Chapter Text
4/6, Monday
“Your attention please. Today’s train schedule will be modified due to a rail switching malfunction, We apologize for any inconvenience. Next Stop is Iwatodai.” A voice announced over the train’s speakers. Makoto wasn’t listening, he was looking at the window, at the bridge in the distance. That bridge, Moonlight Bridge. Seeing it again, after all these years, brought back the memories even if parts of it was still incredibly fuzzy. Makoto was distracted from his thoughts when he realised the train was coming to a stop.
When he arrived at the station Makoto saw the time, it almost midnight. He yawned, before thinking to himself It’s pretty late, I should hurry up. The dorm shouldn’t be far from the station. He was quite tired as he walked through the almost empty station, if he had known beforehand the train would be so late he might have tried to sleep on the way but that didn’t matter now. As Makoto walked out of the station the clock struck midnight.
4/7?, Tuesday?
Something felt different as he walked out onto the steps outside the station, suddenly Makoto felt uneasy, like something in the air had shifted. He looked around, it was dark, but he could still see not because of lights nearby strangely enough though, all the lights including the streetlamp in front of the station were off. The world around him seemed to be lit with a greenish hue. That’s weird. He thought to himself as he walked down the steps.
Maybe it’s some weird fog or something. Why did all the light go- His thoughts were cut off by the sound of his foot hitting a puddle at the bottom of the stairs. He looked down for a moment but then had to do a double take, the puddle he was standing in was a bright red liquid. He quickly stepped out of it to the side before looking back. Is that blood? The thought instantly crossed his mind, but it wasn’t small puddle though and more importantly not the only one there were a few more of these possible blood puddles around the outside of the station.
It’s right outside the station, so there is no way I would be the only person to see this. It’s probably already been dealt with, some accident that they will clean up in the morning. Makoto reassured himself. Gotta get to the dorm, hopefully they haven’t locked the door cus of how it is. Makoto started walking away from the station in the direction he had been told to go to get to the dorm.
Not long after he had left the station, Makoto found himself walking towards a strip mall, the moment it came into view however that uneasy feeling he’d had since leaving the station turned into confusion mixed with a building silent dread. There were more puddles of blood in front of strip mall, not only that but some blood was also dripping, down one of the stores signs ‘Wilduck Burger’ it seemed to be a fast-food restaurant but, the lights were off so it must be closed. All the stores seemed to be and again the streetlamps were off, but none of that was the strangest thing He could see now.
Scattered around Infront of the stores, standing upright were coffins, or they definitely looked like coffins to Makoto each one had a strange red glow around the base of them. What’s going on here? He thought, looking around he still couldn’t see anyone else, he thought it was strange the train he rode in on certainly wasn’t full but wasn’t empty either. And yet, since leaving the station he hadn’t seen anyone else. Makoto paused for a moment wondering what to do, he pulled out his phone, partly to check what time it had gotten but also in case he did decide to phone emergency services.
“I’m being paranoid, it’s probably just decorations for some event” He thought to himself, but he didn’t honestly believe it they were barely a week into April, and decorations like would properly be a bit much even for Halloween. When he tried to check his phone however, it wouldn’t turn on. “... Did I forget to charge it before I left?” He asked himself, despite knowing the answer, clinging to that normal explanation it gave him some, if little, comfort even in this unsettling situation. With nothing else he could do, he decided to keep walking to the dorm.
As he continued on his way to the dorm, Makoto saw more puddles of blood and few more coffins on the sidewalk, but he also saw one more thing that was odd, cars just sitting in the road, engines not running, no lights on just sitting there, and inside the cars, were more coffins. At this point Makoto’s dread was building more and more, the sight of these cars unsettled him particularly for some reason, this felt like a strange nightmare, but he knew he was awake. This was all so weird an abnormal and yet somehow felt weirdly familiar, but he couldn’t figure out why.
He still had not seen another human this whole time, but seeing the coffins inside the cars, always at least one always behind the driver’s seat, he started to wonder, Are the coffins where people should be? None of this made any sense to him really, he picked up the pace of his walking, at this point he was really hoping he was wrong about them giving up on him coming for the night, if that door was locked he wouldn’t know what to do.
Thankfully, it wasn’t. It was a large building, but Makoto didn’t really take the time to admire it, he was much more eager to get inside. As he entered the lobby of the building he saw it was empty, to his left seemed to be a desk with a computer at a table behind it. On his right was a lounge area, a sofa and chairs surround a large coffee table with a tv nearby. Further in he could see a dining area and near the back a kitchen. No lights were on, and everything was bathed in that sickly green light from outside. At the back of the floor were stairs, he started walking past the desk towards them when he heard it.
