Arashi stood in the subway, holding his backpack close against his chest, his breathing a bit rapid and shallow. He was not used to being crammed in with this many people. He’d never ridden the subway before, considering his little village didn’t even have a subway. He had lived in a small, nondescript village in the mountains before his conviction, but now, he was heading to Tokyo. He was nothing but a country mouse living in the big city now.

  The train came to a stop and he stumbled out, resisting the urge to drop to his knees. His breathing remained rapid and shallow as he looked around, completely uncertain where he was going. He squinted, not able to see anything. He hadn’t had his prescription updated in years and his glasses had been ineffective for quite a long time. The people were just masses of blobby colors to him. He couldn’t read any of the signs or anything like that. He had no idea where he was. And a lot of the signs were far too high overhead for him to effectively read. He hated this, but his parents had tossed him out onto the streets years ago and not given a damn what happened to him. He was surprised he was even allowed to come to a new place even though he had no idea how to handle any of this.

  He bumbled around for what felt like a long time until he managed to find his way above ground. He managed to make it to the Harajuku crossing where he saw a strange being, oddly in focus, through the crowds. It looked to be red and black with a strange top hat. However, it disappeared almost as quickly as it appeared, blending into the throngs of people that crossed the street. He didn’t spend long on it, though, not wanting to get left behind and potentially get hit by cars.

  She held the printed-out directions he’d gotten up to his face, trying to find where he was going. His new guardian was Sakura Sojiro, apparently a middle-aged man that ran a café named LeBlanc. He really just wanted to get there, but he had no idea where he was going. It was probably going to be dark by time he got there. He was essentially blind at this point. He was seventeen and his prescription hadn’t been updated since he was nine. The frames had been comically large on his face as a kid, but now, they were normal and he couldn’t see out of the long-forgotten lenses. LeBlanc was supposed to be somewhat close to the train station, but he had no way of knowing where it was.

  Eventually, he found a police officer and approached. He hunched his shoulders up and dropped his gaze, looking at the directions. Playing the demure, sweet little girl role… He hated it, but it was the easiest way to get people on his side and to gain sympathy. “Um, excuse me officer, can you help me? I’m looking for a place called LeBlanc café… I printed off these directions before I came here, but I’m having trouble finding where I should go. Do you think you could help me?” His voice was high and girlish, though he intentionally made it softer. He was just a lost, lonely little girl. “I’m new to Tokyo and came here from my village in the mountains…” Adults were the worst… They didn’t give a damn about kids. He doubted his new guardian would care either. Probably just keep him long enough to get him tossed out on the streets again. If anything, he was pretty sure his new guardian would just toss him out again as soon as humanly possible.

  Adults pretended they cared about kids, but they didn’t really.

  “Huh? Oh, sure…” The officer pointed and gave him some verbal directions. He tried to commit them to memory as best he could, but it was definitely hard. He had no idea where he was or where he was going. He was trying to find the café, but with his lack of vision…it was hard.

  “Okay, thank you, kind officer.” He gave a little curtsy, his skin crawling, but he slunk off into the crowds.

  Thankfully, the directions the officer gave were incredibly clear and he found himself in a little side alley. He found the café and took in a deep breath and opened the door. The little bell clanged and he squinted, looking around. It didn’t really do much good as everything was blurry and indistinct. However, he could see somebody behind the counter. That was probably his new guardian.

  Hesitantly, he approached and sat at the counter. “Um… Sakura-san?” he asked, his voice hushed and wavering a bit. This man wouldn’t care about him. He just knew it. Adults never cared. They never did. His parents had tossed him out on the streets when he’d been only nine years old because he thought he was a male rather than female… They wanted a daughter, not a freak. He could still remember their anger and the yelling they’d lobbed at him.

  “Are you the kid I’m supposed to be taking care of? You’re awfully late, you know.” His tone was harsh and Arashi’s shoulders went up instantly, hunching over. Yeah, that was what he expected, but it didn’t make it any easier.

  “I’m sorry, Sakura-san… It’s hard for me to see.” There was no point in lying about it.

  He heard Sakura let out a sigh. “Look, kid, you can relax a bit. I’m sorry for the harsh tone; you were just supposed to be here hours ago. I was getting worried, you know?” His tone softened and Arashi looked up, though he couldn’t make out Sakura’s face. He squinted, completely unable to see the man. “You’re gonna be staying here in the café. I have a house, but there are…reasons I can’t let you stay with me. Unfortunately, with it being as late as it is, we can’t really clean upstairs too much, not unless you wanna be at it half the night.” He paused. “…Kurusu Honoka, right?”

