Oh dear, I'm bit nervous when I want to posted this fanfiction. First because I was afraid that there will be no reviews and second is... I was afraid that you all didn't like it! Urgh! Just kill me now! But I can't leave my stupid idea lingering around my mind... cause I make a mistake of turning all my ideas into a curse! And this thought prevented me from thinking my 'APPLE AND GRAPE' fanfic!

By the way, in case for your information... Arisato Minato will turn to Arisato Mina. So that's mean... Arisato Mina is a girl!!

Beta-ed by Skarrow

Time never waits.

It delivers all equally to the same end.

You, who wish to safeguard the future,

However limited it may be...

You will be given one year;

Go forth without falter,

With your heart as your guide...

I stepped off the bus and studied at my surroundings. Why were there so many coffins standing around me? Hmm… maybe it's a part of some statuette. But I think most people won't be placing… coffins as the embellishment… this town is weird. I struggled to read the map in my hand.

Maybe I should get going now. I looked at the clock…it's already 12 a.m. I was supposed to get here early but I accidentally missed my train. As I look toward those coffins, I wondered who and why put those things around the town. It's not creepy to me or anything, but the fact that my mp3 battery has gone out doesn't help matters one bit. How disappointing….

Without my realization, I had finally arrived at the dorm that I will be staying at until I graduate. I went inside it, only to find that there was no one around; they probably had gone to sleep, I guess.

"You're late." The sudden voice interrupted my train of thought and I hastily turned my head around toward the source of the voice to find a black haired boy with a bright blue eyes. "I've been waiting a long time for you." The boy snapped his fingers and a red note book suddenly appeared on the front desk. "Now if you want to proceed, please sign your name there. It's a contract. Don't worry; all it says is that you'll accept full responsibility for your actions. You know the usual stuff."

I walked toward the desk with my bag hung on my shoulder. Signing my name, 'Arisato Mina' in the red note book, I wondering why this boy was still awake at a time like this.

"No one can escape time. It delivers us all to the same end. You can't plug your ears and cover your eyes." The boy said before takes the contract and it disappears into thin air, "And so it begins." After the boy said the weird thing, he disappeared into the darkness as well.

"Who's there?" A sudden new voice surprised me and I whirled around to face the source. I found out it was a brown haired girl who shouted at me. She was trembling and sweating, trying to reach something… a gun hanging by the holster at her left thigh. She fingered it. I stepped back in fright.

"Takeba, wait!" Another girl entered the scene beside the brunette but this time, it was an older redhead girl with elegant features. As if on cue, the power goes back on and everything seems to return to normal. The older redhead immediately approached me. "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," She introduced herself.

"...Who's she?" the brunette asked Mitsuru, releasing her grip on her gun. I relaxed.

"She's a transfer student. It was a last minute decision to assign her here. She'll eventually be moved to a room in our dorm." Mitsuru explained to the younger girl.

The brunette looked worried. "...Is it okay for her to be here?"

Mitsuru smiled at her. "I guess we'll see... Arisato, this is Yukari Takeba. She'll be a junior this spring, just like you," She introduced, turning back to me.

"...Hey." Yukari said to me in a weak voice.

Okay… this whole thing is getting up on my nerves! First, she scares me with her gun-thing and second, she doesn't even apologize! "Why do you have a gun?" I asked Yukari a bit more accusing than I intended.

Yukari face expression suddenly changed. "Huh? Um, well, it's sorta like a hobby... Well, not a hobby, but..."

"You know how it is these days... It's for self-defense. It's not a real gun, of course." Mitsuru suddenly interrupted, much to Yukari's relief… at least from my point of view. "It's getting late, so you should get some rest. Your room is on the third floor, at beside of the end of the hallway. Your things should already be there." She added with a smile.

"Oh... I'll show you the way. Follow me." Yukari said. A smile formed on her face as she led me toward my room. It was located at the end of the hall on third floor.

"This is it... Pretty easy to remember, huh? ...Since it's right at the end of the hall. Oh yeah, make sure you don't lose your key, or you'll never hear the end of it... So, any questions?" Yukari said.

Well yes, there was a particular question that had been lingering inside my mind since the time the boy appeared. "Does that kid live here too?" I asked her.

Yukari face suddenly turned white as a white sheet, "What kid? What are you talking about? ...C'mon, it's not funny." She replied. It seems that she doesn't know what I'm talking about. "Um... Can I ask you something? On your way here from the station, was everything okay?" she asked me.

