[Attention passengers, the last stop for the Iwatodai Circle Line is approaching. All those who are disembarking at Iwaotdai Station should prepare to exit the train. I repeat, the last stop for the Iwatodai Circle Line …]
A single blue-grey eye opened at the blaring P.A. system crackled into life overhead, rousing the teen with a grunt. 'That's our station …' The teen thought, sitting up from where he had been leaning. He was scrawny for his height, wearing a grey coat and black slacks. Silver headphones were clipped over his ears, accenting the grey-blue eyes that tried to hide behind an unruly mop of blue hair. Stretching as he stood up, the teen let out a yawn and took off his headphones, opting instead to pull a backpack onto his shoulders.
Once he was satisfied with the way it settled across his back, the teen turned to his companion; sound asleep against the seat was a teenage girl with auburn hair, her breathing easy and oblivious to the P.A. system's message. Her clothes were a pale yellow sweater and a plaid orange skirt, with black tights and brown, knee-high boots over her legs. Like her male companion, she had an MP3 player, but hers boasted red headphones instead of silver. Letting out an amused breath, the blue-haired teen reached over and shook her shoulder. "C'mon, Hamuko; we're near our stop." He muttered, not stopping his actions until he heard a replying groan.
" 'M up Minato, I'm up ..." The now-named Hamuko muttered as she woke up, batting at Minato's hand. Ruby red eyes glowered sleepily at blue-grey ones, and the girl yawned and stretched. "We're nearly there? About time … I thought we'd get there tomorrow morning at this rate." She muttered, sitting up fully as Minato pulled her backpack off of the overhead shelf.
"You and me both, Hamuko." the blue-haired teen admitted, offering her the bag. "Here's hoping that there will be someone awake at the dorm when we get there; I don't want to sleep out on the street curb overnight." Hamuko gave an absent-minded nod, reaching up to grab a long tube that had been resting behind the bags. Minato arched an eyebrow when he saw it. "You brought your practice naginata? I didn't think Gekkoukan had that for a club ..."
"I know, I know." The girl replied with a small smile, strapping the tube to the side of her backpack. "I'm just not comfortable walking around a new city without it, y'know?" Waiting until Minato rolled his eyes at her, Hamuko giggled and gripped onto the handrail as the train began to slow down. "Ah, here we are." She said with a chipper smile, eyes brightening; the static overhead indicated that the PA system was confirming her statement.
[Attention, we are entering Iwatodai Station. Please refrain from approaching the doors until the train comes to a complete stop.]
Minato gripped the hand rail as the train slowed, looking around to see a few of the other passengers standing up and preparing their things, a young mother hoisting her sleeping toddler into her arms near the doors. The massive, fast-moving machinery began to grind to a halt, the sound of breaks sure to wake up anyone who had managed to sleep through the electronic announcement.
It wasn't long before the train reached the station, the electronic doors slowly parting to let the patients exit. Minato sighed in relief, leading his twin sister off of the train while turning off his Mp3 player. "We finally made it … now we just have to high tail it to the dorm." He commented, reaching into the breast pocket of his coat for the map their grandfather had given them. Hamuko made an agreeing noise, seemingly distracted; when Minato turned to glance at her, he spotted his twin looking at the large clock on display in the station.
"We've got five minutes until midnight ..." She muttered under her breath, her normally happy face serious. The auburn didn't seem to notice her twin's stare as a frown tugged at her lips, one of her hands going to the practice naginata's tube.
"Hamuko?" Minato asked, worried; it took a lot for his sister to act like this. His question seemed to snap her out of it, because she turned to him and blinked before offering him a quiet smile.
"Haha, sorry." She admitted, rubbing the back of her neck. "I just felt uncomfortable walking around a new city after midnight, that's all." Minato let the topic rest at that, knowing that, if nothing else, his sister was incredibly stubborn. If she didn't want to let something slip, it did not slip. Pushing the thought to the back of his brain, he pulled out the slip of paper he had been looking for, unfolding it to reveal a partial map of the city.