  His blood boiled with rage at the name he wished he could discard, but he just nodded, keeping his head down. “Yes.” He hated it. He hated it so much. But it was just easier to play the part of a sweet, demure little girl that couldn’t fend for herself. He was all of 5’2” flat footed and maybe 100 pounds soaking wet. “I’ll probably clean up anyway…”

  He saw Sakura shake his head again. “I don’t want you doing that. We can work together tomorrow. It won’t be ideal, but we can work together tomorrow. We’ll have to meet your teachers and get your ID tomorrow, but after that, we can come back and clean. And I’ll get you a new mattress tomorrow, too. How about that?” His tone was warm and Arashi narrowed his eyes. Okay, what was going on here? This man had been harsh not but a few minutes ago and now he was treating him warmly. There had to be some sort of angle here. Something for him to gain by being nice. Arashi would have to be on guard so as to not fall into whatever trap this man was setting for him. “For tonight, though, how about I get you a good meal and then you can sleep in one of the booths? I know it’s not ideal, but it’ll be better than sleeping in a dusty attic.” From the movement of his chin, Arashi was pretty certain he frowned. “Where are all your belongings, though? The courts said that they’d arrive before you in the mail.”

  Arashi looked down at the bag next to him. “…That’s all I have.” He had a couple of threadbare outfits (not that this one was any better) and an old, ratty blanket. It didn’t do much in the cold Japanese winters at this point, but it was all he had. He didn’t even have a winter coat. Old vents from dryers were one way to stay warm through the winter as long as the homeowners didn’t catch him.

  “What about your clothes? They look like they should’ve been burned a long time ago.”

  He looked away. “All I have.”

  “I’ll get you some clothes tomorrow as well. And no uniforms either, I’m assuming?”

  Arashi shook his head. “No money. The government only paid for me to get here.” That was all he’d been given. Just enough to get here and nothing else. He was starving and the smell of the food that Sakura was cooking for him was making his stomach roil. He was lucky to get a few meals a week. He had a rap sheet for petty theft from stores for food items miles long. He was literally starving and it was hard to not want some food… He was a criminal for certain but he hadn’t even really hurt the guy that had pressed charges against him. He wasn’t strong! He was tiny and extremely thin.

  Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

  “All right then; we’ll have to get you some uniforms tomorrow as well.” Sakura placed a plate in front of him and he instantly knew it was way, way more than he could eat. “Eat up. I’ll make sure you get enough to eat everyday. If you know how to cook and want to use some ingredients, just open the fridge.” He got behind the counter and put a notepad out. “Just write down what you use if you do, that way I know what I’ll need to buy when I go out shopping again. But I definitely won’t let you go without.”

  There had to be some sort of game here that Sakura was playing but what that game was, he didn’t know. However, his stomach couldn’t help but gurgle at the food in front of him. It took a lot of self-control to not entirely wolf down what was in front of him. He could only eat about a third of what was on the plate, though. He wanted way more, but with how he could sometimes go a meal or two without any food, his body physically couldn’t accept anything else. He really just wanted to be able to eat more… Food had honestly never tasted so good.

  “So, you mentioned you couldn’t see. Why is that? You have glasses.” Sakura asked. This man wouldn’t stop questioning him, would he? Frustration and anger boiled in his heart, but he didn’t show it. He shoved it down. Keeping up the appearance of a demure, broken little girl was so much easier… Sakura was softer than he’d been when Arashi had walked in, so it seemed like the ruse was working. But it really seemed like he had no choice but to answer…

  He took his glasses off. “I might as well not have them… I legitimately can’t see anything unless it’s like two feet from my face.” He couldn’t see people’s expressions and taking notes on anything in school had been impossible. He didn’t always attend, but he tried to. He got tossed out a lot due to lacking uniforms. It wasn’t his fault, though… His parents had kicked him out when he was just a kid and he couldn’t legally get a job yet. Not that there were any opportunities in his tiny-ass village. Plus, by that point, everyone knew who he was and nobody would be willing to give him one. He legitimately just wanted to survive like anybody else… That was all he wanted. But no… He now had a criminal record and had been convicted by the courts. He hated all of this.

  “So it’s been a long time since you’ve been to the optometrist, huh?” Sakura asked. Arashi nodded. “I’ll see about getting you in as quickly as possible, but it might be a little while until you get your new glasses. Or would you prefer contacts?”

  Arashi frowned. “Aren’t contacts more expensive?” Seriously, what was Sakura’s game here? He tried to gain sympathy from people and it was easy as a sweet, demure, broken little girl, but he wasn’t expecting this kind of treatment. There had to be some sort of game here. He just knew there had to be. No adult would act like this toward him. Maybe he was trying to soften up Arashi so they could get close, then he could just turn on Arashi and kick him back out. He really didn’t know. There was some sort of game here and he’d figure it out, but it’d take him time… Sakura was apparently a master manipulator and someone to keep an eye on… There was no way in hell someone he just met would be so kind to him.

  And he knew better than to admit he was trans to somebody.

  That only resulted in him getting kicked out and treated horribly.

