Burn... my dread...
The refrain stung her ears, yet an auburn-haired girl with unnaturally red eyes listened avidly as she boarded the Anehazuru passenger train. She stared out the window into the dusk of night, spying the Moonlight Bridge's outline on the horizon. Her father, mother, and brother died in a car crash on that very bridge, leaving her all alone since all those years ago.
For a moment, while she stared at the moonlit surface of the water, a blue butterfly fluttered in front of the train window. It effortlessly kept up as the train glided over the ocean, as the girl gawked.
Time never waits.
It delivers 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...
She, the girl began rubbing her eyes, blinking several times to see that the butterfly was nowhere in sight. Glancing around the train to see if anyone else had perceived it, the announcer's voice rang out through the intercom.
"Due to a malfunction in the switching system, today's rail schedule has been greatly altered. We
apologize to any passengers who were in a hurry. The next stop is Iwatodai..."
She shook her head several times to regain her sense of feeling. Griping a nearby handle for support, she maintained her balance as the train steadily slowed to a stop.
"Iwatodai."
Ignoring the rest of the announcements, she stepped back onto solid ground, glancing around the interior of the train station with the blank look that she often kept on her face, like a mask of sorts. Glancing at the clock overhead on the beam, she saw it was seconds away from midnight.
Darkness fell as the second hand struck the clock.
The few passengers that had left the train were replaced with pitch-black coffins. Simultaneously, all the lights died and the moonlight that filtered from the glass windows above me took a green glow. Deafening silence settled as blood leaked from cracks and crevices alike, and dripped from the walls onto the floor. Her MP3 player fell dead quiet, adding to the stillness of the night.
Glancing around one final time, she let out a quiet breath and began walking, with her bag bouncing against her thigh. In the time of Midnight, or Darkness as she called it, she had never encountered another person. When she was younger, she preferred to hide under the covers until it had passed. No one that she lived with understood what she meant when she told them about it. No one except her uncle who lived Mikage-cho believed her, for some odd reason.
She sighed fretfully, and continued trudging along the blood-drenched streets. Coffins were scattered haphazardly where she walked. The moon loomed eerily over head, illuminating all with dank light. Yet, she did not stop for nothing. She was afraid of the shadows that loomed on every corner; shadows that looked... almost alive.
She continued walking through the bloodied streets of Iwatodai, unfaltering despite her festering dread.
She, was Hamuko Arisato.
She was a auburn-haired girl of seventeen, with unnaturally red eyes and a cheerful disposition. She was somewhat of an outcast due to her unseemly foreign appearance, yet when approached by others, she welcomed them.
A good listener, she was called. She blamed it on the fact that she didn't like interrupting people, or rather because she had always wanted to hear what they had to say. She liked to talk, but she never said more than needed. Of course, she didn't exactly know what to say all the time either. She was sentimental towards others; more empathetic than most people, actually.
She always put others before herself. But despite this, she always had a feel of emptiness around her. Sadness. Any friends she made, she lost when she moved away. Despite any promises of 'meeting up again', inevitably, she was always let down. This year, she believed, would be as all the others had been.
She was used to it by now.
Calmly, she continued walking through the blood-drenched streets while glancing every so often at the map she had been provided.
Finally, she arrived at her destination. Walking up the steps, Hamuko tried the door. Surprisingly, it opened without any resistance, as if inviting her to go inside. Which she did. The lights were on for once, she noticed. Which was uncanny because normally anything electronic shut itself off. Hamuko gently placed her bag on the floor as she glanced around the dimly lit dorm.
"You're late." A voice shattered the silence she was all too accustomed to. Turning to the side, she saw a young boy leaning behind the counter to her left. He looked about seven or so, maybe ten if she was mistaken, and had shining blue eyes; eyes almost as dark as the night itself.
Wait. Someone's awake?
"I've been waiting a long time for you."
The boy's smile was a thin line on his face. Snapping his fingers, he suddenly shifted to the spot in front of her. If it weren't for Hamuko's blind amazement, she would've asked how he had done that. The boy motioned to the counter he had left, and pointed out a thin red book that clearly stood out.
Hamuko blinked.
"If you want to proceed... sign your name there."
She walked towards the book wonderingly as the booklet opened itself up, and revealed its contents to the auburn-haired girl. "It's a contract." The boy supplied helpfully. "Don't worry; all it says is that you'll take full responsibility for your actions." By this point, Hamuko didn't know what to think of the situation.
"You know, The usual stuff..."