“Welcome” The voice of what sounded like a young child came from behind Makoto, when he turned around he saw the young kid they had short black hair piercing blue eyes and seemed to wearing an old fashioned black and white striped prisoner’s outfit. The mysterious boy was standing was standing behind the desk both arms resting upon it.
“Where did you-“ Makoto tries to ask the kid how they got there, when he walked in he knew no one was there but the child cuts him off.
“You’re late. I’ve been waiting a long time” The mysterious child asks, the way they talk is calm and collected.
“Sorry about that, the train was delayed and then on the way here all this weird stuff was happening-“ Makoto starts to explain but once again the kid interrupts.
“It’s alright. You’re here now. That’s all that matters.” The child says with the same tone as before.
Why is he so calm? Does he not see what is happening outside? Why do they have a little kid sitting in the dark waiting for me anyways. These are the questions going through Makoto’s mind but before he can ask any of them the mysterious child speaks again.
“If you wish to proceed, sign your name here.” The mysterious kid gestures to the desk in front of them, where sits a contract and quill. Makoto swore that wasn’t there a second ago but perhaps he was too focused on the suddenly appearing strange kid.
“Huh, what’s this? I already enrolled-“ As was becoming habit now Makoto was cut off by the child.
“This isn’t about that. All it says is you accept full responsibility for your actions.” They said calmly, although Makoto still didn’t really understand, maybe it was specifically for the dorm, in case he damaged something he had to take responsibility. He was too tired and still weirded out with everything to read it fully, he just wanted to get it over with.
Makoto took the quill and signed his name at the bottom of the contract. ‘Makoto Yuki’ His last name was the only real connection he had left to his parents, but he had never cared too much for his first name, he exactly didn’t dislike it really either though.
“...Good” The mysterious kid said, as they picked up the contract and looked at it. “Time is something no one can escape. It delivers us all to the same end. You can’t plug your ears or close your eyes.” The child continues, before putting the contract down to look at Makoto again. “And so, it begins...”
Makoto was about to ask the kid what they meant by that, but he hears another voice coming from his right, towards the stairs. “...Who’s there?!” A girl’s voice called out. Makoto turned to face her.
A girl was standing next to the tv. She had neck length, side swept brown hair and eyes wearing a pink cardigan, a black skirt, and knee-high socks, she also had a red ribbon and a band around her arm, it had writing on it, but Makoto couldn’t read it from where he was standing. Makoto and the child must not have noticed her enter the room. The strangest thing about her though, was the full holster on her right thigh. “How are you here at this hour?” The girl asked suspiciously. “Don’t tell me...” Makoto was gonna respond as he saw her reach for the gun but before he could and before the girl could unholster.
“Wait!” Another girl called out, standing at the bottom of the stairs. This girl had waist length red hair and seemed to be wearing the school’s uniform, she also had an arm band and holster but unlike the first girls, hers was on her waist.
Right as this new girl says that suddenly the lights turn on in the room and in that same instant the green glow is gone. “Huh? The lights...” Makoto looks at both girls neither of them is standing near a light switch, it must have been the kid then, but as Makoto turns to face them and confirm this, he realises the strange child was gone.
“It had gotten so late we thought you might had gotten lost.” The second girl says looking at Makoto, but he didn’t respond still looking for the mysterious Kid.
“Are you ok?” The first girl asks sounding a little worried as she watches Makoto look around behind the desk.
“Huh? Oh... sorry” Makoto says after he turns to face them. Where did that kid go? He thinks to himself before the second girl speaks again.
“My name is Mitsuru Kirijo. I’m one of the students who live in this dorm.” The way she speaks is refined and polite.
The first girl turns to Kirijo. “... Who’s he?” She asks not really lowering her voice.
“He’s a transfer student. They decided at the last minute to assign him here, but that’s only temporary he will be moved to the boy’s dorm eventually.” The red-haired girl explains.
“Is it really ok for him to be here?” The brown-haired girl asks.
“I guess we’ll see, but either way it should be alright for now.” Kirijo answers reassuringly before looking at Makoto again. “This is Yukari Takeba. She is also a second year like you.”
“... Call me Takeba.” The brown-haired girl says, she definitely speaks more bluntly that Kirijo.
“... What about the kid who was here before?” Makoto asks the girls.
They both look confused “A kid?” Takeba asks looking at Makoto before turning to Kirijo only to see she’s equally confused.
