Persona 5: Definition of Outcast [On Hold]

Entry 5: "Piss Off"

Bright light blinded Akira as he crawled on, slowly standing up upon feeling the kisses of fresh air. Soon, he ended up standing in the middle of a sidewalk. Beside him, Ryuji was struggling to catch his breath, bent over like he was about to vomit.

"Did we make it...?" Ryuji asked in between his gulps of air. Before Akira could answer, his phone suddenly vibrated, catching his attention.

Pulling it out of his pocket, a robotic female voice spoke, "You have returned to the real world. Welcome back." He blinked in surprise as he saw the words "Saving Castle Location" flashing on his screen. Poking it, the words suddenly disappeared and his phone seemed to have returned to normal.

"Huh? Returned...? Does that mean we got away?" Ryuji asked, much calmer this time as he stood up straight.

"Probably..." Akira muttered, noticing the few glances being shot their way. Looking at his phone once more, his heart nearly dropped when he saw the time. 

2:45 pm?! They had spent nearly the entire day at that weird castle! And that means...

...I'm gonna die today, Akira thought as he gulped, a fearful shiver running down his spine.

"I dunno what to think anymore..." Ryuji suddenly began, unaware of Akira's nervousness, his voice a bit too loud for their own good. "What was all that anyways...? That castle, and Kamoshida, and that weird cat! The hell's goin' on?!"

"What's with the yelling?"

Akira flinched as two officers strolled over to them, one pushing a bike. Ryuji didn't seem to be startled—if anything, he was glad. Maybe they could explain to him what the hell he just went through.

"Are you students of Shujin?"

Noticing Ryuji's black eye and his other injuries, the second officer looked over at Akira with suspicious eyes, causing him to sweat. But looking back and forth between the two, the officer calmed himself a little.

"Looks like you've gotten into some trouble there, kid. Are you escorting him home?" the second officer asked, gesturing towards Ryuji's black eye. The two boys flinched, having completely forgotten about the damage Ryuji took. This was... certainly going to be interesting.

"Actually, officer, we were on our way to school..." Akira replied, trying hard to keep his voice steady. He was shaking in his shoes just staring at the two, but if he showed that they could get suspicious of him.

"Do you have any idea what time it is?" the first officer asked, raising a brow. He then came to a sudden assumption and glared at the boys. "Cutting classes, are we?"

Akira quickly shook his head no as Ryuji quickly butted in, waving his arms. "We were tryin' to get to school, and we ended up at this weird castle!"

"...What?" the first officer simply said, with a rather tired tone. He sighed. "Hand over your bag. You better not be doing any drugs."

"Drugs?! Why would you think that!?" Ryuji asked, taking a step back.

"Are you his friend?" the second officer asked Akira.

"Uh, s-something... like that," Akira replied slowly. Their current relationship status was... something that was needed to be discussed later on. Or at least acknowledged by Ryuji.

"Then you should go to school. Take him with you," the officer instructed, nodding to Akira.

Before Akira could oblige, Ryuji interrupted them with an annoyed tone, "Like I'm tryin' to say...! I don't know what's going on either!"