Eventually, Kenji found himself at the cafeteria. Out of everything he'd seen so far, the cafeteria looked the most bland. The food looked bland, the seats looked uncomfortable, and he'd be more willing to eat from the floor than the tables looking at how dusty they were.
'Has no one used the cafeteria?' Kenji dryly thought to himself.
Still, he couldn't find any prices listed anywhere. Kenji would just have to ask, then. He wasn't particularly hungry, but he wondered what food here would be like. At the very least, it was better than that disgusting nutrient paste he willingly subjected himself to.
He walked to the counter, took a few food items, a sandwich and a cup of coffee — a light snack, if Kenji had to be asked. He looked around to try and find a seat, ultimately deciding that the floor was a better option.
Within the corner of the room, he unwrapped the sandwich and bit into it. Chewing for a moment, then furrowing his brows.
'How the hell is this even more bland than the paste?' Kenji shook his head. At the very least, it felt filling. Taking the coffee, he tried to wash it down — only to blanch at the taste.
'And how the hell is this stronger than the piss-poor-excuse of a drink Corswain bought me!?'
He sighed. Kenji didn't pay for anything, but he didn't want to waste the food. Kenji bit into it more, chewing and swallowing the drink.
"Didn't think I'd see you here, brat." A familiar voice called to him.
Tilting his head upwards, Kenji spotted the familiar amber eyes of one Rai Luna staring back at him. Clad in his usual black suit, with big bags of black under his eyes, Kenji was somewhat reminded of a tired office-worker just looking at him.
"You should probably skip out on the coffee here, it's horrible. No kick to it whatsoever." He said, taking his own drink.
"How the hell do you guys have tech beyond any other nation, but still have shit food? Is the Choir just food-deficient." Kenji dryly asked.
"Kid, you're getting a hundred thousand a month. All the food here is free so we don't spend too much on making it anything more than healthy and edible." Rai answered, taking another sip from his drink. "If you're so pressed for food, follow me. I've been meaning to talk to you anyway, and I know this really good bar."
"I don't drink."
"Did I mention that they also serve food?" Rai dryly replied, rolling his eyes somewhat. "You can just sip on orange juice, if you want."
"I don't have any money on me."
"Everything's on me, relax. If I didn't know any better I'd say you don't want to talk to me."
With that one sentence, Kenji immediately stood straight up. Rai's features shifted to surprise, then a quiet sigh. He let out a wry grin and turned.
"Money, money, you've never failed me." The Dove said with a sip of his coffee.
**********
Kenji Hakurou stopped and stared up at the large neon sign marking the entrance. 'The Convergence Bar' as it so proudly declared, even under the mid-day sun. It was a strange name, and even stranger still that it was open this early in the day. From what he recalled, don't these bars only open at night?
"What are you waiting for, kid? Get in." Rai said, walking up to one of the bartenders. He slipped him a bill, then patted the boy twice on the shoulders.
Kenji sighed, then entered the bar. There wasn't anyone here, not a drunkard lying on the counter nor were there friends causing a ruckus in the corner.
The spacious room had a platform acting as a stage, large speakers, arcade machines to the side, and the bar itself was made of expensive-looking wood, carved in an intricate design.
For a moment, Kenji felt the silence chill his spine. But Rai's deep breath and words cut through it.
"Hear that?" He asked.
Kenji glanced his way. "No? I don't hear anything."
"Exactly. That's the best part. It's quiet, just us two and the bartender. Makes sense given how early in the day it is, makes it my favorite time to come here." He gestured for Kenji to sit, the man turning to the bartender. "Get this man an orange juice."
The bartender raised a brow.
"Kid doesn't drink, and I don't think he should for the time being. Oh, and some fries, too." He handed the man a bill, and glancing down, the bartender nodded before retreating into the back rooms.
Rai sat on the chair next to him, swiveling the seat and leaning back onto the counter. "To be perfectly honest, the food here isn't that great. The drinks taste like shit but they kick you hard enough to faint. And really, isn't all that matters with a drink?"
Kenji looked to the menu, sliding the paper to his side. He glanced down, eyeing every food item. Rai said he'd pay, so of course, Kenji would abuse that offer like the greedy gluttonous fiend that he was.
"I want this." Kenji said, pointing to a menu item. Rai leaned in, paused, then frowned.
"You want a gold-tipped strawberry parfait with extra maize flakes? Kid, that costs two-hundred and it doesn't even taste good."
"You said you'd pay, this is my order." Kenji pressed.
"…"
Just as the bartender returned with an orange juice, Rai let out a long, defeated sigh.
"And get the kid the gold-tipped strawberry parfait with extra maize flakes," he said, rubbing his temples. "Cancel my fries."
"They're already frying," the bartender replied flatly.
Rai blinked.
"…God dammit—fine. Just switch mine to takeout."