"Anyway, the dorm we're looking for is just down this road here ..." Minato began, leading his twin out of the train station. "We're going to want to take a left, and go straight before hitting a dead end. Then we want to make a slight left, and it'll be the large, four-story, brick building on on the right side of the street. Look for the green doors with the Gekkoukan school emblem on it."
"Gotcha." Hamuko nodded, grinning. Relieved to see that his sister was behaving like her normal self, Minato gently gripped her hand and began to lead her in the direction they needed to go. Several of the people around them saw this and smiled, although the blue-haired teen wagered a fair chunk of them thought that the two teenagers were dating instead of siblings. Pushing the thought aside, Minato smiled as he glanced up at the moon; it was a few nights away from full, the bright orb shyly peeking out from behind buildings and bright street lights. 'So different from back home in Inaba …' He thought quietly to himself, turning to ask Hamuko something when the power cut without warning.
The teen froze, grey-blue eyes widening in shock. What had just happened? While Minato knew it was common for teenagers to stay up late often, he was a heavy sleeper, and needed a lot of it. His younger sisters liked to joke that he was a cat in a previous life, but as he turned around, Minato knew that he had no clue what was going on as he waited for his eyes to adjust to the light.
Beside him, Hamuko had frowned, opening the tube to her side and pulling out the practice naginata. It was six and a half feet of hard oak – there was no way they'd get away with a live blade on a train – and the auburn-haired girl held it with confidence as she closed up the tube she carried it in again. "Crap, we're gonna have to book it, Minato."
"Hamuko …?" Minato blinked again, confused as his sister took his hand again and began to lead him down the road, naginata at the ready in his other hand. Her being this serious was … rare. Naoto was normally the super serious one, while Hamuko seemed to exist solely to brighten up a dull room; seeing her so serious was … worrisome.
And was it just him, or were some of the shadows moving?
It had been a lucky glance out of the corner of his eye that had let Minato catch a glimpse of something moving. It had been low to the ground and black, like the rest of the nearly all-swallowing darkness around them, so it had been hard to see. About ready to call Hamuko and tell her he had seen something move, Minato let out a yelp as clipped something on the left.
The 'something' turned out to be a coffin when Minato got a better look; it was made of an unknown black material, and stood slightly taller than the average adult. It seemed to be sealed shut, at least, a series of red chains wrapped around it and keeping whatever was inside of it contained. Both twins halted in their tracks, not sure what to make of everything going on around them. "Wha … what's going on …?" Minato asked, voice quiet.
"I … I don't really know ..." Hamuko admitted, shifting so she had both hands on her naginata. "I mean … I've been in this before, but never without Jii-chan around to help bail me out. But … nothing seems to be coming after us, for now ..." A quick movement down one alley made her look, blinking as she saw what looked like the head of a horse lashing out to bite into something. It was gone with a second look, but that only increased her nerves. "but we should hurry to the dorm … and pray the doors are unlocked."
Minato nodded in agreement, starting to hurry up. They were almost to the building now, and Hamuko made sure to keep close, eyes darting back and forth as they moved towards the large building ahead. Hamuko spotted the horse from before a few times more, a faint flicker of blue fire following it; she could never get a good look at it to pin down exactly what it was.
The twins reached the large, oak doors to the dorm with an audible thud, Minato crashing into them with a yelp after tripping on the topmost step. Hamko managed to halt with much more elegance, keeping her back to her brother as she made sure nothing could sneak up on them from behind as her brother opened the doors to get inside. To Minato's great relief, they were unlocked, and he stumbled inside as quickly as he could manage, Hamuko behind him.
Both twins leaned against the doors for a moment, catching their breath. "We … we're safe in here, right?" Minato asked, looking around. The lack of lighting apart from the large moon outside made it hard to really examine the interior of the building far past the large windows that flanked the front doors.
