A/N: Before you read this story, I want to say that it's entirely experimental, meaning it might be deleted at any time. How Akira progresses, the length of this story, and the ending will be entirely dependent on the comments which will dictate Akira's choices.

There's an apartment building at the top of a very long hill that's supposed to be one of the best in these parts. It's old, but no one is sure when it was made, only that it has been there for hundreds and hundreds of years. In the beginning it's said that demons, gods and goddess lived in these apartments, intermingling with humans and giving birth to demigods and ayakashi alike. A haven for all beings, both mystical and normal, but eventually they could no longer deal with the stupidity of man and left for their homelands, whether it be the heavens, hell, or somewhere in between. Now it's only an upscale apartment building for the people who are fortunate enough to have their application accepted. Or so they say.

"Welcome to the Velvet Apartments. And who might you be?" The man standing before me is small, shorter than any full grown man has the right to be. His nose is hooked, and sharp, as if it could stab someone to death if they aren't careful. The sound of his voice is smooth despite being very high-pitched. It's both calming and eerie.

"Akira Kurusu? I'm the new resident?" I take out my letter of recommendation that has been stamped on the top right corner and explains my situation. My signature at the bottom is still fresh. The man takes my application into his thin hands. The fingers are long and out of proportion. I try my best not to look at him.

We're standing on concrete but there's a large lawn to one side. The grass is neatly trimmed, and nothing seems out of place. Even a cluster of blue butterflies look like they belong there. A small open lot for cars is nearly full, and the overhang next to it protects a variety of bicycles, motorcycles, and mopeds. The scene is like something out of an old oil-painting, with its soft tones and complimentary colors. Behind me is a steep path that leads down the hill and into town where the maze of suburban streets are laid out, displaying a variety or stores, homes, and public buildings.

His strange voice snaps me out of my thoughts and I only catch the tail-end of his sentence. "... I forgot you would be arriving today. My name is Igor, and I'm your landlord. Let me call one of the children to help you. They'll explain some of the rules along the way." In his hands is a small bell, like the ones invalids use to call their nurses. He gives it a few rings and a young girl runs up to us, seemingly out of nowhere. She is very pretty, with long blond hair and yellow eyes. She looks vaguely familiar, but that is impossible. I'm a hundred miles from home, and have never set foot inside this town before today.

"Hello, I'm Lavenza and I'll be watching over you." The girl offers me her hand and guides me through a large set of double doors into the building. Inside is a small, well-lit foyer, lined with mailboxes, all numbered incorrectly. Directly on my left is number 504 which is next to 302 and beneath that is 114. "You'll be in room 500 so your mailbox is right here." She stands on her tiptoes to reach a box on the top row, between 326 and 201 and pulls out a set of keys. "The white one is for your room, blue one for the main doors, and the silver one is for the mailbox. If you lose these, we'll need to make you a copy. The fee is 500¥." She pulls out her own set of keys which seem large for such a small child. A blue butterfly key chain hangs off the end, spinning with her infrequent movement. "We pick up all the big packages but smaller mail goes in the boxes. The main doors are automatically locked after midnight so if you choose to come home after that time, you'll need to open the door yourself."

I nod and she leads me past another set of double doors into a short hallway with a shelf for shoes on one side, and a shelf of umbrellas on the other. Both are numbered in the same haphazard, unorganized way as the mailboxes. Directly in front of me is a narrow stairwell, and I can see a landing to the right at the top of the first set of stairs before an awkward turn. "The first two floors belong to some infrequent guests. They come by to visit occasionally, and we preserve the room in their last condition for their stay." The stairwell looks green at first, but then it flashes to a somber red and it stays that way. Red, mahogany wood.

It's not until we reach the third floor that we see the first signs of life. A group of men are sitting around a table playing cards. Two fashionable women sitting on a couch, both redheads, are having a whispered conversation that I can't catch. As we approach the top step, the men turn to look at us.

"Yoo! Fresh meat! Lavenza, who's the new guy?" The man who speaks is sitting on the left and a bit older than the rest. He's got the beginnings of a beard despite missing some hair at the top of his head. He calls out to my guide and she smiles in response.

"Good afternoon, Mr. Junpei. This man is Akira Kurusu and he will be the new occupant of room 500."

"500? That's right next to mine." I turn to look at another person at the table, and he stands up to greet me. "I'm Ryuji Sakomoto. Room 507. We're going to be seeing a lot of each other from now on." The boy looks to be about the same age as me, with a delinquent face. His shirt is dirty and there's a chain hanging from his brown cargo shorts.

