Ok, ok, so... It's me. The Whole Horse (Well, that's my name for now, at the moment.) I suppose this is the rewriting of the story that I put on hiatus after only one chapter, Clockwork. It's probably under a different name at the time of posting, though.

Sorry for the sometimes hard words and walls of text. I was just trying to be as descriptive and thorough as possible.

If people want me to write less fancy, just say.

WARNING: THIS FIRST CHAPTER HAS ABSOLUTELY 0 DATE A LIVE CONTENT. IF YOU DON'T WANT TO READ A STORY THAT DOESN'T IMMEDIATELY START OFF IN THE DATE A LIVE UNIVERSE, DO NOT READ!

Also, I don't own Date a Live or any of its' characters.

Now, without further ado...

Chapter 1

A Prologue

A lofty current wafted about the classroom, provoking a few students to shudder a bit as chills ran up their backs. It was the familiar sensation of one feeling goosebumps on their skin. All of the students were sitting down at their respective desks in chairs listlessly, as they waited for their teacher to arrive and dismiss the class. After all, nobody dared leave school early without waiting for attendance to be called. To each person there, it was a simple unspoken rule, especially in such a prestigious private institution like Nise High. Even missing one session could practically destroy your chances of receiving holiday spending money or gifts, and teachers began to treat said unscrupulous student in kind for their vile behaviour.

In short, don't miss attendance.

One of these students in particular, a young boy named Shinji (or so it was written on the plaque attached to his desk) sat at his desk even more anxious and antsy than the rest of the other students. The reason for this was a simple piece of white paper, a test sheet, which rested on his desk, the bottom half obscured by his arms laying on it to prevent the aforementioned breeze from whisking it away. On the part which could be seen, there was one feature in particular which stood out, and it was this part that worried the boy. A large 40 which was written with a bold red marker at the top edge of the paper, circled with an ever darker red ink to draw attention to the poor grade.

This, in and of itself was an issue, but the main problem was not with the low grade, something which he could easily rectify by simply studying more in the future, as with most academic problems, but the number. He preferred for people to not see him as a superstitious type of person, but having 4 by itself… It was as if bad luck itself was sprawled over his paper.

His wandering train of thought, however, was quickly interrupted by the long-awaited teacher entering the classroom quite hastily, bowing a little profusely as she uttered words of apology to the students for being so late. Everyone in the class simply dismissed her apology and greeted her in unison, as per the usual cycle. Shinji always found it interesting how meek and demure she could be, even if she had the most power in the classroom, only second to the student council president and class representatives. Miss Suzu. A foreign teacher who'd come to Japan as part of an exchange program. Nobody really knew how to say her full English name, so many students and teachers simply called her Midori, because of her dark green highlights at the ends of her otherwise completely black hair.

After the monotonous greeting from the class, the woman opened her attendance book swiftly, and began role call as expected. Shinji found himself distracted as she slowly went through the other 26 students. Rather than alphabetical order, role call was sorted through the position of chairs, starting from right to left, back to front. This is why Shinji always came last, due to him sitting in the front, to the direct left. His eyes veered outside of the window, as he watched the evening sun slowly fall below the horizon, giving out a splendorous view of oranges, yellows, and reds. Nature's perfect colour palette for the sky.

"Shinji Takehiko?" A soft, yet discernible voice called out with what could perhaps be called a drawl.

The boy was brought back to reality, and responded rather flatly, though making sure he didn't have anything that could be mistaken for rudeness in his tone.

"Here."

The woman went to scribbling his name down, herself in the blank spot for student number 27, and adding her signature along with a check-mark. This was all done to prevent forgeries, of course, as it was impossible to replicate both handwriting and a signature, along with the exact check-mark most teachers performed without some sort of extensive plan on the fugitive's side, which the schoolboard figured no student would be that adamant about.

After this, she stowed away the folder into her bag and checked her watch, until the ringing of the bell could clearly be heard in the halls. No student moved, however, as the teacher's word, as usual, was absolute.

"Alright class, you are dismissed. Have a good day." The woman said quickly, bowing before she took her leave. However, there was a small notice posted on the board. The two names of the people who were to stay behind and clean the classroom. Taki and Hakurei, huh? Not surprising.

