Prologue

Same streets.

Same crowds, too.

Same old towering buildings and crowded street.

It's another morning in Shibuya, Tokyo.

As one of the 23 wards composing Tokyo, Shibuya is one of the more bustling ones. The famous scramble crossing is flooded by a wide variety of people every single day. An icon of Shibuya, the 104 building, overlooks the crossing.

In the midst of the everyday vortex of human traffic, a young boy rushed to school. He darted off to Shirogakuen, bumping into at least 5 people on his way.

"Crap! I'm late! Dammit, dammit, dammit!"

The boy continued to run, ignoring the people eyeing him. His school uniform has wrinkled from his quick running. He was starting to sweat, yet he didn't slow down.

At last, he made it to school, 10 minutes before the bell. He knew that he wasn't late, but he continued running to class.

As he opened the door, a familiar voice greeted him. "You finally showed up, Neku," a girl said in a relaxed manner.

The boy gasped for air, trying to stabilize his breathing. After he had done so, he replied the girl.

"I missed the bus, Shiki."

"You seem to always take your sweet time in waking up," said Shiki, while fixing her short, brown hair.

"Hey, it's not my fault. The buses always leave so early, and I live so far from the bus stops," complained Neku. "After all, it was you who were late at our meeting last week." He was talking about their promised meeting at Hachiko.

"Stop it, Neku!"

Neku just chuckled. He actually enjoys teasing Shiki like that.

Finally, the school bell rang. The class quickly sat down, waiting for their homeroom teacher. Some chatter could still be heard, but it certainly has died down compared to 10 minutes ago.

Suddenly, a loud voice echoed through the hallway.

"I don't wanna be late, yo! Beatwagon! Full speed ahead!" the voice said, followed by more irritated screams and shoutings from the teachers.

The whole class broke into laughter as Daisukenojo Bito, better known as 'Beat', slammed the door, ran straight for his seat, and screamed his signature "Bwaaaagh" as he tripped and fell in front of the class.

Neku and Shiki couldn't help but laugh at their helpless friend.