I shake his hand and in the next moment he is missing the top half of his face. All the flesh and muscle have been peeled back to reveal just the top half of his skull. The eye sockets are empty voids that seem to stare into me. Teeth that have been filed to stubs snap up and down on words that I don't hear.

"Hey, are you alright, man?" I blink, and his face has returned to normal: Spiky blond hair and pale-ish fleshy skin.

"Fine. Just saw something weird." I smile and nod, walking away from him. Lavenza is watching me as we ascend the steps, her eyes full of concern. I give her a reassuring pat on the head. As we climb to the next floor, Lavenza opens her mouth to recite the three rules of the apartment but another girl gets to it first.

"One: Pay your rent on time. Two: No sexual relations in the Velvet Apartments. Three: No fighting in the Velvet Apartments." The girl is leaning over a railing that separates the common room from the stairs. I can tell that she's short, but well proportioned. Her demeanor tells me she's a little older than me, but she has pigtails and a young face. I give up immediately on guessing her age. "Oh Lavenza, you're too young to be talking like Margaret. Loosen up a little, and what's your name, cutie?"

"Akira. Kurusu."

"Rise Kujikawa." She walks around the railing to give me a quick peck on the cheek. "You're almost as handsome as Souji. If you ever get bored, give me a call? I'm in 406." There's a playful smile on her lips as she winks. I'm almost tempted to return the smile before a huge man throws an arm over her shoulder protectively. Every bit of him looks like a Yakuza.

"What are you looking at, chump?! I'm Kanji Tatsumi and don't you even think about making the moves on Rise or I'll beat the-" Lavenza kicks him in the shin, bringing the huge man to his knees.

"Kanji…you know the rules." She puts her fists on her hips and glares him down, every inch of her looking like a little schoolteacher.

The huge man whimpers, all of his bravado gone in the face of the fierce reprimand. "I know! I know. I'm sorry, Lavenza. Won't happen again. Don't tell Margaret. Please!"

She smiles and nods, grabbing my hand again to pull me up to the next floor.

"Bye, bye handsome. I'll see you at dinner." Rise blows me a kiss as I leave. I watch as she turns to the poor man still kneeling on the floor to help him up. In that bare moment her expression is motherly and kind, as if she's done this for years. All trace of the flirtatious attitude, gone.

"Mama is in charge of the fourth floor." Lavenza explains, "I'm in charge of the 5th. Auntie Elizabeth and Uncle Theodore are in charge of the 3rd because the two of them are irresponsible." Lavenza continues to describe some basic know-how of the dorm as we finally reach the 5th floor. The common area here is similar to the others, but it's little smaller. There's a mini kitchenette and a small sitting area where people can talk or relax.

The only people in sight are two girls: one with poofy hair like a dog and the other with short hair a bit past her shoulders. They turn to look at me as I pass. "Hello Lavenza," The two of them smile and wave, but only the girl with the short hair stands up to greet me. "And who are you?"

"Akira, Kurusu. I'm in room 500." I shake her hand, and it's surprisingly callous, like that of a construction worker or a musician.

"Makoto Nijima. 502 and this is Haru Okumura, 503." Her hand displays the girl on the floor and Haru dips her head slightly in a small bow. I wave awkwardly in return. "Will you be starting at the high school next month?" I nod. "That's unfortunate. Haru and I just graduated, but if you need any help, feel free to let us know." The girls return to whatever it is they're working on, and I follow Lavenza to a long hallway behind the common room.

Each door is unique. One is in an old Japanese style, while another looks like it's made completely of stone. A third door looks like the top of a coffin, complete with a little window that would open up to a face in a casket. Finally, between what looks like a door made of space technology and one painted entirely black is my room. The door is obviously made of iron with a glass window too high for someone as small as Lavenza to look through. I pull out my new set of keys and open it to find a surprisingly normal room with a simple bed, a wooden desk, and dozens of boxes littering the floor. "Your parents sent everything this morning. If you need anything, you can use this phone to call me. My number is 511," She points to an old fashioned wall phone, before reaching up on her tip toes to pat me on the head. I need to bow a little for her to reach. "I hope you stay here for a long time."

With that, she runs out the door, her long blond hair trailing behind her.