The bartender gave a curt nod and disappeared back into the kitchen, leaving Rai to mutter something under his breath that sounded suspiciously like 'highway robbery.'
"Alright, brat. You just ruined my mood, so let's get straight to the point." He turned Kenji's way, crossing his arms. "I managed to convince the doves not to tear into you. As far as they're concerned, your unexplained gifts could be used to help us with any issues that might pop up. You don't have any signs of corruption, mutation, losing your mind to madness. You're crazy, but not that kind."
Kenji turned Rai's way, taking a sip out of his orange juice. He dryly looked at the man with a raised brow.
"I'm sensing a 'but,' in there..."
He nodded. "I said the Doves are okay with you, the rest... I'm not so certain."
Rai got up and walked to a small table, taking a pitcher of water and walking back to the counter. He set it aside, then reached into the counter to grab a glass, pouring himself a drink.
"Noctua Oculus knows about you, and they haven't done anything so you can assume they're not a threat. Echo One is keeping quiet about you, so Avis Ferrea shouldn't be a concern as long as you keep yourself quiet." He took a sip of his water, a satisfied sigh rushing out of his lungs after.
Kenji at least noted the one group absent from his words.
"Ars Animus is an issue, then?" He asked.
Rai blinked. "Huh, glad to know you're a lot less ignorant than I thought. But yes, Ars Animus can be an issue. Frankly speaking, you're new here but a bit of context. The Ravens are slowly cutting themselves off from the Choir."
He placed the glass down and leaned in to whisper, looking around to ensure there were no eyes.
"I wanted to talk here because I didn't want any Ravens to be snooping around. Ars Animus has taken steps to isolate themselves, under Arzin's orders, they've created a chain of communication that prevents any prying eyes from the other departments from looking in too deeply. They say it's for their protection, given the nature of memetic anomalies, but they're using it as an excuse."
Kenji blinked, does that mean he's always being watched by the ravens, then?
"So what? I have to keep looking over my shoulder?" Kenji asked. "Erhardt already told me about Arzin, is this all you wanted to tell me?"
"Erhardt... ah, no wonder you know—" Rai said with a sigh, turning away. "If there's one Raven you can trust to keep you out of Arzin's hands, it's him. But be careful around him, he's fickle and I'm not even sure what he's planning."
Just as he spoke, the bartender came back in. Placing a strawberry parfait with Kenji, and handing Rai a bag of fries. With a nod, the man went back to work.
"I won't be able to protect you if you ever expose yourself, so don't. You're our only lead to this 'Employer' of yours, and I'd rather you not be taken to a dissection table until we figure out who this thing is." Rai said, taking another sip. Kenji furrowed his brow.
"Meaning that once you figure that out, you'd let me die?" He asked.
Rai didn't answer.
That was all Kenji needed to know. The mood soured, and the would-be-sweet parfait tasted bitter in his mouth. It was the first time he hated the taste of sweets.
**********
He came home late at night, spending most of his time at the Convergence Bar. Rai left hours before he did, having to handle a situation that needed his hand. He was, in his own words, the Choir's glorified scapegoat. They sent him out to do all the meetings, dealing, and lawyering. Anything that needed a salesman's touch, he was called in.
And in Rai's own words: "You don't send a dry, blunt jackass to do delicate work like this and expect anything good. But they keep doing it anyway!"
He said that after a few drinks at the bar.
That early in the day, too. Kenji almost felt bad for this man's liver. Almost.
Clicking the door closed, Kenji opened his mouth to greet the non-existent occupants like he'd always done, only to close his mouth.
'Right, there's no point.'
A heavy sigh left his lungs. Kenji walked down the hall, taking his hoodie off before retreating into his room. Changing into a shirt and shorts, he fell onto his bed and let out a deep breath. Checking the time, it was only 6:30, did he really need to sleep now? Erhardt did wake him up at 4:30 in the morning. He slid to the bed, turned and laid face-up, staring at the ceiling as if they were stars. Thoughts raced in his mind, letting it take over.
'That damned coffin...'
Now in the quiet of his home, he could recall the scene he saw in his own mind.
That helplessness, that fear, he thought he already left that years ago. But in the end, he was still a child. An immature little brat clinging to a brother who couldn't even be honest with him. He grit his teeth, wrapping the blanket around him until he was a cocoon.
'Why are you so useless? Untrustworthy? What else do I have to do to get him to trust me?'
He grit his teeth. He couldn't even blame Shō. Shō took most of the beatings when their mother left, Shō did most of the work, Shō sacrificed his future just to keep him afloat.
And what did he do? Nothing. Nothing at all. Just cry, whine, and wallow in his self-pity. He felt pathetic. He knew it wasn't his fault, but it still felt pathetic. He let out a tired sigh, forcefully pushing the thoughts to the back of his head. Kenji had drowned in these thoughts before, he knew enough to push it to the back of his mind like he'd always done.
