P3: Twisted Melodies
A blue-haired boy taps his foot against the ground as he waits for his train to arrive. He looked over the crowd of people who were in the area. Each of their faces told a different story. Each story was one of suffering and pain. Every single one cut through their hearts. And they go about life, contemplating whether to keep it or not.
The boy closed his eyes and leaned against the barest of the bench he was seated at. Music was blasting in his ears. He didn't mind the volume for the music kept his sanity intact.
He had a horrid past, as people would put it. His parents died in a car crash when he was young. The boy knew this to be false, but no one listened. He tried to explain it to the police, but they kicked him out of the station.
His sister had been taken away from him shortly after by their grandfather, thinking him to be a bad influence on her. He wasn't. He simply knew the truth. He wasn't insane like all those people pegged him as. He was merely aware of the existence of beings morbidly horrifying.
After that, he had been passed on from family to family. None of them wanted him, thinking him to be an unlucky spawn of the demons, for everywhere he went, catastrophes happened. They weren't his fault. All he ever did was try to live the life that he had lost.
He also had nightmares. The boy hated them. Every night they got worse and then lead back into the numbing nothingness. He noticed his nightmares were most morbid during a full moon. It always seemed like something wanted to rip out of him and tear everything to shreds.
He never told anyone. But he listened. When people came to talk to him, ask for help, he listened and gave them advices. When people were weakened, he kept them strong. When people were broken, he'd patch them up. Only hoping that they could go on on their own from there.
Just then, the train came by, slowing down to a stop. The boy stood from his seat, taking his place inside the vehicle
His name was Minato Arisato, and he was certain of one thing: Humans were the ones that caused destruction to themselves.
Time never waits.
It delivers us 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…
Minato opened his eyes and looked out the window and sighed. It was late. Very late. Unfortunately, along the way, the train had run into some difficulties and therefore couldn't proceed until they were fixed which had delayed the trip by several hours.
He was headed to his hometown, not that he had a home. It was his own decision, being tired of getting passed from relative to relative to relatives he didn't even know he had.
When he had gotten a full scholarship invite from one of the schools in the area, he agreed immediately. No one was saddened by his leave. Not even the people who called him their 'friend'.
He heard the PA come on then, though he wasn't listening. The train slowly came to a stop and he got off, heaving his bag over his shoulders.
Minato checked the watch he was wearing. He had several minutes until that time. He got out of the station just as the world turned green.
The boy looked up at the eerie yellow moon which seemed much larger than it usually did and then at his surroundings. There were puddles of blood and coffins everywhere, yet he seemed unfazed.
This was something he experienced everyday. Well, everyday since his parents died…
The boy took out a paper from one of his pockets and looked over its contents one more time before crumpling it and throwing it in a nearby trash can.
He needed no maps. Each and every route going to whichever place was etched into his memory. This place was familiar to him like the back of his own hand.
Minato began to walk to his destination; the Iwatodai dorm, a supposed co-ed dorm for scholarship grantees. Well, he wasn't so sure about that. He had also researched ahead about the school he was going to be transferring to; Gekkoukan High School. It is owned by the Kirijo Group on a man-made island which was also owned by the same group.
The walk was not long. Although, he was surprised to find the lights on. Anything electronic was not supposed to work during the hour. Well, that's what he thought at least. The boy looked down on his music player which was hanging around his neck.
Deciding the matter unimportant for now, Minato stepped in.
"Welcome."
Minato snapped his head to the direction of the voice. It sounded like the voice of a child, yet there was a tone to it that sent shivers down his spine…
"You're late. I've been waiting a long time…"
A young boy stepped out of the shadows, smiling at him. "If you wish to proceed, then please sign here." The boy gestured towards the counter beside them where a thin, red book was set. With a snap of his finger, the book flipped open.
Minato looked at the boy and then at the book. Something at the back of his head was telling him not to do it, yet he approached the book.
I, the undersigned, chooseth this fate of mine own free will.
"It's a contract." The boy continued, standing beside Minato. "There's no need to be scared… It only binds you to accepting full responsibility for your actions." The boy set a pen down next to it.