I lie down on the bed and ignore my cluttered surroundings. How did I get here? I close my eyes, too exhausted to even try and ponder the question. I already know the answer anyway. I was here because my parents thought I was crazy and didn't know how to deal with me. I take off my glasses and put them on the floor next to me before crawling under the covers. I sleep, and the memories come.

"I saw him! I saw him!" My parents look to one another uneasily, and I can already tell they don't believe me. I run out the door despite my mother's frantic calls. I would get proof. It takes an hour to reach his cafe by train, but when I burst through the door, he is still standing behind the counter, cleaning a set of ceramic coffee cups. He turns to look at me, his expression pulled into a frown. "What are you doing here kid, haven't you caused enough trouble?"

"I saw you die... I saw it! How are you still here?!"

"Listen. You were just having a bad dream. Nothing you're saying makes any sense. Just go home. Your parents are worried about you." Sojiro's frown only deepens as he pushes me out the door.

"You need to listen to me! I saw it, I saw you die! Listen to me!" In my mind's eye, I can see it again. His old body is lying on the floor and a demon with red eyes loom over him, his mouth dripping with blood. A line of Sojiro's long intestines is cradled in the demon's hands, and I'm watching, horrified, as it slurps them up like a string of noodles. Its Adam's apple bobs as it swallows.

I run until I reach home.

I wake up with a start, sweat dripping down my forehead. I wipe it off with the sleeve of my t-shirt. My uncle Sojiro was fine. He was alive and well every time I went to go see him. I knew that and my parents knew it too, but I was sure what I saw wasn't a dream. That was neither the first nor the last time some strange memory popped into my head. After a few months of failed psychotherapy my parents sent me here, a problem they could no longer be bothered to try and fix.

I take a quick shower and get started on the multitude of boxes around the room: Going through clothes, school supplies, a few video games, books, and my assortment of small house plants. I'm working on the finishing touches of a tall shelf when I hear a knock at my door.

Ryuji is standing outside when I open it. "Dinner is almost ready. Thought I'd come to get you since you wouldn't know." I grab my keys and walk out into the hall. He points to the completely black door on my left, "That's mine. Just knock if you ever need anything."

Dinner is a crowded affair. The dining room is located on the first floor, tucked away on the right side of the building. It was clear that the room was originally two different rooms, but someone had decided to destroy the wall between them, creating a spacious setting for its occupants. One table is placed against the wall and another sits parallel to the first for guests. A large double-doored fridge sits near the entrance while a small marble island separates the tables from a modern kitchen. Dishes both Western and traditional line the first table for us to choose our own dinners.

The room is loud, bustling with activity. People are walking around, grabbing dishes from open trays or switching seats to get a better conversation with their friends. While there is no real seating arrangement, I can see most of the people in the room are divided, almost invariably, by age.

Ryuji places a hand on my shoulder, calling my attention. "So how are you fitting in?"

I shrug. I'd resolved to keep my strange visions to myself. If my own family didn't believe me, there wasn't a chance in hell a group of strangers would. "It's not bad. The food is good at least."

He nods in agreement, his mouth already full. "Yeah. It's great. I hear Shinji helps out in the kitchen sometimes after work."

"Shinji?"

"Shinjiro Aragaki. You probably haven't met him yet. Lives on the third floor, mean-looking dude but he's a nice guy once you get to know him." Ryuji's eyes pull into a squint as he searches the room. "Ah, over there with the beanie. He works at the Le Fleurs pour Les Papillons or something like that on Maine street. It's the fanciest place in town. Way French."

The man he is pointing out definitely looked mean. His face is pulled into a scowl, yelling at the man sitting next to him. Ryuji continues with his exposition, pointing to several people and explaining their relationships. "That guy he's talking to is Akihiko Sanada. He's Makoto's brother, but their family situation is complicated from what I hear. You've met her right?" I nod, and he continues on around the table.

"Next to him is Ken Amada, also third floor. He's a year older than us, but everyone else on the third floor is in their twenties..." He pauses for a minute and then he's yelling to be heard over the noise. "Hey! Mina! Get over here!"

A girl with auburn hair and a face stuffed like a blowfish, looks up at the sound of her name. She is small, much shorter than me in a summer dress and sandals despite it being only May. The girl walks over to us, holding a nearly-full plate. "What's up?"

"This guy's name is Akira, and I wanted to introduce you. He's in 500 next to me."