“The one with the black hair, he gave me a contract to sign with the quill? I was talking to him when you came in Takeba.” Makoto tried to clarify, though now that he thought about it, It was kind of weird they had him use a quill instead of a pen.
Takeba looked even more confused now. “You weren’t talking to anyone when I came downstairs. You were just staring towards the wall, it was kinda creepy.”
“But... I know I saw...” Makoto trails off as he realises both girls are looking at him like he might be crazy. “... I was kidding, sorry” He scratches the back of his neck.
“Sure...” Takeba says sounding more than a little sarcastic. “Funny...”
“It’s late, Yukari why don’t you show...” Kirijo turns to Makoto.
“My name’s Makoto Yuki.”
The red-haired girl turns back to Takeba. “Why don’t you show Yuki to his room? It’s the last one on the right” She turns back to Makoto. “I believe your things were brought in earlier.”
Takeba nods before turning to walk up the stairs, Makoto follows her, They both walk up to the second floor.
“So... Why do you both have guns?” Makoto finally asks.
“Huh? Well... It’s kind of a hobby? I mean, not a hobby... They aren’t real, don’t worry about it.” The brown-haired girl answered before changing the subject. “Here is your room.”
“Thanks, Takeba.” He said, He was really tired at this point with how late it was and all the weird stuff he had seen, so he was glad he would soon be able to get some sleep.
“...Can I ask you something? Did anything, happen on your way here from the station?” she asked him.
“I should just say no, maybe I was just seeing things, only thing that explains that kid who disappeared.” Makoto thinks before answering. “...No, I don’t think so.”
“Alright... I guess that means your fine then.” Takeba said though the look in her eyes made Makoto wonder if she actually believed him. “I’d better get going, goodnight.” She said before starting to walk back down the hall.
The room was actually pretty nice, a bed against the far wall facing a tv. A desk in front of the window, on the opposite side of the room was a closet and shelf. There was also a minifridge, coat rack, sink and mirror plus another shelf was in the corner behind the door. Makoto immediately started getting ready for bed he was exhausted, right before he went to sleep though, He made sure to plug in his phone and MP3 player. But it was then he realised his phone wasn’t dead, it still had over half its battery life.
But even weirder than that, was the time. It read ‘00:12’. “That can’t be right” Makoto thought it was a couple minutes to midnight right before Makoto left the station, and he swore with everything weird he had seen and the few times he had stopped to look around, he wasn’t keeping track completely but he thought it took him almost an hour, and then after that he had the conversation with that kid and then the two girls, it just didn’t make sense. And yet the alarm clock in the room said the same thing.
Makoto didn’t know what to think of this maybe he really had just imagined all the weird stuff, maybe it was a weird kind of nightmare he had well half-asleep walking here. It didn’t matter now Makoto really just needed some rest, and so he finally turned in for the night.
4/7, Tuesday
Technically, it was the same day since he had gotten to sleep after midnight, but it felt like a new one. Makoto got ready for school and looked in the mirror before he was gonna leave. His unkempt dark blue hair covered one of his blue eyes. He didn’t look for long, Looking in the mirror was never something he enjoyed, It was a feeling he could never quite put his finger on it. He turned away and was about to put his headphones in and head out when he heard a knock at the door.
“Are you up yet? It’s Takeba.” Her voice came from the other side of the door.
Makoto walked over and opened the door. “Good morning” *He said.*
“I’ve been asked to show you the way to school. Are you ready to go?” The brown-haired girl asked.
Makoto nodded and started following her he got the impression Takeba didn’t really like him but, he couldn’t really blame her if he really was just standing there creepily in the dark last night. Not the best first impression.
As they walked to the station, the same way Makoto had gotten to the dorms last night, he could see all of the coffins and blood were gone, there wasn’t even a hint they had ever been there. Maybe I was just really tired. He thinks to himself as they continue on their way in silence.
They rode the monorail to school, Makoto spent most of the journey listening to music on his MP3 player. They got off at the last stop, Tatsumi Port Island. The school was in the middle of an island. Makoto had to admit it seemed rather impressive when it came into view.
The school was a rather large building and there were cherry blossom trees out front. Walking inside only made it clear just how fancy the school was, a massive open space with lockers at the front near the entrance and further in large pillars surrounded a circular mural.
“You should be ok on your own from here.” Takeba said when they got to the lockers. “You should probably see your homeroom teacher first.”
“Right, my homeroom teacher...” Makoto said, if he had been told who that was already he had forgotten.