'I wonder what everyone else saw?'
It showed visions of their mind, their biggest memories. Ryon wanted to go back, so her visions were nothing nightmarish like his. Aiden? He couldn't tell, the boy was too shocked and Kenji couldn't blame him.
'It's probably insensitive to ask, so I won't.'
They never pried into his, he wouldn't pry into theirs. Another thought came, more so a childish curiosity than anything too serious.
'I wonder what everyone's Shroud Abilities look like?' He thought to himself.
He was curious to see, not that he really needed to. He had his own. Kenji grinned, he couldn't wait to see their reactions when their systems popped up for the first time. He could still remember the first time his popped u—
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[DOWNLOAD COMPLETE!]
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A faint static shot through his mind as a foreign system entered. The pain shot through like a stab wound, and Kenji's hand gripped at his head as an aching pain thrummed against his brain-matter.
'W-What the hell?!'
His right-eye ached, sight flickering in and out. His surroundings were filtered by a black haze, as if the sun was searing down on his room with a dark and eerie light. Kenji clutched at his right eye, two systems aching in his head.
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[Warning! Foreign Influence Detected!]
[Attempting Removal!]
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An orange filtered warning imprinted itself on its mind, detecting the sudden shift. His soul warred against itself, treating the foreign influence like a tumor that needed to be purged. Yet the black and white influence persisted, it ached, it bled to keep itself anchored in his mind.
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[Initiating Background Protocol]
[Imprinting...]
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The black and white influence in his mind seemed to hiss in response. Embedding itself deeper into his mind. Like a parasite, it dug into his soul, replacing parts with its own self until it became too embedded to remove. He felt a phantom pain, an ache that was never physical — yet splitting as if fire itself ignited his very heart.
He clutched his teeth together in a vice.
But soon, the orange system subsided. Another menu appeared in his head, signifying its surrender.
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[CAUTION: UNABLE TO REMOVE INFLUENCE WITHOUT SIGNIFICANT DAMAGE TO HOST]
[SUPPRESSION PROTOCOL ACTIVATED]
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His soul seemed to cease in its war, and Kenji let out a deep sigh. With grit teeth, he pushed himself off the bed and stumbled to find the mirror in his room. His right-eye felt as if it threatened to burst, a familiar pain in an unfamiliar place.
He needed to see if his suspicions proved correct. Kenji glanced at the mirror, and felt his heart drop. While his left-eye glowed orange, the light illuminating a faint glow. The right-eye was a pitch black void that consumed any light that dared touch it.
"No way..." Kenji prodded, touching the corners of his eyes. "What does this mean? What the hell is happening to me?"
He gulped, a sense of fear gripping him. He pushed the thought to the corners of his mind, and dared himself to try something he might regret. If his suspicions were correct, then...
"Go. Activate. System. Status..."
Nothing seemed to work. He took a deep breath, using the same will he used to activate the orange system as he'd now call it.
He willed the foreign influence to surface, and it obeyed.
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[ Welcome, Voidborn! ]
[ Name: Kenji-Chan ]
[ Shroud Identification: Unlucky One ]
[ Patron-God: Black Cat of Misfortune ]
[ Special Affinity: Zero ]
[ Narrative Cohesion: 100% ]
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Kenji mulled over the details. Voidborn? Kenji-Chan? Unlucky One? What did these terms even mean? Who the hell was the Black-Cat of Misfortune? And what the hell is a Special Affinity? He never had to deal with this with Corswain, the Orange-eyed bastard at least kept his system automatic.
But that... changed.
Kenji blinked, then took a step back. If he could activate his Orange Eye by will, now, then...
He dismissed the Voidborn System and willed the other System to life. His right-eye shifted back to red, while the orange in his left glowed. Just as he expected, he was met with a new unfamiliar system.
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[ Welcome, Abomination of the World ]
[ Name: Ken, Kenji, Boy ]
[ Shroud Identification: Unwanted Son ]
[ Patron-God: Nameless Outsider ]
[ Special Affinity: Subjective Law ]
[ Narrative Cohesion: 75% ]
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"Unwanted son? Abomination of the world?" Kenji couldn't help but gawk. At least the other system sounded cooler, what the hell was this? Way to feed into his insecurities...
"How the hell are you a bigger asshole than the thing that tried to kill me, Corswain." Kenji hissed.
He let out a sigh. On the bright side, he had two systems now. He wondered what abilities the other one granted, all it said was Zero. On the other end, he wasn't sure if having two systems battling it out in his own soul was a good thing.
Clicking his tongue, he slid back onto his bed, but not before dismissing his system. Both eyes faded back into his usual red, and he buried himself in his pillows.
With shut eyes, he forced himself to sleep.