Now that she is closer, I can see her eyes are red, like some sort of cheesy vampire. Despite the strange shade of her eyes, her smile is friendly. "Oh, it's nice to meet you. I'm Minako, but everyone just calls me Mina. You probably won't see me much."

When I blink, I'm no longer in the kitchen surrounded by people. Mina and I are alone, sitting on my bed. My arms are wrapped around her, pulling at the hem of her loose blouse. She's whispering in my ear, her voice husky and seductive. "If you make me happy tonight, I won't even make you pay." I can smell oranges in her hair, and it drives a hungry growl from my throat. My hand runs along her stomach, and she tilts her head back so I can press my lips into the skin of her neck.

"Akira…?" Mina is staring at me intently, and the image of her pressed against my bed disappears. All I see now, is a young woman with concerned eyes. "Are you alright?" She presses her hand against my forehead but I reflexively move back.

"Sorry. I'm fine. I… just... don't like being touched." Her look of worry disappears and her smile returns.

"Oh, sorry. I guess we have just met... Anyway, I was just saying, we have the night off for once so we were going to go to the bar after dinner. Why don't you guys come?"

"You work at night? What do you do?" The answer comes to me before she can respond.

"I'm a hostess, Souji works across the street at a host club, and Minato is the Vice President of Tanaka Corp so he's on-call pretty much 24 hours of the day. We never have the same nights off so it's a rare chance. Besides, Souji's been bragging lately about being the King of Games and I think Minato can't wait to beat him."

"Really? I've never seen Minato excited about anything." Ryuji's making a face at the statement, and I feel out of place between their inside joke.

Maybe Mina notices because she points to the man in question. "Minato is my brother, he's over there." I follow her gaze and find a strange-looking man. His blue hair is long, almost covering his eyes. Though the two girls he's talking to are laughing, there is no expression on his face. He's in typical salaryman attire with a white button-up and an ugly sushi print tie. A black jacket hangs on the back of his chair.

"The two of you look nothing alike." I murmur. Their only similarity comes from the fact that they're both abnormally pale, and I'm again reminded of vampires.

Mina giggles, chewing on a kabob. "We get that a lot, but we're fraternal twins so what do you expect?" She shrugs. "Anyway, I gotta go. Empty plate." She moves it up to show us before walking off to fill it up again, only to be swarmed by more people to talk to.

"Nice girl." I comment when she's out of the earshot. Though the strange memory is giving me more than enough reason to be wary, Mina is clearly attractive. She'd only been gone a few minutes and already, several people surrounded her.

"Yeah? Is she your type? Don't even think about it. The rules here about dating aren't all that strict, but she's way older and there's at least six guys in this building who've had their eyes on her for years." Ryuji's already shaking his head, patting me sadly on the shoulder.

The news doesn't surprise me. She would need to be charming if she was making money as a hostess.

"So about that thing tonight, do you want to go? If you're uncomfortable, I can come with." Ryuji is smiling, and a bit of my wariness melts away. This probably wasn't what my parents had in mind when they sent me here, but the people were nice enough. Better than the people back home who thought I was slowly going insane. If I kept my weird visions to myself, then everything would be fine. I could even make a couple friends.

"Sure. Do you know everyone whose going?"

About an hour later, I'm posted in the back of a silver Tesla with Ryuji, and a man named Yosuke Hanamura. Rise sits in the passenger seat next to the driver whose name I find vaguely familiar: Souji Seta.

"Thank God we didn't get Teddie." Yosuke yells as soon as we close the doors.

"He's not that bad." Ryuji counters.

"You don't live next to him. You wouldn't understand. Everyday, all he ever does is sing! Oh my god, it kills me."

"Who's Teddie?" My question throws them off for a moment, and everyone is silent in their attempts to try and give me a good description of him.

"He's... Kind of a hard man to describe. You'll know when you see him. He's the blond one with a flowery shirt and the slacks. Really blue eyes. He's the mascot for a mall in Akihabara." Yosuke is the one to give the description, and I fail in trying to find anyone to match it. "Mina is the only person at the apartment who doesn't completely hate him."

"I don't hate him." Rise interjects, putting a heavy emphasis on the word hate.

"You hate him when he sneaks into the girls showers." Yosuke argues.

"Nope. Chie always beats him to death afterwards. Makes it all worthwhile." Rise giggles at the thought.

"Do you all live on the fourth floor?" I ask, making mental notes to myself.

