A Thief's Prison

Wake Up

-Saturday, April 9, 20XX. Afternoon-

I woke up from a brief nap on the subway. Jeez... I always do this on long rides. Maybe it's because I'm not used to living somewhere big enough to need to use public transit often to get around. Usually, my own two feet were sufficient. But... I'm not in my hometown anymore... I'm going to be living around Tokyo for the next year. I'm on probation for a false assault charge against me after I tried to prevent a man from sexually harassing a woman. She looked so terrified, I couldn't just stand there and do nothing! I thought I was doing the right thing, but the next thing I know I'm in court and I have a false assault charge on my record. Because god forbid D̸̛͙̱̘̋̊a̴̢̠̎̀͝ǐ̶̟̙̊c̸̻͖͍͆̀ḩ̵̦̙͂i̸̘͙͒ and M̴̰̭̈͗̓ḁ̷̧͊̓͒s̶̬̗͑̃̋u̴̢̞͐y̴̱͋o̴̧̹̹͋͠ Kurusu have a normal child that keeps his head low. I'm going to be staying in Yongen-Jaya with somebody named Sojiro Sakura. Who apparently -(m̶͖̬̈̎̍ÿ̸̤̖͈́̽̇ ̵̭̃ņ̶͆̐͑a̴̼̎ͅņ̶̱̣͐̿̏n̸̹̈̎ỹ̵͕)- my parent's acquaintance knew. I hope he's nicer than my parents...

I get off the train and start walking through Shibuya Station Square, when... I see a red eyeball app appear on my phone display while I have my map out. I tap it to try making it go away, but it grows in size instead and everyone freezes in place but me. The silence around me is terrifying! I look around and see a tower of blue flames. The flames take form of a tall man-like shape, with wings sprouting out. Then... I see my own face grinning back at me in the flames. Everything returns to normal. I didn't imagine that, right? I feel a strong sense of Déjà vu from that whole sequence of events... Reluctantly, instead of trying to figure out what that app is, I delete it. Ah...! It's that late in the day already!?

I quickly run to the train I need to catch for Yongen-Jaya and board it, arriving not too long after. I observe my surroundings and see a mother and daughter walking their dog, a punk-fashioned woman in a doctor's coat, and a policeman surveying the area. Yongen-Jaya is smaller than I thought... Isn't it right by Shibuya, a big city? Though, the small-town feel is refreshing...

I go to the address that was given to me, despite maybe Sakura-san not being home. I mean, he is an adult, he probably has work. Once outside his house, I rang the doorbell and got no answer. Just as I went to ring it again, a mail carrier spoke up.

"Looks like no one's home..."

I turned to look at him, listening when he continued.

"Oh yeah... Sakura-san's usually at his café around this time. Well, LeBlanc's in the back alley, so I should make my other deliveries first..."

I called it, he's at work. As the mail carrier rambled to himself about what packages need to be delivered where, I thought back to where I may have seen a café here... Ah, right, that's LeBlanc... I shoot a glance up at the upper part of Sakura-san's house for some reason. I̷̡̹̠͂̾͜ś̶̲̖͈̆ ̴̲̇̽͑ṱ̴͈̮̼̍ḧ̵̰̋͝e̴̤̾̈̀͠r̸͔̞̦̈͌e̵͎̤̪̽̀̈́͠ ̴͔̭͖̜̾̈s̶̙̱͆̈́̄o̷͎̮̘̟̕̕m̸̛̩̙͋̚e̴͕͋͗ọ̸̑̃̇ṋ̵͛ẻ̴̜͑̓̋ ̵̨̛̪̘͉̇͊̀ȩ̷͚̠̌̂́̚l̴͍͚͎̯̓̈͘s̷̢̰̗̰̄͗́e̸̙̠͑̋ ̵̼̺͛́̒̇l̷͔͙̉̋̔̚i̷͈͑v̴̧̖͓̐̃͛i̸̼̩͎̓̇̃̀ͅn̴̛̤̯̬̭̈́̀̓g̵̢͘͜ ̴̧̛͓͘t̸̻̯̄̈h̷̝̃͗̓ē̸͈͍̜̼r̴͙̪̖͘͠ë̷͓̣̯͖́͊̕?̷̬̹͖̄͒̓ ̷̡̧͈̍̒̊͝Ō̷̠̗̑͑r̷̩̖͖̰̾̽̄ ̸̱̟̇̿͛ȃ̶̢̬̲̮̌́̆m̷͔̠̾̅̕ ̵̱͑͠͝I̴̽̌ͅ ̵͈͐̽̈́̚ị̷͇͎̂͋͠ṁ̴̟̺̜̪̽̽͐ȧ̴̠̂͝ġ̷̡̪͔́̒̕i̵̜̔̃̉n̶̪̻̘̭̔̓͒ï̴̝ǹ̸̥̎̕g̷̮̗͕̊̍̍̾ ̷̳̠̩̪͊͗̈́͝ẗ̵̤̝́̐̒ḧ̸̰͎͈̠́͐͠͝ì̵͚̜̓̽̽͜n̷̤̿̇g̴͉̏̚s̶͈̓?̷̰̘̗̮̄ ̶̧̱͖̐Ỉ̴̩̰͚͓͂ ̴̗͈̇͛ć̶͈ă̷̖̞̂̚͜͜n̷̠͇̊'̴̯̜̋́̇t̷͎̩̽ ̴͕͓͕͐̚ŗ̴͒̓ě̴̹̭m̷͚̗̰̻̈́͆ē̷̢̬̞̫m̴̆́ͅb̶͈͎͖͗ȩ̶̘̜̅r̵͕̀͝.̶̼̭͑͊̏.̴̲͛̉.̵̙̼͍̮̅͆ ̷̡̽͊͐̚ I stroll over to where LeBlanc is. Small, tucked away in an alley... And yet, it seems it could feel like a home under the right circumstances.