“If you need help, the faculty office is over on your left.” Takeba said, clearly she could tell he didn’t know where to go. She got a bit closer to him and lowered her voice as she said. “Hey, about last night, don’t tell anyone about what you saw, ok?”
The request gave Makoto pause for a second, but he nodded, he didn’t want to get on Takeba’s bad side, at least more than it felt like he already had. But it made him wonder though. Were those really fake guns? ...It looked like she was gonna pull it out when she first saw me and before Kirijo stopped her... Takeba walked away from Makoto, and he decided he should probably focus on figuring out where he was supposed to go for the time being.
Makoto took her advice and headed to the faculty office. it was a decently sized room with whiteboards and corkboards on the walls and desks in the middle there were quite a few teachers and members of staff in there at the time. “You must be the new student.” One of the teachers said as she walked towards Makoto, she had brown neck length hair, grey eyes and was wearing a white turtleneck as well as a brown jacket with matching pants.
Makoto nodded, the teacher seemed to be checking something on a document she was holding, mumbling to herself as she did. “Makoto Yuki, you’re a second year, Wow you’ve lived in a lot of different places. Ten years ago, your par-...” The teachers eyed widened a little as she took on a guilty expression, she looked up to see if Makoto had heard her, and the way he was avoiding eye contact made it obvious that he had.
“Sorry I... hadn’t had a chance to read this yet, it’s been so busy...” The teacher apologized.
“It’s fine...” Makoto answered, still avoiding eye contact.
“I’m Ms. Toriumi, I teach composition. Welcome to Gekkoukan High.” She said, clearly trying to make it less awkward.
“...Thanks” Makoto replied.
“Have you seen the classroom assignments? You’re in 2-F, that’s my class.” Ms. Toriumi smiled but it was a bit forced, clearly she felt bad about bringing up his parents. “But first, everyone has to go to the auditorium. I can show you the way.”
Makoto nodded and followed her.
The principal’s speech dragged on but after it finished everyone headed to their homerooms. It seemed Takeba was also in 2-F with Makoto. Maybe she just forgotten or maybe because she felt bad after what happened in the faculty office Ms. Toriumi didn’t make him introduce himself to the class. Even with all the times Makoto had transferred he never really liked doing it, he never had anything to say about himself, nothing interesting anyways.
Classes that day went by rather normally, Makoto focused on his work and the day went by rather quickly, it was just after class ended for the day when a boy, one Makoto remembered seeing from homeroom came up to him.
“Sup, dude! How’s it going?” The friendly student asked, he was slightly taller than Makoto had short black hair and grey eyes. He had a goatee and was wearing a blue dress shirt under his school jacket as well as a baseball cap on his head.
“... It’s going fine.” Makoto answered he wasn’t really expecting anyone to come up and talked to him, but this student seemed nice.
“I’m Junpei, Junpei Iori. I transferred here back in middle school, so I know what it’s like to be the new kid, so I wanted to say hi.” He said with a massive grin on his face.
“Thanks... I’m Makoto Yuki.” Makoto replied.
“You seem like a chill dude, you have that quiet emo style going on.” Junpei said. “And those headphones look cool, what do you listen to?”
“Oh here, take a listen.” He said before taking his headphones and MP3 player from around his neck and handing them to Junpei.
“Thanks man.” Junpei said before putting the headphones on and starting the song. “Hm ‘Full Moon Full Life’ don’t think I’ve heard of this one before... sounds pretty cool.”
Makoto sat there well he listened to the music, it was then he heard a sigh from behind him. He turned to see Takeba standing there.
“Hey, it’s Yuka-tan!” Junpei said as he paused the music and handed the headphones and player back to Makoto. “What are the odds were in the same class again?”
“There you go again Iori, acting like your friends with everyone. Try not to make him uncomfortable, okay.” Takeba said to Junpei.
“What? I wasn’t right buddy? We were just listening to some tunes.” Junpei asked looking at Makoto.
“Yeah he’s alright” Makoto responded.
“See Yuka-tan? I’m alright.” Junpei said smirking wider.
“Don’t encourage him Yuki, he’s like a hungry dog, if you feed him he’ll never leave you alone.” Takeba said rolling her eyes.
“Anyways, I heard you two walked to school together. Something going on between you two~ Come on you can tell me Makoto were buddies now right?” Junpei asked Makoto with a teasing tone, clearly trying to get a reaction out of Takeba.