"Yes." Souji speaks for the first time, and his voice is surprisingly deep. Despite the silver hair, he looks young, with an almost chubby face. His black button up is open over a white wife beater. He could look dangerous if it weren't for the mushroom cut and child-like face. "We all lived in the same village when we were younger but the place became infested with some strange disease. Killed a lot of people."

The car grows quiet at the statement, and I'm hit with another strange vision. People are falling asleep and failing to wake up without any rhyme or reason. Their skin turns yellow, then gray, and finally decomposing down to the bones within a matter of hours.

Finally, after a few minutes of the suffocating silence, Yosuke claps his hands, and places one on my shoulder. "So... you're new here. Got your eyes on any of the cute girls? I am obligated to warn you that all of the girls on our floor are no good."

Rise reaches around the chair to smack him on the arm. "What's that supposed to mean?! Naoto and I are both single and looking." She shoots a look at Souji as she says the words, glaring at Yosuke. The expression is unmistakable. The silver-haired boy was definitely her target, and I instantly feel bad for the man named Kanji.

Yosuke ignores her, laughing at her weak attempts to shut him up. "Chie and Yukiko are dating each other so… you get the idea. As for Rise here, our girl has her eyes set on one person and one person only."

Using his hand to shield us from the front, he whispers, "Naoto has been dating Souji for a couple months, but none of us have the guts to tell Rise to let him go. Kanji is trying to ease her into it, but it's not really working."

Another vision claws its way to the surface of my mind. Rise and Kanji are arguing in the common area next to the stairs. She's angry and pushes him against the railing. There is no snap, no sound except for the slam of human bone against wood as it breaks under the pressures of gravity.

"I see." I try my best to sound nonchalant. Yosuke nods, leaning back into his seat. We reach our destination without much more conversation. We're the second to arrive after Mina's small car. Her group is waiting outside, consisting of the man who is clearly Teddie, Mina herself, her brother, and the girl from my floor named Makoto.

The man named Teddie is loud, and I can immediately tell why everyone hates him. He's talking so quickly it almost seems like he doesn't need to breathe. Half of what comes out of his mouth are bad puns and the rest is nonsense.

A third car driven by Junpei arrives shortly afterward, carrying the rest of the group. We enter the bar together to find it mostly empty. Immediately, Minato grabs a pool cue and throws his tie at his sister for safe-keeping. Souji stands on the opposite side of the twins, blocking off most of the light that shines from the single bulb above their heads. "If you lose Minato, I'm taking Mina on a date."

"Over my dead body." Both of their voices are quiet and emotionless. I can't tell if this is friendly banter or if the two of them are actually serious and Yosuke has the wrong idea about Souji's love life.

"No one goes on a date with Mina." Ryuji whispers. I laugh at what I assume to be a joke but start a different game with Ryuji, Ken and Junpei instead. The two men from the third floor do quite well, and I wonder how and why our rooms are divided the way they are. Ken is closer to my age, and I'm tempted to talk to him but his face is pulled into a frown. I go to Jupnei instead. "So how long have you known Ken?"

Junpei looks momentarily surprised at my question but then smiles, "I've known Ken for close to ten years. We've been through a lot together." He places a hand on the table, looking off into the gloom of the drinking den. "All of us on the third floor used to live together on an island in Iwatodai, but the island sunk after an earthquake. The twins moved to the apartment first, and then Mitsuru, Yukari, and all of us moved in after that."

"What do you mean?"

"You didn't know? The apartments only accepts applications if you have a recommendation from someone else whose already been accepted." It looks like he's about to say something else, but then Ken taps him on the shoulder, and our conversation is cut short.

After a few more poorly placed shots on my part, our game ends with their victory and I wander back to Mina's table. She's playing a new game with Souji while her brother and a third man stand off to one side. The latter turns to look at me as I approach and I can tell that he's probably a popular person. He's dressed like Souji, but his hair is straight and black with a beauty mark under his left eye.

"Hello. You're the new guy right? I'm Ryoji Mochizuki. Room 313. I've heard a lot about you."

I nod, perplexed. "You have? What do people say about me?"

He doesn't answer me for a moment, and I wonder if he heard me. The smile on his face is friendly, commercial even, like something he would display for customers. "Oh, nothing important. Just that you seem like a nice guy. It's a shame someone's going to kill you soon."

Flag: Will Akira try and figure out what Ryoji meant [Requires: Motivationx2] or ignore the man completely?