"We should be ..." Hamuko nodded, standing up as she put her practice naginata away. A faint noise caught her hearing from near the right window, and she cautiously wandered over to look. It took all of her control not to shriek when the head of a skeletal horse stared back at her, gold eyes appearing out from beneath its chamfron, blue fire licking at its neck like a mane. It seemed satisfied by her being inside, and shook its head with a snort before backing away from the window. Confused, Hamuko pressed herself against the glass, but could only glimpse the blue fire as the strange beast galloped back down the road they had come from.
'I wonder what that was …'
Minato hadn't noticed his sister wandering around, opting instead to lean against the door tiredly. He was unnerved by the strange atmosphere, and he was praying it went away soon. There was a pressure at the back of his mind, wearing him down faster than such late hours normally did. 'What … is going on...?'
"You're late."
The young voice beside his left elbow made Minato jump a foot in the air, eyes widening as he turned to look. Standing there, behind a check-in desk, was a pale skinned boy of ten years old. His blue eyes almost seem to glow in the dim lighting, and were jarring against his black hair and striped pajamas. His demeanor seemed friendly, despite the scare he had given Minato, making the blue haired boy lower his guard a fraction.
"I'm sorry …?" He apologized weakly, wondering if the boy lived in the dorm as well.
"Don't worry. You arrived here safe and sound, after all." The boy waved his hand, smiling gently at Minato. "But be that as it may, I don't have much time to continue with. So, if I could ask you to sign this for me ..." with a wave of his hand, the pale boy had produced a red ledger with what appeared to be a black feather stuck inside of it. Still smiling, he handed it to Minato, who took it warily.
'nothing feels malicious …' The blue-haired teen thought, frowning as he turned the ledger over and over in his hands. There was nothing to suggest any curses or hexes worked into the red velvet of the ledger, and opening it showed a simple piece of paper. The black feather turned out to be a decoration, an old-fashioned ink pen tucked into it as if it were an inkwell. Drawing it, Minato sighed in relief to see that the ink was a deep blue in color, not blood red like he had been fearing. A bit less nervous, blue-grey eyes looked over the paper.
-I, the undersigned, chose this path of my own free will, and I claim full responsibility for my actions henceforth.-
Unnerved once again, Minato frowned; he had figured it was a dorm contract, but that wording … Figuring that he wouldn't get any answers unless he signed it, the blue-haired boy let out a sigh and put the pen against the line, hurriedly writing out the kanji for his name and blowing on it to make the ink dry faster.
Once he was certain it was dry, Minato turned to call to Hamuko – who had disappeared at some point, perhaps looking around for someone else awake- and summon her to sign the contract as well, only for it and the pen to vanish from his hands the second he looked away. Startled, he turned to look, and saw that it was once again in the pale boy's hand.
"Your sister's contract was signed long ago." He said, voice still friendly. "Besides, she is responsible for her own actions; there's no reason for her to be just as responsible for your actions as well." Before Minato could ask what on earth he meant, the boy gave him an eery smile and lifted the ledger so it covered his left eye, mirroring Minato. "Time waits for no one; you can't cover your eye and plug your ears to block it." He said, voice ominous. "I look forward to seeing you in the coming year, when there's clouds over the moon."
Before Minato could form any sort of retort, the boy vanished into the shadows behind him.
Shivering, Minato turned around again, and opened his mouth again to call for Hamuko; how his auburn sister could vanish so thoroughly, he did not know.
"WHO'S THERE!?"
The shout actually wrung a frightened yelp out of Minato, who turned and stared at where the shout had come from. Standing about twenty feet away from him, near what his eyes thought was a staircase, was a teenage girl. The dim lighting kept most of her figure indistinguishable, but he was able to make out a pair of wide, hazel eyes, and a bright red armband around her left arm. She stood there for a moment longer before speaking again. "H – how are you …?!" she stammered, stepping closer as her face suddenly hardened. "Don't tell me …!"
Her hand reached for something on her thigh, but whatever it was, she never grabbed it.
Hamuko lunging at her from the left, backpack discarded and wooden naginata in hand, made sure of it.
