The speeding train lurched forward to due some minor error in judgement of the driver and the few passengers left in the cars suffered as a result, stumbling and smashing into nearby walls and poles. At the very last car, an auburn haired girl who was sleeping peacefully just a few moments woke up and her head met the window.

"I'm up MOM!" The girl shouted still half asleep with her arms up in surrender. Nobody yelled back at her and the girl realized that she was not at home. Right. She was in the monorail, headed towards Iwaotdai for her junior year, "Great going, Hamuko. You made a fool yourself in your first hour back!"

Hamuko yawned first, adjusted her ribbon second and checked her phone at the last, flipping through the notifications and wincing when she caught the number of missed calls and angry messages. 12 missed calls from her mom and 5 from her dad. A dozen of text messages demanding to know where she was.

"We are now approaching Iwatodai Station!"

The intercom went off and Hamuko stood up, fetching her bag from the compartment up top. She hauled the bag over her shoulder and walked off towards the exit, replying to the text messages and letting her friends and family know that she had arrived safely.

"Iwatodai..."

The mere name of the city scared the living daylights out of her once upon a time. She used to live her parents in the city for a number of years until a horrible accident on the bridge scarred all of three of them and they quickly moved out, swearing never to return because something was terribly wrong with the city. Hamuko could recall the night clearly, an explosion several miles away, several vehicles flipping through the air and a decaying monster with chains and a scythe rushing across the bridge, and barely, only barely missing her car and saving her family from an explosion.

12:00

The abnormal conditions of the eerie hour kicked in and Hamuko gave a low sigh, flipping her cellphone shut and stuffing the now useless device inside her pocket. She wasted not a second more and quickly started walking, avoiding the coffins and the puddles of blood.

While she had sworn to stay away from the city, something like a switch was flicked in her mind when she got her scholarship letter from Gekkoukan High School. The modern school had quickly climbed the ranks of prestigious institutions and was one of the most sought after schools in the country. The administration had offered her a generous scholarship but beside that, something inside her heart and soul urged her to return to her hometown.

Mitsuru freaking Kirijo herself had personally called her parents and requested her to join the school as Hamuko was a very bright student herself with her name always on the top of class.

"Maybe... this is for the best." Hamuko said to nobody, just to herself as she followed the directions to the temporary dorm she would be staying in for the time being. Whatever that thing, she was sure it was long gone. It had been 10 years! Maybe the ghost had returned to the spirit world or something because aside from the Weird Hour, everything was normal.

Rattle.

Rattle. Rattle. Rattle.

A cold gust of wind led to a shiver that raced from her face to her toes. She cowered at the chill and wondered about the source as this was the first time she had ever experienced such an icy blast of cold air in the hour. Not wanting to stick around and find the answer, the auburn hair girl ran through the dead streets all the way to the dorm, completely out of breath when she arrived there.

"I need to sleep." Hamuko pressed on the knob and opened the door. She stepped inside and gasped, eyes closing in a reflex when another blast of cold air struck her body, strong enough to ruffle her clothes and mess up her hairstyle.

Where on earth where they coming from!?

Hamuko opened her eyes when the chill went away, leaving her shuddering like a cat on a cold rainy day. Now, she was regretting even coming back, her head at least, her heart was still urging her to not go back home. At least not yet.

"Huh."

To her side, on the counter of the dorm was a file. Flipping over the neat red cover, she found a single page and upon reading over it was a contract. A blank contract about accepting responsibilities for her actions. Maybe this was a dorm formality?

Looking to avoid more demonic blasts of cold air, the girl took the nearby quill and scribbled her name on the bottom of the contract.

Yuki Hamuko.

She placed the contract back on the counter and looked towards the stairs, catching frantic footsteps and sharp pants.

"Who's there!?"

"Oh boy."


After almost getting shot in the face on her first day, Hamuko found herself in her dorm room by the girl who had pulled a pistol on her. She also met the Kirijo heiress and aside from the gun business, the two girls were not too bad. Pity the room was temporary because it was actually quite nice. After unpacking the bare essentials, she stripped out of her uniform and into comfortable shirt and shorts. She dove under the covers and hummed herself to sleep.

The rattling continued long after Hamuko went to sleep.

Rattling of chains.

Swings of a scythe.

A curious huff.

A glance at the contract.

Back to work.

The most God awful job in the world.

"Interesting..."


Author note : NO SMUT! WAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH! What am I doing with my life?

In all seriousness, first non smut story from moi. I had a few ideas and I decided to go with this one. I am still figuring this out but I have the basic idea nailed! ... like Makoto nailed Hamuko in my other stories~

Jokes. This is not a long story and will finish in a couple.

As usual, I beseech you to review! No fun in writing when nobody wants to see this continue :c

I want you to guess! Guess what the heck is going on cause I looooove predictions.

Shout out and hugs to my co-author. He shall not be named but a round of applause for them everybody.

See you next time!