No. It was perfectly not okay. "What do you mean?"

"You know what I-... Never mind. It seems like you're alright." She looked a little nervous. "Well, I better get going..." Yukari told me as she spun around to walk away. Suddenly stopping in her tracks, she looked over her shoulder at me. "Um... I'm sure you still have other questions, but let's save them for later, okay? Good night." She said before she left.

--ARISATO MINA----

The next morning I stood before the mirror inside my room, brushing my long dark blue hair. I tied it up with a red ribbon and let my bangs cover my right blue eye. Satisfied with my look, I took my school coat and wore it before a sudden knock at my bedroom door caught my attention.

"It's Yukari. Are you awake?" the voice outside the door asked loudly. I walked toward the door and opened it. Yukari entered my room with a bright smile on her face. "Good morning. Did you sleep okay? Mitsuru asked me to take you to school. It's getting late, so... Are you ready to go?"

"Yeah, I'm ready." I replied softly, memories of last night seeping in.

Yukari smile grew wider. "Okay. Then, let's go."

--ARISATO MINA----

Yukari and I took a train to our school. If I'm not mistaken, the school's name should be Gekkoukan High School. I smiled and nodded at Yukari as she talked to me and pointed out landmarks while the train moved, but in truth I wasn't listening. I was still a little sleepy.

"So, that's it. See? There it is." She was saying as she pointed her finger towards a towering building near the seashore. The train finally stopped, and together we walked from the train station towards my new school and stopped at the front gate. "Well, this is it. We're here. Welcome to Gekkoukan High School. Hope you like it." Yukari said as her lips formed a happy smile yet again. Amazing. How many times can she smile like that in one day? As we entered through the school gate I suddenly began to feel kind of awkward because I sensed that some of the boys were staring at both me and Yukari. I forced myself to ignore it till we reached the shoe locker. "You're okay from here, right? You should go see your homeroom teacher first. The Faculty Office is right there to the left. ...And that concludes the tour. Do you have any questions before I go?" Yukari asked me.

"Which class are you in?" I asked her, just in case I was assigned to the same homeroom as her. This was a big school, after all. I wouldn't want to ruin my first day just because I got lost.

"Me? I dunno... I haven't looked at the classroom assignments yet." Yukari replied. "Hey... About last night... Don't tell anyone what you saw, okay? ...See ya later." She said before leaving me alone.

I sighed a bit, mainly because I could still plainly sense that someone was staring right at me… is it because of my hair color? Do they think Mitsuru's hair color is normal? Really, who actually has deep red hair like hers? Unless she colored her hair, of course. Or is it because of my uniform? Does it make me look fat?

Instead of standing around wondering what was wrong with me, I should go to the Faculty Office. I checked out my name on the bulletin board at first glance, I couldn't find my name anywhere, but on closer inspection, my name was actually written on a Post-It. I strolled down the hall and entered the Faculty Office at my left and a female teacher noticed me. "Oh, are you the new student?" she asked politely. I nodded. "Arisato Mina… 11th grade, correct? Wow, you've lived in a lot of different places... Let's see... In 1999... That was what, ten years ago? Your parents-…" the female teacher suddenly gasped. "I'm sorry... I've been so busy; I didn't have time to read this beforehand. I'm Ms. Toriumi. I teach Composition. Welcome to our school."

"Nice to meet you!" I said cheerfully, bowing in respect.

"Wow, such enthusiasm!" Ms. Toriumi praised me. "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." She motioned me towards the auditorium.

--ARISATO MINA----

"As you begin the new school year, I'd like each of you to remember the proverb, 'If a job's worth doing, it's worth doing well.' When applied to student life, this means..." The principal just kept talking and talking. I kept yawning, fighting the urge to sleep when someone tapped my shoulder from behind.

"Psst... Hey..." It was a male student sitting directly behind me, trying to get my attention. I turned my head around. "You came to school with Yukari this morning, right? I saw you two walking together. Hey, I have a question. Do you know if she has a boyfriend?" he asked.

"I don't know." I simply replied with my half lidded. Did he think I was Yukari's sister or something?

"I see. I thought you might know, but... I guess not. ...So, are you a new student? What's your name?" the male student asked, suddenly changing the subject.

"I hear talking. I believe it's someone in Ms. Toriumi's class..." a voice belong to some male teacher suddenly surprised me and the male student.