Minato watched as the new girl let out a frightened shriek, dropping instantly from the unexpected tackle and landing on the floor with a loud thud. Hamuko didn't seem to feel like taking a risk, because she placed a foot into the other girl's gut and swung the wooden naginata down to press it against the newcomer's neck. "Who are you," the auburn demanded, ruby eyes flashing, "and why do you have a gun!?" Minato paled as he heard that.
'Well, that explains what she was reaching for on her thigh.'
The girl Hamuko had pinned seemed too stunned to answer, her already wide eyes even wider in shock. Minato watched her mouth open and close for a few seconds, as if attempting to formulate a response, but no sound came out. About ready to tell Hamuko that she should most likely get off of the other girl, Minato looked up as the sound of footsteps racing down the stairs echoed onto the first floor.
Not long after, a third girl had arrived, alarm written all over her tense face as she took in the scene before her. Hamuko and her captive both turned to look, the auburn not moving her naginata in the slightest. "... I see that you jumped to conclusions again, Takeba." The newcomer said with a sigh, elegant voice making the pinned girl flinch slightly. Turning to Hamuko, the third girl nodded. "Impressive reflexes, but I must ask you let Takeba up; it would be hard for her to speak with you holding her at bay like you are."
Hamuko studied the new girl for a long moment before nodding, removing the naginata and her foot before kneeling and offering the 'Takeba' girl a hand back up. As she helped the other girl back to her feet, the power returned, allowing Minato to finally see the two newcomers in detail as he walked closer.
'Takeba' was a fraction shorter than Hamuko, and thinner, wearing a pink cardigan over a short skirt – a glimpse of black bike shorts poked out from beneath the hem – with black knee-high socks and loafers. Pink earrings and a white heart choker accented her outfit as she raised a shaky hand to brush her brown hair out of her face. The girl who had arrived later was taller than both of the other girls by a couple inches, dressed in a no-nonsense white blouse and charcoal skirt. Her curly hair was scarlet, one curl stubbornly falling over her left shoulder as she crossed her arms over her chest, looking the other three teenagers over.
Satisfied by what she saw after a moment, the redhead nodded. "I was starting to get concerned when you two didn't arrive earlier in the evening." She said with a smile, scarlet eyes softening. The brunet girl seemed confused, looking between everyone, making the redhead turn to her. "These are the Arisatos, Takeba; I informed you a few day ago that they would be arriving here today."
'Takeba' jerked, but nodded. "Y – yeah, I remember ..." she scowled, clasping her hands behind her back. "I just didn't expect them to … well … I didn't get a good look at the images you showed me." The admittance was quiet, but the redhead decided that it wouldn't be worth the effort to scold the other girl more.
Deciding that things wouldn't get anywhere unless either he or Hamuko spoke up, Minato coughed into his fist. When he was sure he had the attention of the two strangers, he offered them a quiet smile. "Sorry about arriving so late; there were a lot of delays on the train ride here." He apologized, blue-grey eyes softening. "I'm Arisato Minato, and this is my twin sister Hamuko." Hamuko gave a polite bow at that.
"Sorry about knocking you over like that." She said to the brunet girl, rubbing the back of her neck. To her surprise and mild relief, the other girl shrugged it off with a wave of her hand.
"I'm just glad that wasn't a live naginata." She said with a laugh. "I don't see someone pull off that tackle often either; Akemi-senpai'd be impressed." Giving a bow in return, the brunet offered a shy smile. "I'm Takeba Yukari; I'm a second year like you two."
"And I am Kirijo Mitsuru, a senior." The redhead introduced herself, making Minato arch an eyebrow. The Kirijo Group was a well-known electronics corporation, so what was the owner's daughter doing in such a remote dorm? Mitsuru didn't seem to notice, because she looked at the time with a frown. "But I'm afraid that a tour will have to wait; school begins tomorrow, so we best all retire to bed." Turning to Yukari, the redhead nodded. "Takeba, could you please show Arisato-kun to his room? I need to speak with his sister about something."