“Obviously not, he’s just staying at our dorm for the time being, so I showed him the way here. Are people really spreading rumors?” Takeba sighs, before turning to Makoto and whispering. “You didn’t tell anyone about... you know what, did you?”
Makoto shakes his head, the fact she seems quite worried about him telling someone makes him think it was probably not something they are supposed to have, but it wasn’t really his business.
“Ok, good... Seriously though, don’t tell anyone about last night, okay?” Takeba asked again, before Makoto could nod however, they both heard a gasp.
“Last night huh~” Junpei said raising his eyebrows twice.
“Don’t get the wrong idea!” Takeba said a little flustered by his implication. “I just met him yesterday! Nothing is going on between us!”
“Uh huh, totally, nothing is going on between you two.” Junpei said sarcastically and raised his eyebrows again.
“Ugh! I have to go, I need to take care of something for the archery team. But I swear to go Iori if I find out your spreading rumors about me.” Takeba glared at Junpei.
“Yikes! Don’t worry, I would never Yuka-tan.” He put his hands up defensively.
Takeba rolls her eyes at him before leaving.
“She can be pretty scary sometimes, definitely don’t wanna be on her bad side when she’s holding a bow.” Junpei says turning to Makoto. “Anyways, nice to meet you man. See you around.”
“See you.” Makoto replied before Junpei walked away. Junpei seemed like a nice guy, he hadn’t expected it, but Makoto was kinda glad he decided to come over and talk to him.
Makoto started heading back to the entrance, he was selecting a song to listen to when he accidentally bumped into someone.
“You should really look where you’re going in the halls.” The stern-looking student with swept back blackish grey hair, black eyes said.
“Sorry.” Makoto responded.
“It’s fine just be more careful in future.” The student said before walking away, Makoto decided to do the same keep on his way back to the dorms.
As he walked into the dorm Makoto saw a boy with short silver hair and grey eyes, he was wearing a Gekkoukan uniform minus the jacket which he had replaced with a red sweater vest. He was also wearing black gloves and had a bandage over his right eye.
“Hey, you’re the transfer student who’s staying here for the time being, Yuki right?” The confident looking student asked when Makoto walked in.
Makoto nodded.
“Mitsuru told me about you, I’m Akihiko Sanada, I’m a third year like her. Nice to meet you but I was just heading out, see you around.” Sanada said, before continuing out the door.
The rest of the evening was pretty quiet, Makoto spent the evening in his room. Even after meeting Sanada the dorm seemed to be pretty empty, not to mention it seemed pretty fancy for a school dorm. With that, and how strange Takeba was being about him seeing them with those guns the night before, Makoto was starting to suspect something more was going on here.
But it really wasn’t any of his business, after all Kirijo said he would only be here temporarily anyways, so it would probably be best to stay out of there ways.
4/8, Wednesday
The school day went by rather quickly, Makoto was settling pretty well, it was a pretty uneventful day, on the way back to the dorm Makoto had stopped for some food, the taiyaki wasn’t half bad.
When he arrived back at the dorm he saw a man, probably middle-aged Sitting in one of the chairs around the coffee table, facing the door. The man and long wavy brown hair, dark brown eyes, a goatee, he had glasses and was wearing a black turtleneck with a tan jacket on top.
Takeba, who was sitting on the couch to the man’s left spoke first. “Oh, he’s back.” She said referring to Makoto.
“So, this is our new guest. Good evening.” The man spoke his voice was smooth.
“Good evening.” Makoto replied in kind.
“My name is Shuji Ikutsuki. I’m the chairman of the board for your school.
“It’s nice to meet you Mr. Iku-“ Makoto struggled for a moment.
“Ikutsuki... I know it’s hard to say right? That’s why I don’t like introducing myself even I get tongue-tied sometimes.” The chairman smiled warmly. “Please take a seat.”
Makoto sat down on the couch to the man’s right, opposite of Takeba.
“I apologize for the confusion regarding your accommodations, but it seems it will still be sometime before you receive the proper room assignment. I hope that’s alright?” He asked.
“That’s fine. It’s actually pretty nice here.” Makoto responded.
The chairman nodded. “Yes it is, did you know this building actually used to be a hotel?” He asked.
Makoto shakes his head.
“Well, it’s true. It was closed for quite sometime before being refurbished to serve as a dorm though. Still, I think it’s quite the unique bit of history, and I do quite enjoy sharing interesting facts like that. Here’s another for you, did you know that the school actually sits on a completely manmade island?”
“No, I had no idea sir, it must of taken a lot of work to build an island.” Makoto replied.
