Chapter Text
A train was running along its track in the middle of the night. Inside its sparsely populated car, two teenagers sat on its seat. One of them was a boy with blue hair and bangs covering one of his eyes. He was wearing a white shirt and black vest, the standard male uniform of the local Gekkoukan High School.
On his right, a girl with auburn hair and a small ponytail sat sleeping on the seat, with her head resting on the shoulder of the boy. She was wearing the female uniform for Gekkoukan High School.
“Attention passengers, we sincerely apologize for any inconveniences caused by the delay. The next stop is Iwatodai.”
Hearing the announcement, the boy shook the girl by her shoulder, trying to wake her up. “Mina, wake up. Our stop is almost here.”
“Hm… Just ten more minutes…”
“It won’t even be five minutes. Come on, you can’t sleep here forever.”
“Fine, fine!”
By the time the train arrived at the station, it was almost midnight. The two teenagers stepped out of the train, with the girl looking very annoyed.
“Geez, what’s with the delay anyway? What caused the train to be delayed like that?!” said the auburn-haired girl with a slightly angry tone.
As soon as she said that, the surrounding atmosphere suddenly changed. The sky turned green. All of the electronics and machines were shut down. Pools of blood started appearing. Blood also started dripping from various corners and edges of the wall. Coffins lined up the streets where people used to be.
“Oh right. It’s already midnight.” said the girl.
“Let’s just go to the dorm. We’re already late as it is.” replied her brother.
“Iwatodai dorm, right? Where is it again?”
The boy pulled out a leaflet from his pocket and held it in front of the two of them.
“This way.”
After walking through streets littered with coffins and blood, both of them arrived in front of Iwatodai Dormitory. The dorm was the only building with its lights on. Both of them stopped there for a moment.
“That’s a first.” uttered the boy.
“Whatever!” groaned the girl as she walked up the steps and grabbed the handle on the door. “Let’s just get inside and get some sleep.”
Both of them stepped inside the building and into the lounge. Behind the reception desk, a young boy sat there with his hands folded under his chin. The boy looked like he was only 10 or 11 years old, yet he was wearing some kind of prisoner outfit. The young boy spoke as soon as the two teenagers entered the lounge, attracting their attention.
“You’re late.” spoke the young boy. “I’ve been waiting a long time for you.”
The young boy then snapped his fingers and suddenly appeared in front of the teenagers, startling them.
“Now if you wish to proceed, please sign your name there.” said the boy while gesturing towards the reception desk. On top of it were two red folders containing one sheet of paper each.
“It’s a contract.” the boy continued. “Don’t worry, all it says is that you’ll take full responsibility for your actions. You know, the usual stuff.”
The two teenagers then looked at each other, slightly confused before taking a look at the contracts on top of the desk. The contracts were simple, as they contain only one sentence: I chooseth this fate of mine own free will . They looked at each other again, before shrugging and signed the contract with their name.
Minato Arisato
Minako Arisato
The boy took the folders and held them in front of his chest. “Noone can escape time. It delivers us all to the same end. You can’t plug your ears or cover your eyes.” The boy then made the folders disappear right in front of them. “And so it begins.” said the boy as he too faded away and disappeared in front of them.
Minako just blinked at everything that happened. “Did… did we just curse ourselves?” she asked, still trying to understand what just happened.
“Who’s there?!”
They suddenly heard a shout from across the lounge. On the other end, a brown-haired girl wearing a pink cardigan eyed the two visitors nervously.
“Yeah, I think we did.” said Minako in a tired tone.
The brunette continued to watch the two teenagers cautiously. She shakily reached for something holstered on her right thigh. Seeing that she reached for something that looked like a gun, Minato reflexively went in front of his sister. But before the brunette was able to draw it, another shout came from behind her.
“Takeba, wait!”
Just as they heard the shout, the foreboding atmosphere faded away and all of the lights on the dorm came back on. Minato and Minako saw that the second person who shouted was another teenage girl, slightly older than them, with long, red hair. She was wearing a white blouse and black skirt, seemingly carrying herself with regal bearings. The two girls then approached the twins.