"Oh … okay." Yukari nodded and turned to Minato, offering him a shaky smile. "Well, let's go …" Minato nodded, shifting his backpack as he followed Yukari up the stairs, accepting the room key Mitsuru handed him as he passed her.
He and Yukari didn't say much as they went up to the second floor, Yukari leading him down the right hand hallway. Stopping at a door on the very end, she offered him a smile. "Well, here it is; should be easy to remember, being right at the end of the hall." The brunet let out a light laugh, hazel eyes softening a bit as she propped a hand on her hip. "... I'm sorry about spooking you earlier." She said after a moment, looking to the side.
"It's fine." Minato reassured her. "I just hope Hamuko didn't bruise you; she's always been the type to play rough." He said with a laugh before looking around. "... I'm not the only guy in this dorm, am I?" He asked, nervous.
"Oh, no, there's another guy; he's already asleep though." Yukari reassured him. "He's on the school's boxing team, so he went to bed early." Minato nodded in understanding, looking around. "... Hey …" The brunet's voice made him turn back to her, curious. "On your way here … was everything alright?"
Minato paused, not knowing how to answer that. On one hand, she seemed to be aware of … whatever the hell was going on. On the other, he might have been hallucinating things, especially that coffin he ran into … Offering Yukari a smile, Minato went to reply, only for a colossal yawn to leave him instead.
Yukari laughed at that, grinning at him when his face tuned pink. "Yeah, I think you're fine." She admitted, relaxing. "Well, go get some sleep; I'll be seeing you tomorrow in school!" Before Minato could object, she had darted off and headed upstairs.
Sighing and shaking his head, minato entered his room, smiling in relief to see the rest of his things already there. Someone had gone ahead and unpacked his pajamas, laying them out on the bed. 'I was half-expecting a futon, honestly.' Minato thought to himself as he gladly shed his backpack and clothes, flopping onto the covers in nothing more than his boxers. 'changing's too troublesome …' he thought as he slipped away into slumber, squirming up to the pillow before completely blacking out.
On the first floor, Mitsuru frowned before turning to Hamuko. Before the auburn could blink, the taller girl had drawn a gun from the holster at her waist and pressed it against Hamuko's forehead, scarlet eyes meeting ruby. "I'm honestly impressed … his Potential somehow managed to block out yours, but yours is equally massive ..." Mitsuru began, voice even.
"That's just the way big brothers are; always looking out for the younger ones." Hamuko replied, equally casual despite the grip on her naginata. "Minato-nii's really bad; he's the only boy out of three, and the oldest. Naoto and I have had fits trying to make him relax." Frowning after a moment, the auburn reached up and pushed the gun away from her forehead. "Takeba-chan's the same way, isn't she? If I hadn't tackled her ..."
"Yes, she would have tried to attack." Mitsuru nodded, removing the gun and returning it to the holster. "But even then, you moved too fluidly for this to be the first time for you." Tilting her head, the redhead frowned for a moment before smiling. "Ah … I see; how long has she been active?"
"About ten years." Hamuko replied, running her fingers over the XXII pins in her hair. "She woke up the night of the accident that took my parents; one of them went after Naoto, and she was only three at the time. I wasn't going to let them get my little sister." At her words, Mitsuru seemed to flinch, folding her arms.
"I … see. And you haven't once been attacked?"
Hamuko offered her a wry smile. "That's a perk to being the granddaughter of the active Raidou Kuzunoha; the moment I told him I had accidentally involved myself in supernatural shenanigans, he started training me. Any attempts from them to come after me were handled by swift application of boot to the head … demon summoner style."
Mitsuru let out a small laugh at that. "Fair enough." Growing serious again, she frowned. "Then, if you two are twins, that means your brother ..."
"Yeah, he's probably got one too. He's just such a heavy sleeper that he's never been conscious for the time paradox before now." Leaning on her naginata, Hamuko let out a tired sigh. "Sorry, but can we continue this talk after school? I want to get some sleep." Mitsuru gave a small nod, walking over and gabbing the auburn's backpack.