Minato took it in his hands, although he made no move to sign it. He merely stared at it, conflicted. Although…
He signed it.
The book closed as the pen disappeared.
"Very well…" The boy took it in his hands and smiled once more. "Time is something no one can escape. It delivers us all to the same end…" He began to disappear then. "… Wishing won't make it go away…"
"And so it begins…"
Minato stared at the spot where the boy was earlier. Of course, in a time where everything turned green, water turned to blood, humans turned to coffins, there had to be young trippy boys that vanish into thin air to complete the whole creepy scenario, right? Right.
"Who's there!?"
Minato turned to the direction of the voice. It was a feminine voice, and the tone sounded panicked. He nodded to himself. It would only be natural for a girl to be panicked at this time of night, what was not natural was how she was awake at the time. She should be in a coffin about now. Well, the boy from earlier should've been in one as well, but well… he wasn't, well, normal.
Upon closer inspection, Minato noticed that the girl was carrying a gun and pointing it at him. Right, well he wasn't planning to die. And judging from how she was shaking, she wasn't ready to kill.
He got into stance as the girl was forcing herself to pull the trigger.
"Takeba, wait!" Another older, more authorative female voice said in a different kind of panic.
And then, the lights switched on.
Minato looked both girls over. The girl with the gun was a short-haired brunette who seemed his age, while the other one was a red-head whose hair ended in big curls. She seemed to be a year older at most.
The red-head approached him. "I didn't think you'd arrive so late." She said in what seemed to be a relieved tone. "My name is Mitsuru Kirijo. I'm one of the students who live in this dorm."
The brunette looked at him warily. "Who's he?" She whispered to Mitsuru.
Minato's gaze shifted to Mitsuru, awaiting her answer.
"He's a transfer student." She told the brunette. "It was a last minute decision to assign him here." Mitsuru gave the other girl a look, although he couldn't identify what kind of look it was. She then looked at Minato. "He'll eventually be moved to a room in the boy's dorm." Minato raised an eyebrow at that. Wasn't this the grantees dorm?
The other girl looked at him then at the red-head, apparently not getting the look she was given earlier. "Is it okay for him to be here?"
He was right there too…
Mitsuru smirked at that. "I guess we'll see." They were seriously forgetting the he was right in front of them. She turned to Minato, deciding that he's heard enough, and gestured to the brunette. "This is Yukari Takeba. She will be a junior this spring, just like you."
Yukari bowed awkwardly. "… Hey…"
Minato merely nodded at her in recognition. "Minato Arisato."
"It's getting late, so you should get some rest." Mitsuru said, stating the obvious. Although, her tone was rather displeased and since she was looking at Minato it would be because of his lack of respect. Well, she really can't blame him. He was the one got a gun pointed at him earlier. "Your room is at the second floor at the end of the hallway. Your things should already be there."
Should?
"Oh! I'll show you the way!" Yukari said. "Follow me."
And they walked up the stairs and went to the farthest room which was in fact at the end of the hallway. He never would've guessed. Do note the sarcasm there.
"This is it." Yukari started. "Pretty easy to remember, huh? Since it's right at the end of the hall." She laughed a little at that, but when Minato looked at her, his face expressionless, she stopped. " … So… Any questions?"
"The contract. What was that all about?" He asked, not thinking.
Yukari gave him a look. "What're you talking about?"
Minato wanted to hit his head against the wall. Of course she didn't know about what he was talking about. All the trippy things happened to him after all.
He grunted. "Never mind…"
Yukari reached into her pocket to get something. It was the key to his room. "Make sure you don't lose your key, or you'll never here the end of it…" She reminded before getting uncomfortable. "… Um, can I ask you something?"
Minato nodded, leaning against the door, wanting sleep.
"On your way here from the station, was everything okay?"
Minato nodded again. "Nothing out of the usual for me."
"I see… Never mind then" Yukari turned to leave. "Well, I better get going." Just as she reaches the staircase, she turns around to face Minato. "I'm sure you still have other questions, but let's save them for later, okay? Goodnight."
Minato sighed and entered his room, merely dropping his bag on the floor as his head crashed against the pillow.