The redhead addressed the twins, “I didn’t think you’d arrive so late. My name is Mitsuru Kirijo. I’m one of the students who live in this dorm.”
“Who’re they?” asked the brunette.
“They’re transfer students. It was a last minute decision to assign them here. They’ll eventually be moved to another dorm.”
“Is it okay for them to be here?”
“I guess we’ll see.” replied Mitsuru. “This is Yukari Takeba. She’ll be a junior this spring, just like you two.”
Yukari greeted the twins after she was introduced.
Minato then replied, “Nice to meet you.”
“Oh… Nice to meet you too.”
Minako quickly stepped to her brother’s side, “Hey, is that gun real?”
“Huh?! Oh, this? It’s not… It’s just for… How do I explain this?”
Mitsuru quickly interjected, “It’s for self-defense. You know how it is these days. Don’t worry, it doesn’t shoot anything.”
She then continued, “It’s getting late, so you should get some rest. Minato Arisato, your room is on the second floor, at the end of the hallway. Minako Arisato, your room is on the third floor, and also at the end of the hallway. Your things have arrived earlier, so they should’ve already been sent to your respective room.”
“Thanks!” chirped Minako. “So, how do we get there?”
Yukari quickly answered her, “Oh, I’ll show you the way. Follow me.”
The twins obliged and followed Yukari across the lounge and towards the stairs. After going up one floor, the three of them stopped in front of the hallway. “The boys’ rooms are on this floor. Your rooms should be easy to remember, since they’re right at the end of the hall.” said Yukari.
Yukari then pulled out two keys from her skirt pocket. “Here are your room keys. Make sure you don’t lose it, or you’ll never hear the end of it. So, any questions?”
“Yeah, just one.” muttered Minako. “Is this building haunted or something?”
Yukari was startled hearing that. “H- Haunted?! W-What do you mean by that?!”
“Oh, you didn’t see that kid?”
“W-What kid? W-Who are you talking about?! Jeez, that isn’t a good joke, you know.”
“But…”
Minako looked at Yukari with a confused face. She then turned to her brother, who just shrugged. Seeing that, she just grumbled.
“Never mind then.”
“Did something happen on your way here?” asked Yukari.
Minato answered, “No, nothing happened.”
“Are you sure? Then, why is your sister…”
Yukari just shook her head. “If you say so. C’mon Arisato-san, I’ll show you to your room. You can go to your room on your own, right Arisato-kun?”
“Yeah, I’m good. Night Mina.”
“Good night, Minato-nii.”
== April 7th, 2009 ==
Minako woke up early and got dressed, excited for her first day of school back in her hometown. As she was finishing up her hair, she heard someone knocking on her door.
“Hey, it’s Yukari. Are you awake?” the person behind her door called out to her.
“I’m awake. Be there in a second.” replied Minako as she hurriedly secured her barrette. After she opened the door, Yukari cheerfully greeted her.
“Good morning. Did you sleep okay?”
“Yeah! Did you?”
Yukari just closed her eyes and groaned a little, “A little restless thanks to you, but I’m good.”
“...Takeba-san, are you afraid of ghosts?”
“Wha- Where did that come from?!”
“Well, seeing your reaction last night…”
“N-No, I’m not! Jeez, why did you even bring that up?”
“Just curious?”
“Well, I’m not afraid of something as silly as a ghost, so don’t talk about this to anyone.” Yukari then sighed before continuing, “We wasted enough time already. Ready to go to school?”
“Ready as I’ll ever be!” exclaimed Minako while pumping up her fist.
“Someone’s excited, at least. Let’s go fetch your brother.”
Minako and Yukari then walked down the hall to the stairs. As they walked down the stairs, they noticed Minato was sitting down on a chair in the second floor lounge, listening to his MP3 player. Noticing Minako and Yukari, Minato paused his MP3, slid off his headphones so they hung over his shoulders, and walked towards the two. “Sorry, been waiting long?” asked Minako.
“Slightly. Having trouble waking up?”