"That's quite alright." She said with a soft smile. "I simply wished to ask you when you had awakened. It's … nice to know I wasn't the only one who's experienced it for such a long amount of time."
"I know what you mean there." Hamuko admitted with a sigh as they headed up the steps. "Naoto was so small, she doesn't recall much of anything. And like I said, Minato-nii's … well, he sleeps like the dead." Mitsuru let out another chuckle, handing over a small key as they began to walk up the stairs to the third floor.
"Well, that could prove to be a problem ..." The redhead admitted with a sigh, scarlet eyes glancing around the hallway. "But … I would like to speak with you more about your experiences at a later date, if that's alright with you Arisato-san." Hamuko smiled and waved it off, nodding.
"Just wait until I'm lucid enough to think straight, alright Mitsuru-senpai?" She said with a laugh. "Also, Hamuko-chan or Hamuko-san, please. If you say Arisato-san around me and minato, we'll both turn." Seeing the older girl's bemused look, she winked. "It's a sibling thing that gets even worse with twins."
"Fair enough, Ar-Hamuko-san." Mitsuru said with a chuckle as they reached the third floor. "It might take me a while to adjust to something so informal, though. I apologize in advance." Looking down the hallway, the redhead offered Hamuko her backpack once more. "Here; your room is the one at the end of the hall. Mine is here, and Takeba is next door to you." She explained as the younger girl took her bag. "Do you have anything to ask?"
"Yeah, actually." Hamuko nodded, slinging the backpack over one shoulder. "... Do you know what that black horse with a fire mane is? I caught glimpses of it on the run here." The question seemed to shock Mitsuru, her scarlet eyes widening a fraction.
"Did he really …?" She mumbled, voice too quiet for Hamuko to understand. Shaking her head, the older girl offered her a small smile. "Yes, I know of the horse, and its origins. Don't worry; as far as apparitions in that time go, its actually benevolent. I imagine it was just making sure that you and your brother weren't overwhelmed."
"Would explain why it looked in the window when we got inside." Hamuko admitted with a yawn. "But as long as its friendly, I won't worry; goodnight Mitsuru-senpai, seeya tomorrow." Turning with a wave, the auburn headed for the farthest door, slipping inside after a few seconds of fighting with the key. Mitsuru watched her with a relieved smile, shaking her head before entering her own room.
"Why am I not surprised he would do something like that?" she muttered with a shake of her head. "Even when he says he's not doing anything, he's still keeping both eyes open … I'll have to talk to him at a later date, once we find out if Arisato-san would be a wise choice to add to our group. For now, however … sleep."
Mitsuru snapped the door shut behind her as she tugged off her own scarlet armband, brain shifting gears to the school year ahead.
Translation Note: The fic's title, "月に叢雲華に風", is a more old-fashioned Japanese idiom for "Good time doesn't last long." The literal translation is "Clouds over the Moon, and Wind over the Flowers", but both that and the romanji translation (Tsuki ni wa murakumo hana ni wa kaze) were too wordy for me to use as a title when the kanji works just as well for a title.
Tori's Notes: And here I am with another p3p fic, this time throwing both twins into the plot from the word go. There's some differences right away, but this'll be sticking a bit closer to canon than some of my other works. Hamuko already having a Persona - which will be elaborated on in an upcoming chapter - is one of ... *thinks* three really big changes I'm doing with this story. The other two you'll have to wait and find out about.
As for Hamuko tackling Yukari; she was in the kitchen/dining area when the other girl arrived on the first floor, giving her a better shot of the Evoker against Yukari's leg. If Yukari hadn't gone to draw the thing, Hamuko wouldn't have tackled her. (She was also calm about Mitsuru putting her Evoker against her head because she had started to figure out they were similar.)
Until next time, seeya! Got a week and a half left of this term, will try and get to work on the current chapter of VD soon.