The classroom was empty and devoid of students within the hour, except for three students, Shinji, Taki, and Hakurei. Shinji was still sitting at his desk, mulling over the test sheet worriedly. He couldn't let go of the number. For some reason, he felt entranced as he stared at the paper. Something was going to go wrong today. He knew it. It was like he could almost feel the universe closing in on him, and that darkness itself was crawling over his ba-

"Oi, Shinji. Snap outta it. You've got that shadow over your face again." A masculine voice sounded from behind him, as he felt a hand lay on his shoulder.

Right…

"Hey, at least help us out if you're gonna be in here." It was obviously Taki, who, unlike Hakurei, had taken a break to stop sweeping after seeing Shinji's… condition arise again.

"Yeah, sure." He responded rather curtly and stood up, turning to face the boy who had a second broom in his hand. He deftly caught the broom that was thrown to him with a smirk.

"Nice reflexes."

"Yeah."

Shinji waved to the two as he made his way down the hall with his bag slung over his shoulder, before turning to completely face forward. Of course, they had to go and return the cleaning supplies and equipment they had used to the janitorial closet and lock up the class afterwards, so most likely, they would be there for a little while longer.

A stray ray of white moonlight pierced through the hall windows while Shinji walked, giving the usually crowded and loud hallway a rather ambient, comfortable atmosphere. It served to extricate him from his fears from a while, giving him and his mind some much needed space to think. After he turned a corner, he couldn't hear the duo's footsteps anymore, only left in silence and mild darkness with the sounds of his own breathing and singular steps. He came upon a staircase, which he quickly descended, hearing the tapping of his shoes clinking against the steps while he rushed down. He hoped only to get home quickly and safely. When he reached the bottom of the steps, he found it hard to resist jumping back a little in surprise at the sudden sight in front of him, but he did, somehow.

There stood a girl with a metal tray of pastries in her hands, leaning against the wall with a dejected expression on her face. Obviously she was from his school, seeing as she was wearing the uniform, and had even decided to let her student ID rest below her neck hooked on a lanyard.

Ne Osaka.

What a nice name, he thought. But more importantly…

"Ah, excuse me…" He began, looking at the girl. Though it was hard to see directly into her face because of the darkness, and her naturally black bangs which slightly nestled over her face.

She immediately straightened up, smiling as she turned to him, and without a word, silently offered him the tray. It seems like the pastries had actually turned out to be cookies of various types, some with fillings and jams and toppings, too many various to count!

So, the cookies, huh? Sure, why not?

He took one, stopping his sentence midway as he bit into it, eyes closed as he processed the flavor. It had something of a grainy texture, which he immediately recognised as oatmeal, probably with some sort of filler like honey or milk used to add to its taste. There were also some raisins which exploded into flavor in his mouth like packets, bringing a small smile to his face.

"Delicious." He said simply, giving her a small thumbs up. He had problems expressing himself sometimes, so he was just blunt about what he said.

She smiled widely, and from there on, they began a conversation…

"I'll see you tomorrow, definitely." Shinji waved to the girl with a small smile, as she beamed right back at him before walking up the front steps to her home. It seemed she had a key, because the girl walked right in without a problem and locked it behind her. Either that, or the family trusted her enough that they would leave the door open for her when she returned home.

The boy turned away and began down the lonely city road, towards his home which was actually not too far down the road, to his utter surprise and shock. Of course, he was sure that his parents had locked the door, as they explicitly said that he absolutely had to be home at a certain time, or he was on his own. The small little detour he had to take to walk the "cookie girl" as he had dubbed her, home, was more than significant in causing his late arrival. But it was fine. He didn't mind it at all. It was something to get his mind off of his little paranoia moments…

He arrived at the front gate not so long after his little trip, and surprise surprise, both the gate and the door were locked and bolted shut. He sighed as he took his phone from his pocket, the small light that emanated from the screen illuminating the area around him, and shining into his eyes. He dialled a random number in his contacts, waiting for the other person on the end to pick up.

"Hello…" The almost apathetic, yet quite lax voice of his sister echoed throughout the receiver as she picked up her phone and answered. Not surprisingly, Shinji had probably just woke her up from what she considered the best thing about life – sleep.