The chairman nods, before standing up. “Anyways I would love to stay and chat some more but, I should get going, and you should all probably get to sleep soon. As they say, the early bird catches the book worm!” The chairman grins proudly to himself. “Get it? Bookworm, because your students.” Ikutsuki laughs at his own joke as he leaves.
Takeba groans and rolls her eyes before heading upstairs for the night. It isn’t long after that Makoto does the same. He heads upstairs to him room and shortly later, he goes to bed.
—
It was five minutes to midnight, the chairman had asked Takeba to come to the command centre Mitsuru was already there. Sitting near the large monitor that was currently showing nothing, when Ikutsuki walked in.
“Hello there” The chairman said as he entered the room. “Thank you both for coming.”
“Why did you want to see us Mr. Chairman.?” Takeba asked.
Ikutsuki walked over to the console and suddenly a video feed came up. It was Yuki, asleep in bed.
“Is that live?” She asked the chairman.
“Yes there is a small camera in all the rooms... Don’t worry though they are never turned on, this is a special circumstance.” Ikutsuki said, reassuringly.
“Do you think he’s...?” Mitsuru asked, not saying it out loud but they all knew what she was implying.
“I don’t know, that’s what I’d like to find out...” The chairman answered sounding somewhat curious himself. “The Dark Hour approaches.”
The Dark Hour
It was only a few seconds after the chairman said it that the clock struck midnight, and right on cue all the lights in the room accept the monitor went out, and the room filled with pale green light from the windows.
“Would you look at that... He’s retained his human form.” Ikutsuki said as he watched the monitor smiling slightly.
“Then, he must be...” Takeba spoke, before Ikutsuki continued.
“He may be asleep, but he is definitely experiencing the Dark Hour... However, that doesn't necessarily mean he has the potential...” The chairman clarified before taking a moment to think, putting a hand to his chin. “Those he must come to think of it... if he didn’t they certainly would have preyed on him by now.”
“That’s, a scary thought.” Takeba mumbled to herself.
“I’d like to continue monitoring him during the Dark Hour for a few more days.” Ikutsuki said.
Takeba didn’t feel great about the fact Yuki was being spied on, though she realised it was probably for his own good, still it didn’t sit right with her.
???
When Makoto awakens he was sitting in a chair, in a large old-fashioned elevator he could see through the metal the elevator is constantly raising higher and higher, as a clock with one hand on the wall spins ever forward. Sitting across from Makoto on a blue couch behind a table, was a strange looking old man wearing a black suit, he had bulging, beady eyes. Unkempt white hair except where he was bald in the middle, and definitively the longest nose Makoto had ever seen.
Standing next to the strange man was a woman with short, straight platinum blonde hair and bright yellow eyes. Wearing what seemed to be a dark blue stewardess outfit.
The strange old man spoke first. “Welcome, to the velvet room.” His voice was rather high pitched and a tiny bit nasally. “My name is Igor, I am delighted to make your acquaintance.”
“Where, am I?” Makoto asked as he looked around, more than a little confused and worried.
“Like I said, This is the velvet room.” Igor spoke again, but he could probably tell that answer wasn’t what Makoto was looking for, so he continues. “This place exists between dream and reality, mind and matter... Only those who have signed the contract can enter this place. “ Right after he says this in a flash of blue light a contract appears on the table in front of Igor.
Makoto recognises it, it’s the one he signed when he first arrived at the dorm, the one given to him by that mysterious child.
“From now on, you shall be welcome here as a guest in the velvet room.” Igor paused for a moment. “But where are my manners...” he gestures to the woman standing on his left. “This is Elizabeth, she is a resident here, like myself.”
“I’m pleased to meet you.” The woman in blue spoke.
Makoto took a second to process it all, but he just became more confused. “So... why am I here?”
“That will become clear in due time dear guest. For the time being however I simply ask you abide by your contract and assume all responsibility for your choices.” Igor answered.
“... Is, this a dream?” Makoto asked still trying to make sense of all this.
“Precisely... You are fast asleep in the real world as we speak. However, you will want to come here of your own accord sooner or later, when that time comes, you’ll need this.” As Igor spoke a white light floated down towards Makoto. When he caught it in his hand the light becomes some kind of old key.
Makoto was going to ask what it was for but suddenly everything started going dark. “Until we meet again.” He heard Igor say before he fell back into unconsciousness.