Wonderingly, Hamuko stared at the single line that decorated the contract.
"I, Hamuko Arisato, give my word that I will accept and take the full responsibilities and consequences of my actions."
The boy stared at her expectantly. Hamuko blinked only once, before decidedly signing her name on the contract. It was simple; it stated its purpose and the terms to the agreement, but what was she signing for in the first place? Didn't her relatives say that they already took care of the necessary paperwork for moving to the dorm? In any case, with an apathetic look, she passed the contract over to the boy. His eyes never moved from her until she did; being just 'freaked out' by this kid would be a heavy understatement.
"No one can escape time," The boy explained in a perfectly nonchalant manner as he pulled the booklet close to his chest. "It delivers us all to the same end…" He held the contract to his face and continued, "You can't plug your ears and cover your eyes." And just like that, he turned the book sideways, returning it into nothingness with ease. For the first time, she saw the boy close his eyes.
The boy made a gesture to reach out for her as the shadows on the walls began enveloping the room. As they grew closer, the lights dimmed, and eventually faded. He melted against the balckness of the room, disappearing completely from view.
"And so... it begins..."
The darkness came abruptly as the boy left. Staring the spot he had vanished, Hamuko stared at it in a daze of some kind. That is until, another voice rang out an nearly gave her a heart attack.
"Who's there?"
A pretty brunette wearing a pink sweater came running down from the stairs situated at the end of the room. She glared at Hamuko for a moment before gasping, "How can you be... But it's...!"
Just as Hamuko was about to ask if she was referring to 'Darkness', the brunette pulled out a gun from the holster on her thigh which Hamuko had failed to notice. The brunette pointed it downwards, both cautiously and clumsily. Hamuko accessed the girl standing before her.
She was shaking.
She looked terrified.
She was hyperventilating, too.
Her expression screamed that she didn't know how to use that thing.
Gulping, Hamuko took a step towards her.
"D-Don't come near me!" The brunette stuttered as she lifted the gun higher, still trembling.
At this point, Hamuko was sure that someone would end up badly hurt. Whether it was bravery or sheer stupidity, she decided to make another move, one that hopefully would stop the girl from doing anything. She raised her hands ever so slowly.
"I'm sorry?"
No sooner than she said that, the brunette swung the gun upward. Hamuko jerked back, hoping she would dodge any bullets that the girl fired.
"Takeba! Wait!"
Thankfully, they never came. A new voice broke out, and someone came running from upstairs. At the same time, without anything to stop her, Hamuko fell back towards the carpeted floor. Seconds later, her head slammed down against the bag she had dropped earlier; it didn't do a very good job of cushioning her fall.
Hamuko landed against the floor with a loud thud.
"...Oww." She groaned.
"Are you all right?" The new voice asked her. Dizzily, Hamuko opened her eyes to see a hand out and waiting in front of her for her to take it. Hamuko gratefully took the person's hand and hoisted herself back up to her feet.
The lights were on again. After shaking her head a couple of times to snap out of her stupor, she saw the owner of the voice who had averted what might have been a crisis.
The voice belonged to another girl.
She was beautiful; much more pretty than herself. Her long maroon hair fell over her shoulders and curled at the back; fringe covered her left eye and a loose curl over her left shoulder. She wore a ruffled blouse and long skirt that accented her curves. An air of elegance covered her graciously, as if it were natural to her. She was struck Hamuko as someone who was queenly. Hamuko figured it was time to make a lasting impression.
…Or at least to try and salvage what was left of one.
"Are you all right?" The red head reiterated.
Hamuko nodded vigorously. "I'm fine. Thank you for helping me up."
"You're welcome." The red head nodded, while turning her gaze towards the girl in pink for a moment. Hastily, she hid the gun behind her back, and looked away. Hamuko stared wonderingly at the two before being addressed again. "I must say, I wasn't expecting you to arrive this late. I'm Mitsuru Kirijo, one of the students who live in this dorm."
"...Who's she?" The gun girl muttered with a wary look.
Just as Hamuko was about to open her mouth and speak, Mitsuru interrupted her.
"She's a transfer student. It was a last minute decision to assign her here." Mitsuru said, giving a side glance to the auburn-haired girl. "She'll eventually be moved to a room in the normal dorm."
' can't wait for that. Just what kind of dorm is this? Hamuko thought blankly.
The girl in pink was still eying her suspiciously. Hamuko stared back at her with deadpan eyes. "Sempai, is it okay for her to be here...?"