~ Memento Mori ~
Minato scratched his head. He was shirtless, and he couldn't seem to find where his shirt was.
There were three knocks on the door. Minato groaned. Of course, somebody had to knock on his door now.
"It's Yukari. Are you awake?"
Just his luck, too. And not to mention the fact the he still couldn't find his shirt. On normal circumstances, he would answer the door, but since he didn't want to be rude he chose to ignore the girl and find his bloody shirt.
She knocked again. "Hello! Please answer the door or I'll get in trouble!"
Minato sighed and went to answer the door. Yukari smiled at him with practiced cheerfulness.
"Good morning. Did you sleep okay? Mitsuru-senpai asked me to take you to school. It's getting late… Are you ready to go?"
Minato raised an eyebrow as he gestured to his body. "Does this answer your question?"
Yukari's face heated up. "Oh, uh… Where's your shirt?"
"Being stupid and playing hide and seek." Minato grumbled as he went for another box. And what a surprise, his shirt was there. The boy practically ripped it as he took it out. He turned to Yukari who was still waiting by the door. "You may go ahead, if you want."
Yukari shook her head. "You don't want to risk being late on the first day do you?" Seeing as he was already fully clothed Yukari began to walk away. "Come on, hurry!"
Minato sighed as he took his bag and followed after her. He hadn't even had breakfast yet… Breakfast was important damn it!
~ Memento Mori ~
They were riding on the monorail to school now. Yukari had told him several things that weren't mentioned on the pamphlet and the site when he looked it up, and judging from the tone of her voice, she really liked the place.
Just when the monorail began riding over the sea, Yukari got excited and began looking out the window. She grinned at him. "Look over there!"
He did… and holy crap! That is one fancy-looking school.
The school was just a short walk from the station. And now that he had a better look at it, he could tell that its facilities were not disappointing like in his previous schools. A girl on her bicycle rode past them, waving hello.
Yukari turned to him. "Well, this is it. Welcome to Gekkoukan High! You're gonna love it here!"
Minato allowed a slight smile. He hoped that he would.
"You're okay from here right?" Yukari asked once they were inside. Minato was looking for his shoe locker. "You should go see your homeroom teacher first. The faculty office is right there to the left." She pointed in the general direction. "And that concludes the tour! Do you have any questions before I go?"
Minato looked at her incredously. Some tour. He shook his head.
Yukari was about to leave then, but she seemed to have remembered something and turned to him once more. "Hey… About last night… Don't tell anyone what you saw, okay? See ya later." And with that, she left.
Minato thought about checking the bulletin board to see what class he was in, but decided against it. With his luck, his name probably wouldn't be on it. He proceeded to the faculty office and slid the door open.
"Oh, are you the new student?" A female teacher who was wearing a pink suit turned to him. She had short, light brown hair.
Minato nodded.
"Minato Arisato… Eleventh grade, correct?" She asked, looking through the files. He gave another nod. "Wow, you've lived in a lot of different places…" Well, being passed around did have its benefits… "Let's see… In 1999… That was what? Ten years ago?" She looked at him again. He nodded. "Your parents-!" She gasped, looking down. "… I'm sorry… I've been so busy I didn't have time to read this before hand…" Minato sweatdropped. So she chose to read it now? She looked up at him again. "I'm Ms. Toriumi. I teach composition. Welcome to our school."
Minato bowed slightly. "Pleasure to meet you." He drawled out.
She smiled slightly. "Have you seen the classroom assignments?"
He shook his head.
"You're in 2-F; that's my class. But first, we need to go to the auditorium. The Welcoming ceremony should be starting soon. Follow me."
Minato sat near the back, allowing for an easy exit afterwards. He wasn't listening to the speech either. You here one, you've heard them all. What he was listening to was the rumours that were going about. They were about him too. Yay! Not.
Someone began tapping at his back then. "Psst… Hey…"
Minato tilted his head slightly to look at him.
"You came to school together with Yukari this morning, right?" Oh no, he didn't. "I saw you two walking together." Then why ask? "Hey, I have a question. Do you know if she has a boyfriend?"
Ah… Well, that explains it.
He shrugged.
"I see. I thought you might know, but I guess not… So how well do you know her?"