4/9, Thursday
Makoto woke up in bed to his alarm. Huh I guess that really was just a weird dream. Makoto thought to himself still groggy from waking up. As he got out of bed, he heard something hit the floor, it was a key, the key from the dream. Where did that... Doesn’t matter right now I should get ready I don’t even know what the key is for, that guy with the long nose didn’t tell me. Makoto sighed to himself, he couldn’t believe he was actually taking that weird dream seriously.
Once again classes went by without anything interesting happening, just boring lectures about classical literature and stuff like that, Makoto was packing his bag when Junpei walked up.
“Hey dude, you busy?” Junpei asked casually.
Makoto shook his head.
“Cool well since your new around here, if you wanna hang out I can show you around the area.” He offered.
“Yeah, sounds good.” Makoto said as he stood up, grabbing his bag.
Junpei grinned excitedly. “Cool let’s get going then.”
The place the two arrived at was different to the strip mall Makoto passed going to and from the dorm, there it was all the shops fronts in one multilevel building. Here all the shops were connected in a circle around a large fountain.
“This is Paulownia Mall.” Junpei explained. “This is where I usually go when I’m hanging out with the guys from school. It’s got everything, Karaoke, an arcade and you can rent CDs from that store there.”
“That’s cool.” Makoto said.
“Yeah we can check that out first-“ Junpei is distracted by a crane game sitting outside the arcade. “Or... I can show you my mad skills, watch I’m great at these.” Junpei said smugly as he cracked his knuckles.
Makoto lost track of how much yen Junpei spent but suffice to say, it was a lot. It was rather entertaining watching him try he never really got frustrated or angry at the game, and even with loss after loss Junpei kept trying. Until he ran out of money of course.
“Dang it... I swear I’m usually better at this but... I was writing a lot in class today so, hurt my hand you know how it is.” Junpei said seeming a little embarrassed at how bad he did.
“Yeah, definitely your hands hurting, must be it.” Makoto replied smiling a little.
Seeing Makoto smile Junpei did as well. “Well at least were having fun right? You wanna give it a try dude?”
“Sure” Makoto said before walking over and putting some yen into the machine.
“Just don’t get your hopes up, these machines can take years to master and even still it can be a long shot to-“
Makoto won on the first try, a small plushie of a snowman with a blue hat.
“Uh... beginners’ luck, I loosened it for you.” Junpei said, crossing his arms.
“You loosened, a crane game?” Makoto asked.
“Totally.” Junpei said smirking widely it was obvious he was kidding, and he wasn’t actually bitter about it. “Well, I’m sure it’ll look great in your fancy dorm room... Oh is it already getting dark?”
“Yeah you were trying to win for a while.” Makoto said as he nodded.
“Dang well we should bother probably get going, see you tomorrow man.” Junpei said.
“See you.” Makoto replied before they both went their separate ways.
When he arrived back at the dorm Makoto headed straight up to his room. He was very tired for some reason, though he didn’t know why, Maybe I’m still adjusting after moving? He thought. He lay on his bed, grabbing the strange key from the table, where he left it this morning. I still have no idea where this key came from or what it does... It couldn’t actually be from that guy in my dream could it. Makoto sat the key back down, he was so tired, he was already drifting off.
The Dark Hour
Takeba saw as the video feed came online, right as the Dark Hour started. It wasn’t long after that the chairman walked in.
“How is he doing?” Ikutsuki asked.
“It seems he fell asleep still in his uniform, he must have been tired.” Mitsuru answered her eyes focussed on the video feed of Yuki.
“Hmm...” Ikutsuki put his hand to his chin. “He doesn’t seem to be experiencing any of the usual symptoms.”
“The ‘usual symptoms’?” Takeba asked as she turned to face the chairman.
“Even those with the potential tend to be, unstable at first.” Ikutsuki started to explain. “Memory loss, Disorientation... Yet this subject hasn’t exhibited anyone of those, he’s rather unique.” There was a slight fascination in the tone of his voice.
Takeba didn’t like that her classmate was being called a subject. “Should we really be treating him like a guinea pig?”
The chairman was about to speak when suddenly a ping sound went off.
“Command room speaking. Akihiko what is it?” Mitsuru said.
Akihiko’s voice came from a speaker, he sounded like he was in pain. “I’m currently being chased, by something big... I couldn’t lose it I’m almost back.” The communication was turned off.
“Both of you prepare for combat now.” The chairman said, his tone was serous.
They all ran down to the lobby just in time to see Akihiko collapse against the door. He was wounded, with large claw marks in his left side.
“Akihiko!” Mitsuru called out as she took a knee to examine the wounds.