“No, just having a short chat with Takeba-san.”
“Oh really? What about?”
“N-Nothing important!” interrupted Yukari. “C’mon, let’s get going. We don’t want to be late on the first day of school.”
Minato raised an eyebrow at that, but then decided that it’s none of his business and just followed Yukari to school.
After a short monorail trip, the three teenagers arrived in front of the gates of Gekkoukan High School. Some students happily greeted Yukari, and she greeted them back. They soon entered the front hall of the school. “You two should probably see your homeroom teacher first.” said Yukari to the twins. “The faculty office is right there to your left, while the classrooms are on the right.”
“Got it.” answered Minato.
“Great! I’ll see you later.”
Yukari then walked away from the twins. As they watched her walk down the hall, they noticed a crowd gathering in front of a billboard. Minato was about to just walk towards the faculty office before noticing his sister already went to the billboard. Minato just sighed, “Let’s go, Mina. We need to go to the faculty office.”
“Just a sec. I’m curious what all this is about.” replied Minako. “Looks like the class rosters. Both of us are in class 2-F!”
“Are you done?”
“Jeez, no need to be so grumpy!”
“We can always see it after we talk to the teacher.”
“Yeah, but no harm in seeing it now.”
Minako was glad the faculty office was easy to find, since it was in a small hallway and very clearly marked. Her brother opened the door, and she followed him inside. After they entered, a teacher with short brown hair wearing a white collar shirt, brown faculty jacket and pants noticed them. She was carrying a small black folder. “Oh, are you the new students?” asked the teacher.
“That’s us!” replied Minako cheerfully.
The teacher then looked at the file inside the folder. “Minato Arisato and Minako Arisato, 2nd year, correct?”
“Yes.” said Minato in an almost flat tone.
“Wow, you two lived in a lot of different places. Let’s see, in 1999… that was what, ten years ago? Your parents-” the teacher then gasped slightly after seeing what’s in the file. Minako frowned seeing her reaction.
She has seen it multiple times. Every time people find out what happened, they always get the same look of pity.
“I’m sorry. I’ve been so busy I didn’t have time to read these beforehand.” continued the teacher, looking apologetic.
Minako just smiled and said, “Don’t worry. Noone will blame you for being busy. And… as for our situation, we still have each other.”
“I see.” the teacher nodded in understanding. “You’re quite strong. Anyway, I’m Miss Toriumi. I teach Composition. Welcome to our school.”
The twins replied in unison, “Thank you for having us.”
“With your politeness, it’s our pleasure.” said Toriumi with a smile. “Have you seen the classroom assignments? You’re in 2-F; that’s my class. But first, we need to go to the auditorium. The welcoming ceremony will be starting soon. Follow me.”
The ceremony was as boring as Minato expected. The principal’s speech just seemed to drag on and on with the same empty platitude and motivational words that can be heard almost everywhere. Due to bad timing, he was seated separately from his sister, so he couldn’t even alleviate the boredom with some silent conversation with her. Suddenly, the student right behind him tried to get his attention.
“You came to school with Yukari this morning, right?” whispered the student. “I saw you walking together. Can I ask, do you know if she has a boyfriend?”
“I don’t know.” Minato whispered back.
“I see. I thought you might know. Then, how about the other girl? The one with the cute ponytail, do you know anything?”
Minato quickly felt some murderous feeling rising up on the back of his head. Before he could say anything, the student was elbowed by another student on his right.
“Dude, don’t ask him that! I heard she’s his sister.” whispered the other student.
“O-Oh, sorry. I didn’t-”
“I hear talking.” grumbled one of the teachers. “I believe it’s someone in Miss Toriumi’s class.”
Toriumi quickly reprimanded the students and Minato, “Be quiet. You’re going to get me in trouble.”
Toriumi just sighed and mumbled to herself, “I’ll never hear the end of this.”
Contrary to Toriumi’s scolding, the chatter intensified. Minato thought, “Well, it’s a nice distraction at least.”