  “Well, if you’d have a preference, I wouldn’t mind getting them for you if you want them. Also…when was the last time you got a haircut? Yours is pretty long.” Arashi looked down at the messy, long, braided pigtails he always kept his hair in. It added to the ‘young girl’ factor that helped soften people up when it came to him. The braids came well past his shoulders and about halfway down his breasts where his nipples were. It was decently long, but it was a pain to care for. “Do you even have shampoo?” Arashi shook his head. Sakura sighed. Yeah, no doubt he was getting annoyed by how much he lacked… Arashi was pretty certain he was going to be out on the streets before the end of next week. “We’ll have to do a pretty long shoppy trip tomorrow.” Sakura waved his hand. “Anyway, it’s getting late and I need to head home. Do you think you can clean up the plate and dishes?”

  “Yeah.” Arashi didn’t want to upset the man further, so he agreed. Sakura headed out of the café and Arashi put the leftover food in a container in the fridge. He could just eat it for breakfast the next morning, or dinner the next day. It depended on what Sakura did. He cleaned the dishes after finding the soap (not easy when he couldn’t really see), and then went to the bathroom and changed into a different outfit. It was just as ratty and threadbare as his other one, but at least it was fresh. It wasn’t hard to find spare change on the ground so he could at least get his clothes cleaned at the local laundromat every so often…

  He did go to the attic and peek up there, wondering what it was like. There was an old mattress in the corner, but it was definitely quite dusty and could use with a good cleaning. He definitely could spend the night cleaning, but it sounded like tomorrow was going to be jam packed with everything that Sakura planned for them. Shopping was going to take a good majority of the day. He did need new clothes, but he knew what he was going to pick unfortunately… He despised dresses and everything that came with them, but he needed to keep up the mask. He really did. It had obviously gained Sakura’s sympathy, but the man was playing some form of 4D chess with Arashi. Whatever the man had planned, Arashi had no clue.

  He went back downstairs and found a pillow and blanket tucked away, then climbed into one of the booths. Not the most comfortable thing in the world by any means, but it was still way more comfortable than sleeping on the cold, hard ground in the middle of a Japanese winter. He closed his eyes and drifted off.

  However, it wasn’t long until he found himself in what appeared to be a jail cell. Oh great, so everything he’d been through had just been a dream… He was actually in a jail cell and—

  “Get up, Inmate! You shouldn’t keep our master waiting!” came a cruel, but somehow young, voice.

  He sat up on the bed and looked down, finding himself in shackles. He saw a man with a long, crooked nose sitting behind a table. There were two…lolis, for lack of a better word. They were almost identical aside from their hairstyles. One had a long braid and the other had dual buns like Leia from Star Wars. They were dressed as prison wardens, one carrying a baton of some sort. They also had eyepatches that reflected each other.

  He got up and approached the bars, only to find himself shackled to a large, weighted ball. “Who are you? What is this place?” This…was no normal prison. No prison would employ lolis.

  “Oh, be quiet, Inmate!” one of them said. She smacked the cell bars with her baton and he flinched back instinctively, especially once he heard the crackle of electricity coming from the baton. What? An electrified baton? What in the world? That…didn’t feel good… He hadn’t been shocked, but that was definitely more than a little intimidating.

  “Welcome, Trickster.” This time, the man with the long nose spoke in a deep, menacing tone. “This is my Velvet Room.”

  “What is this place? None of you answered my questions!” Fury rose in him and he gripped the cell bars, only to get the girl hitting the bars with the electrified baton again. He flinched back, shaking a bit. No matter what, negativity was difficult for him to deal with as was aggression. He’d run into far, far too many drunk, angry people on the streets of his little village late at night. Or drunk homeowners attempting to drive him away just for trying to stay warm in the dead of winter.

  “Quiet, Inmate! Allow our master to speak!”

  “This is the Velvet Room, a place between dream and reality. You’re currently asleep, but your mind has been brought here to speak with me. Soon, you will be in need of my services once you awaken to your powers, but for now, know that you will be rehabilitated here. I am Igor. These are your wardens, Caroline and Justine. They will help aid in your rehabilitation.”

  “Rehabilitation?” His eyes narrowed. “What does that mean?”

  “Ruin awaits you in the real world down the line. Unless you wish for ruin to take over the world, you must follow through on your rehabilitation.”

  “That doesn’t make any sense. Awakening to powers? What in the hell do you mean?” He stayed where he was, not wanting to get the baton to the bars again. He already didn’t like this place one bit. He just wanted to be away from here and never come back again.

  “Our master will answer your questions at a different time. Now was only the introduction,” the other girl said. Her voice was softer and far more monotone than the other’s.

  “What? What about ‘ruin’ do you mean? What—” He was cut off abruptly as he sat up straight, looking around LeBlanc. He shook his head. Thankfully, it was still somewhat dark inside aside from the lights filtering in from the city. It was odd to hear so much noise in the distance… Tokyo was a city that never slept, huh…? It was so different from his little village in the mountains.

  He dropped back on the bench, shaking his head. What a mess… Apparently coming to Tokyo was way more stressful than he’d thought. He was cracking under the pressure of everything, apparently. Even his dreams were that of a cell and the chains that society bound him by…