“I’m alright... Besides, we have bigger things to worry about, it’ll be here any second.” Akihiko said it was clear from how he spoke he was in pain but pushing through it.
Suddenly it felt like the whole building shook, as something, something big must of slammed into one of the walls.
Mitsuru immediately stood up, here face was serious and her tone commanding. “Mr. Chairman, head for the command room, Takeba go wake Yuki then escape out the back. Akihiko and I will fight it.”
“Sounds like a plan.” Akihiko chuckled slightly but also coughed at the same time.
“Alright be careful all of you.” Ikutsuki said before turning to go back upstairs, Takeba followed close behind.
—
Makoto was awoken by aloud noise when he stood up he realised he was still in his uniform. I must of fallen asleep right when I got back, what time is it? He turned to see his alarm clock only to see it was completely turned off. It was then he realised the room was bathed in that same sickly green light from the first night he came to the dorm, looking out the window he saw the moon was bright and yellow as it stood, full in the sky.
It was right then he heard loud frantic pounding on the door. “Wake up!” It was Takeba yelling from outside the room. “It’s an emergency! I’m coming in!” She said practically as she was already opening the door.
She was wearing the same armband and had the holster on her leg, just like that first night. But now, she also had a bow and quiver on her back. “There is no time to explain, we need to go now!”
Makoto could hear the panic in her voice, he didn’t question her just nodding.
“Here” Takeba said before grabbing something from behind the door, it looked like some kind of large blade on a pole. “The chairman said to give you this, just in case.”
Makoto was rather surprised the weapon seemed rather impractical, he had no idea how to use it, but he took it regardless.
The two ran as fast as they could, Takeba clearly had better stamina than Makoto, but he did his best to keep up even If he was already winded by the time they made it to the back exit next to the kitchen.
“Ok we should be safe now-“ Takeba is cut off suddenly.
“Takeba, do you read me?!” Suddenly Makoto heard Kirijo’s voice, it sounded like it was coming from all around them.
“Y-yes we can hear you, we are at the back exit like you said.” Takeba responded.
“Where is she? How can we hear her?” Makoto asked.
“That doesn’t matter right now. Akihiko and I are outside there is more than one enemy, we got surrounded by smaller ones and lost sight of the big one, but it must be lurking nearby.” Kirijo explained, Makoto had no idea what was going on still though.
“What?!” Takeba called out before suddenly the build shook again, as something slammed into the wall twice, near the exit Makoto and her were about to use.
“Wh-whoa! What are we gonna do? It’s right outside.” Takeba said she was sounding more and more panicked.
“What about the roof?” Makoto asked, he was terrified at this point but knew that wouldn’t help, so instead he tried to be practical.
“Good idea! Come on let’s go!” Takeba said as the two started running back towards the stairs.
They were already on the second floor when they heard it, the sound of something breaking through the back door.
“I-It got inside, we need to run faster!” Takeba yelled as the two picked up the speed sprinting to the roof.
Makoto had no idea what ‘It’ was but as he ran faster than he ever had before, and saw the fear in Takeba’s eyes, he just hoped it didn’t catch them.
They two made it to the roof, and Takeba quickly locked the door. “Ok...” She said still catching her breath, “We should be safe for now.”
As the two both watched the door they suddenly heard a strange almost gargled growl from behind them. They both turned to see, a strange inky black hand come over the ledge of the roof.
“No way! They climbed the wall?!” Takeba yelled as eight more hands grabbed onto the ledge. then another hand, holding a strange emotionless mask then even more hands and arms these ones holding weapons came into view as the shambling mound of hands and arms started moving quickly towards the two.
“What the hell is that thing?!” Makoto looked at Takeba as he asked, as he could feel his heart pounding with fear.
“It’s a shadow!” Takeba said as she drew the gun from her holster, yet to Makoto’s shock, she didn’t aim at the monstrosity rapidly approaching from the other side of the roof, she turned the gun on herself.
“What are you doing?!” Makoto yelled out.
Takeba hesitated, she couldn’t pull the trigger and then it was too late. The monster, the ‘shadow’ as she called it was right in front of her and slapped her away sending her flying to the side, the gun landing at Makoto’s feet.
The monster didn’t attack him that instant, instead keeping its attention on Takeba. Makoto knew he had to do something, anything. He saw the gun at his feet and without even thinking he picked it up. ... Go on. A voice whispered in his head not his own but a familiar one, that of the mysterious child, as he put the gun to the side of his head, and he whispered to himself.
“Per... so... na...”
As he pulled the trigger.