don't have to look so damned miserable about it," Sojiro chuckled, throwing his apron at him. "Now get that on, and make sure you smile for the customers."

"Sure thing, boss," said Haruto, tying it around his waist. This much was familiar at least.

He quickly found himself falling into the usual routine around the café, bantering with Sojiro as he showed him how to make a new brew he'd come up with, calmly serving the regular customers who showed up day after day. In fact he almost felt somewhere close to normal again when it happened.

"Hey boss, doesn't that sound like one of those mental breakdowns people keep having?" asked a rather pompous man Haruto had yet to learn the name of.

He was pointing at the TV screen in the corner that Sojiro always kept on. Mental breakdowns were, of course, Haruto's speciality, but… this was odd. He couldn't remember causing any breakdowns recently. Shutdowns yes, breakdowns no. And as he squinted at the screen to gather what the news story was, he got an odd sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach.

"Outlets are reporting that Suguru Kamoshida, a former olympian and current PE teacher at the prestigious Shujin Academy, confessed in a public assembly today to sexually and physically abusing his students. Police have taken him in for questioning, and though details surrounding the case are yet unknown, it bears a resemblance to other strange lapses in sanity we've been seeing nationwide. What could be causing these mental breakdowns?"

Suguru Kamoshida? He'd never heard that name before. But if he'd confessed to his crimes in a sudden and inexplicable change of personality…

It's them. Whoever's discovered the Metaverse—they've worked out how to brainwash Palace-owners. 

Haruto could hear his heart in his ears. It had taken him almost eight months to work out the intricacies of how Palaces worked, but this new interloper had cracked it on their very first try? How? How was it even possible they could have worked it out so fast? If they were that intelligent then… This was bad. This was incredibly bad.

We know one thing already, said Arsène, already beginning to calculate how to deal with the situation, they almost certainly go to Shujin Academy. 

Right. That narrowed down the list of suspects. Now he just had to find out the victims. Because if anyone would want to get back at Kamoshida… well, it had to be one of them, didn't it?