What's that supposed to mean? At least I don't go pointing guns at people…
"I guess we'll see." Mitsuru replied vaguely.
Hamuko looked back and forth between the two, before frowning slightly. Why are they pretending as if the last five minutes never happened? Something seems fishy.
"Oh." Mitsuru said suddenly. "You must be wondering who she is, aren't you?"
She sighed internally, and went along with it with a slight nod.
"This is Yukari Takeba; she'll be a junior this spring, just like you." She gesticulated to the girl in pink, who waved weakly.
"…Hi," She mumbled, looking down towards the floor. "I'm Yukari."
"I'm Hamuko Arisato. Nice to meet you." Hamuko made an elegant shrug of her shoulders before she twisted her lips into a frown.
Yukari blinked. "Uh... Is something wrong?"
"Why do you have a gun?" Hamuko blurted.
"Huh?" Yukari stuttered gawkily, making it quite clear to Hamuko that she wasn't expecting to be asked that. In fact, Yukari had twisted loose a pink thread from her pink blazer in her surprise. "Umm… Well, it's sort of like a hobby…"
Hamuko raised an eyebrow.
"Well, not exactly like a hobby… but…" She mumbled defensively. Yukari glanced at Mitsuru for support.
She obliged. "You know how it is these days; it's for self-defense." Hamuko gave her a skeptical look. Mitsuru paused before adding, "It's not a real gun, of course." If it wasn't real, why carry it around? Mitsuru then turned towards Hamuko in a business-like fashion. "It's getting late, so you should go get some rest. Your room is on the third floor at the end of the hallway. Your things should already be there as well."
"All right." Hamuko nodded as she knelt down to grab her bag.
"Oh, umm…" Yukari began to say quietly. She shot a quick look to Hamuko before gesturing to the stairs. "I'll show you the way. C'mon, follow me."
Hamuko quietly followed behind Yukari was she made her ascent up the stairs. It seemed like it took forever just to reach the third floor, due to the uncomfortable tension in the air. During this time, she wondered what life would be like here. It hadn't even been a full day, and she already had a gun pulled on her. Admittedly, she didn't want to be here. She didn't want to be at Iwatodai, period. It brought up painful memories she'd prefer to leave behind. Of course, her uncle said that it would be the best for her.
To face her past, as he put it.
"This is it," Yukari said abruptly with a hint of awkwardness. She motioned to the door at the end of the hallway. "Pretty easy to remember, huh? Y'know, since it's right at the end of the hall." She laughed slightly at her little joke before continuing. "So, any questions?"
"What was the contract for?" Hamuko asked.
"Contract?" She blinked, clearly ingenuous with her words. "What's this about a contract?"
Hamuko slapped the side of her cheek. Of course she doesn't know. That kid made it disappear… speaking of which, he disappeared too.
"Uh… are you okay?" Yukari asked concernedly.
"Yeah, sorry." Hamuko laughed nervously. "I just have a lot on my mind, to be honest."
"If you say so." She shrugged, before looking directly at Hamuko with an uncertain look. "…Um, can I ask you something?" Again, she averted her gaze to the side. "On your way here to the station, was everything okay?"
There were two ways she could let this play out. One would be to deliberately play dumb, and see whether the girl would slip information. The other way would be to just say, 'yes.'
Hamuko went with the latter.
"…What do you mean?" Hamuko asked inquisitively.
"You know what I-" She nearly yelled, before catching herself mid-sentence. "...Never mind." Yukari then sighed with relief, and smiled as though Hamuko had undergone some sort of perilous journey to arrive at the dorm. "It seems like you're all right."
Again, Hamuko shrugged. There was definitely something going on here. The question for her, however, was whether she really wanted to be involved.
There was a long awkward pause.
"Well, I'd better get going…" Yukari shifted uncomfortably under Hamuko's gaze. The red-eyed girl curtly nodded before walking over to the door, patting her pockets for a key she had received earlier. At the same time, Yukari began walking down the hallway. As soon as she reached midway, the brunette turned around and gave her a side glance. "Um, I'm sure you have a lot of questions, but let's save them for later, all right?"
Damn straight.
"All right." She murmured as she managed to open the door.
"Anyway… good night." Yukari flashed a quick smile before retreating down the hallway. Hamuko averted her attention to back to her own business, and for the first time went inside the room she would be calling 'home' for the year.
Blinking steadily, her vision began blackening as she collapsed on her bed, and faded off into restful slumber.