"Shhh! Be quiet! You're going to get me in trouble!" Ms. Toriumi whispered loudly.

--ARISATO MINA----

I sighed for the second time today because… I hadn't got any chance to catch some high quality nap time throughout the whole day! But the good thing is the class was finally over. Thank god! Unfortunately my contentment was short-lived – to my dismay, a male student with a cap placed on his head approached my desk. "S'up, dude? How's it goin'?" he said with a smirk.

Did he just bang his head on the board or something? Seriously, do I look like a dude? Do dudes wear frilly long skirts and ribbons in their hair? I didn't think so. "What do you want?" I asked him a bit shrilly. I inwardly groaned as soon as the words came out of my mouth. Now I sounded like I was afraid or something… nice going, Mina.

"Oh, come on. Let me introduce myself, at least." He said. "I'm Junpei Iori. Nice to meet ya. I transferred here when I was in eighth grade. I know how tough it is bein' the new kid... So I wanted to say, 'hey.' ...See what a nice guy I am!" Yeah, what a nice idiot you are, I thought. Suddenly, Yukari entered the class and approached the both of us. "Hey, it's Yuka! I didn't think we'd be in the same class again." Junpei smiled at Yukari, who rolled her eyes.

Yukari sighed, "At it again, huh? I swear, you'll talk to anyone if they'll listen. Did you ever think you might be bothering someone?"

"What? But, I was just bein' friendly." Junpei replied good-naturedly, waggling his eyesbrows.

"If you say so." Yukari said before shifting her gaze to me. "Anyway, looks like we're in the same homeroom..."

"It's just a coincidence." I replied in a low voice. By now I was positive that they were doing everything they could to ruin my chance to sleep.

"I know, but still... I was a little surprised."

"Um, hello? Are you forgetting that I'm in this class too?" Junpei interrupted.

"Urgh! Mina, just ignore him, okay? Anyways, I've got something to take care of for the archery team. So, bye." Yukari said. She leaves me and Junpei alone.

Junpei scratched his head, "Ignore me? That was kinda cruel." He then let his gaze fall toward me. "Hey, I've heard that you walked with Yukari to school this morning. It's your first day here, and people are already talkin' about you! Believe it or not, she's actually pretty popular. Heheh, this is gonna be a fun year. I can feel it!" he cheered. A fun year? With him in my class? I doubted it.

--ARISATO MINA----

"Welcome back." Mitsuru greeted me as I got 'home'. Well, at least her greeting made me feel kind of homey…. I felt really tired. I planned to go straight toward my room and get some goodnight sleep. Before I went, I bid Mitsuru goodnight. She mumbled a reply, not looking up from her book. I said goodnight to Yukari, too, who was sitting tensely at the dining table by herself. As I waltzed sleepily up the winding stairs, I heard someone shut a door and brush past me in the hallway but the dreams were calling me so I ignored it.

--ARISATO MINA----

"Hey Mitsuru, is that the new girl?" a confident-looking student asked the redhead and caught her attention. "What's her name?"

"Hmm? Well yes, her name is-… Akihiko? Why you do you ask? You didn't seem to take any interest when we talked about her yesterday…"

The confident-looking student known as Akihiko scratched his head. "Well yeah… since she's staying with us and all I'd better learn her name." He grinned teasingly at the redhead. "She has a name, right?" Mitsuru rolled her eyes.

Mitsuru sighed. "Fine. Her name is Arisato Mina and she's in the same grade as Yukari. Does that satisfy you?" Her words earned a nod from Akihiko. "Good," She said, shifting her attention back to the book she was reading.

"I'm going out for a bit." Akihiko suddenly said.

"...Hm?"

"Didn't you see the newspaper? There's a lot going on."

"...I know. People who had no problems before are suddenly developing acute cases of Apathy Syndrome... I've seen it in the news quite often lately. They say it's due to stress, but..."

"Yeah, right. It has to be THEM. Otherwise, it's not worth my time..."

"You have a one-track mind... Will you be okay on your own? The Chairman will be here for the next few days, but after that, I can..."

"Don't worry. I'm just getting a little practice." With that, the senior left the dorm.

Mitsuru sighed. "This isn't a game, Akihiko..."

Oh... hate me! Hate me! Hate me! I hope you all pleased with this fanfic. Thank you for reading and please review... I do accept flames.