At homeroom, Ms. Toriumi decided on the seating arrangement of the class. The decision was made with virtually zero input from the students, which made some students grumble. Minato was seated on the second row, right side of the middle column. Minako was seated on the front row, left side of the middle column with Yukari on the right.
Class went uneventfully as expected, with introductions and lessons preparations took up most of the time.
After class ended, Minako walked to her brother’s desk and waited for him to finish cleaning up his books and utensils. Before Minato got up from his seat, a classmate with a cap went over to them and greeted them. “S’up guys. How’s it going?”
The twins just looked at their classmate confused for a few seconds, before looking at each other. Minato then said, in a very unamused tone, “What do you want?”
The classmate just slumped his shoulders at the question. “Oh, come on. Let me introduce myself at least.”
“I’m Junpei Iori, nice to meet ya.” introduced the classmate. “I transferred here while I was in eighth grade. I know how tough it is bein’ the new kid. So I wanted to say, ‘hey’. …See what nice guy I am!”
Minato just looked at him with a flat face. Minako, on the other hand, just giggled at his classmate’s attempt.
Yukari then walked into the group. Noticing her, Junpei chirped, “Hey, it’s Yuka-tan. I didn’t think we'd be in the same class again.”
Yukari sighed at Junpei’s antics. “At it again, huh? I swear you’ll talk to anyone if they’ll listen. Did you ever think you might be bothering someone?”
Junpei looked slightly offended by that remark. “What?! But I was just bein’ friendly.”
“If you say so.” scoffed Yukari. She then turned toward the twins. “Anyway, looks like we’re in the same homeroom.”
“Convenient, right? It’s nice to have a familiar face in here.” replied Minako.
“It is. I’m just a bit surprised.”
“Hello, are you forgetting that I’m in this class too?” Junpei tried to not get pushed aside. “By the way, I heard you three came to school together this morning. Are you old friends or somethin’?.”
“Uh, no. We just met yesterday.”
“Really? I didn’t know you could make friends that fast, Yuka-tan.”
“What? Is that so wrong?” snapped Yukari.
“Nothing. I just thought, there could be more to it than that.”
“Nah, we really just met yesterday.” Minako interjected. “I didn’t even know she-”
Yukari hastily covered Minako’s mouth with her right hand.
Junpei was slightly surprised at Yukari’s reaction. “Know that she what?”
“Nothing! Nothing happened last night!” Yukari attempted to avoid the topic.
“Wait, what?! Last night?!” Junpei was growing even more surprised.
It was Yukari’s turn to be surprised by the direction of the conversation. “Wait! No, that’s not what I meant! I already told you, I just met them both yesterday. So there’s absolutely nothing between us!”
Either from too much surprise frying his brain or just plain coincidence, Junpei arrived at the wrong conclusion. “Wait, both of them? Damn, Yuka-tan. I didn’t know you were…”
Minako then grew a very wide smirk. "I'm flattered you think I have chances with such a cute girl, but nah. Besides, Takeba-san feels more like Minato's type than mine."
Minato blinked. "What-"
"Besides, she's right, we literally met each other when Minato and I got to the dorm last night. Sorry to disappoint ya, but it's completely platonic." Minako patted Junpei on the head with a cheeky smile. "For the record, you're not my type either."
"Oof, shot straight down." Junpei winced.
“Ugh, seriously, how did you even come to that conclusion?!” Yukari glared at him.
She then just sighed. “This is more exhausting than I thought. I got some things to do for the archery club, so I got to go. But you better not start any rumors, Junpei!”
Yukari then left the class for the club. Junpei just rolled his eyes at her remark. “Who cares. Noone takes rumors seriously anyway.”
He then turned to Minato and Minako, “But hey, it’s your first day here and people are already talking about you. She’s quite popular, so seeing two new students walking together with her was bound to draw attention.”
Junpei then started smirking to himself. “This is gonna be a fun year, I can feel it!”
Minato, on the other hand, has already buried his face in his right palm, feeling massive irritation from what happened in the last hour.
The rest of the day went by uneventfully. Feeling tired from everything that happened, Minato and Minako decided to go to bed early for today.