"I'm out here. Could you let me in?" Shinji asked quite calmly, as he stared forward at the gate. Though he had to admit, he got that distinct feeling that someone was watching him that most people standing out in a dark street at night seemed to get, even if he was around in a quiet neighbourhood where if anything did happen, his screams could probably be hear-

Damn it. Why was he thinking of these bad sorts of situations again? He really needed to stop.

"Sure. I'll be your scapegoat so you don't have to worry about incurring the wrath of mom and dad." She responded sarcastically, before hanging up.

The boy sighed in response and shoved the device into his pocket, tapping his foot on the asphalt road while he waited. This time, silence and darkness weren't his only compatriots, as the sound of crickets letting out noise and cicadas' nonstop buzzing all saturated the background.

The flickering of a light switch was heard, and Shinji looked forward as the front lamp light turned on, and the doorknob rustled ever so slightly before giving way as the door opened, and the short figure of a girl shambled out. It was no other than his sister, Ini, of course. She said nothing as she proceeded forward and unlocked the metal gate, swinging it open to let him in and then bolting it as soon as he went inside. The same went for the front door.

He discarded his shoes at the entrance, flicking off the lamp's lightswitch himself as he walked ahead to make his way to his room. Ini already had the same idea long before him, and was halfway up the spiral staircase that led up to where their rooms were situated. Shinji followed up not too long after with a small sigh while he walked past the random doors to the door opposite his sister's own which laid in the middle of the hallway. He found his sister hesitating to enter before she turned and saw him. Without much context, she approached him and hugged him. It was something she always did, regardless of her age, partly for safety, and also because she knew he would always reciprocate, which he did, gladly.

"Night." She mumbled under her voice, before breaking the hug and exiting his embrace, and leaving to return to her room.

"Night." He returned, as he parted from her in kind, and entered his room.

In this way, there was a sense of finality in the pleasantries shared between them before they each left their respective spaces, whether they realised it or not.

Shinji didn't immediately feel as if sleep was something he wanted that night, indicated by him just laying in his bed and staring up at the ceiling above him, watching the monotonous rotation of his fan happen like clockwork.

His room was rather plain, with the usual things a highschool student would need for his or her school life. A desk for which he had a small desktop computer sitting, that provided not just entertainment, but also a place to work or just to, well, sit.

There was also a shelf for which he put books and other forms of literature that he found interesting, thanks to his love for reading. Though, he felt as if this thirst for knowledge could sometimes be damaging to him, without a doubt. Maybe it was partly why he developed his 'condition'? He was left at odds and ends when it came to that.

Something was wrong, though. That wasn't in the sense that he felt imminent danger, no. The moon was still calmly sitting out in the horizon in plain view, and Shinji could easily sit up and walk outside onto his balcony and look for himself. Everything was way too peaceful and quiet for his liking, like it always was. Maybe a glass of cool water or warm milk would serve to soothe him a bit? With this in mind, he sat up, rubbing his beady eyes as he opened his door and stared off into a complete void.

He immediately stepped back and closed the door to step back into his room. That was when he found that there was no room. And there was no door, apparently.

In the span of him getting up and opening the door, something had gone wrong. Horribly wrong. And now, Shinji was sinking into absolute darkness. It was as if he had his eyes forcefully shut, except they were open. There was nothing he could see, he couldn't see his own limbs, his own stomach, nor look up. Actually, there seemed to be no sense of direction! He couldn't feel, and there was no sense of orientation. He couldn't say if he was falling, or just laying on a flat surface! It was all wrong, so, so wrong.

He attempted to scream out, and he couldn't even tell if he was. He didn't know if his mouth was open, and if it was, then no sound travelled in the eternal darkness that now coated every inch of his senses, and what was him. He didn't know what was happening or how it happened, and he didn't pretend to.

However, there was an impossibility at play. While his lungs began screaming out for air, and his mind slowly shut down, he saw the image of something… Something constant, but irregular in its entire existence. Images and memories flooded his mind, and only then, could he hear the dimension shattering scream he was letting out, as his pupils forced themselves back into his head, and his body violently shook, before letting go…