Minato shrugged again.
"I hear talking." A teacher from a different class said, eyes looking for the culprit. Minato slumped back on his seat, unnoticed. "I believe it's someone from Ms. Toriumi's class…"
The said teacher glared at the student that had been talking to him.. "Shh! Be quiet! You're going to get me in trouble!"
Minato closed his eyes and focused on his hearing. If he did, he could hear five rows in front of him.
They were still talking about him. Figures.
~ Memento Mori ~
The day had passed by uneventfully and he had been accepted wholeheartedly by his class. Minato stood up to leave, but just as he was about to, he was approached by one of the male students.
"S'up, dude? How's it goin'?"
Minato looked at him speculatively. The student had bright smile on, as if he was excited over something. "Who are you?" Minato asked.
"Me?"
No, he was talking to the chair. Right chair? Fine. Be that way.
"I'm Junpei Iori. Nice to meet ya." The student introduced, becoming smart. "I transferred here when I was in the eighth grade. I know how tough it is being the new kid… So I say, 'hey.'… See what a nice guy I am!"
Minato sweatdropped again. So, he was the show-off type.
Just then, they were approached by Yukari.
"Hey, it's Yuka-tan!" Minato looked at Junpei. Yuka-tan? "I didn't think we'd be in the same homeroom again."
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?"
Junpei mocked hurt. "What? But I was just being friendly."
"If you say so…" Yukari turned to Minato. "Anyways, looks like we're in the same homeroom."
Minato shrugged. "It's a coincidence, really."
"I know, but still… I'm a little surprised."
"Um, hello? Are you forgetting that I'm in this class too?" Junpei spoke up he then smirked. "By the way, I heard you two came to school together this morning. What's up with tha? C'mon, gimme the dirt!"
And how exactly was that a big issue?
"Wh-what are you talking about!?" Yukari exclaimed, flustered. "We live in the same dorm." Exactly. But people didn't really know that, did they? "Why are people even talking about it!? Now you have me worried…"
Junpei glanced at Minato who, in turn, simply shrugged.
Yukari groaned but then took Minato by the arm, giving a warning glare to Junpei. "Hey…" She whispered failingly. "You didn't say anything about… you know what did you?"
Minato shook his head.
"Okay, good." The girl sighed in relief. "Seriously… Don't tell anyone about last night."
And Minato promptly facepalmed, dragging his hand down his face. She wasn't whispering that part either…
"L-last night…?"
Here we go…
Yukari, realizing the meaning behind what she said, blushed profusely. "W-wait a minute! Don't get the wrong idea!" Minato sighed in annoyance. "Listen! I just met him yesterday, and there's absolutely nothing between us!"
Minato lay a hand on her shoulder and shook his head. "I don't think Junpei will listen. And besides, denying things gives them credibility, even more so when your tone is defensive."
"But this about you as well!"
Minato shrugged.
Yukari sighed in defeat. "Geez… Anyways, I've gotta go. I've gotta take care of something for the Archery team." She glared at Junpei. "But you better not start any rumors!" And with that, she left, slamming the door of the classroom shut.
Junpei shrugged. "Ah, who cares? No one takes rumors seriously, anyway. She's so paranoid…" Minato shrugged as well. "But, hey! It's your first day here and people are already talking about you! Believe it or not, she's actually pretty popular." Junpei smirked, raising his hand for a high-five. "You da man!" Minato gave him it. "Heheh, this is gonna be a fun year. I can feel it!"
Minato walked back with Junpei until they had to separate ways. He merely listened as Junpei talked about the girls of the school and how it was unfair that every single one of them turned him down. But then they had split directions.
"Bye, man! See ya tomorrow!" Junpei said. Minato walked away, giving him a two-fingered wave.
"Welcome back." Mitsuru greeted when he got back. He nodded at her in recognition before turning to sign in at the counter.
Minato yawned and therefore took that as a sign that he was still tired and decided to go back to his room.
On his way up, he ran into a silver-haired male. They merely nodded at each other in recognition.
When Minato saw the mess that was his room, he merely shrugged and decided to deal with it some other time. For now, he would sleep…
