And now for the first chapter of my Fanfic. Again, I don't own any of the material present within this work, as it is solely being used for a fan-based work.
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It was in the summer of our first year being middle school students that we had finally begun to see the true value of not only our lives, but of the whole world around us, as well. The weight of every single person on this planet was heaved unto our shoulders the day that we encountered 'it', despite how ignorant we had been of it at the time. And from the very moment that 'it' came into our lives, our youth had ended, leaving us to bear the true weight of adulthood and learn all that there was to being human. Through the days that the twenty of us endured together, we truly came to understand what it truly meant to live. What it meant to hate. To cry. To kill. To love. To die.
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Chapter 1. The Seaside Contractor
August 15, 2004
Sunlight shone brightly onto the countless graves of sand, heating the foot's sole for those among the twenty children that were not wearing sandals. With it being such a nice day out and their lessons done for the day, one of the dozen classes participating in the Mitomo City Summer Education Program had decided to take full advantage of such a day and enjoy a fun relaxing day at the city's beach.
Many of the students barely knew each other, but those within the separate classes seemed to form their own type of posse. This class, in particular, seemed to take the most advantage of the fact that the summer school was actually by a BEACH, as the twenty classmates hardly saw anyone else from the summer school outside with them. A fact that they would find to be convenient for today, but could not see how inconvenient it would be for them in the days to come.
All across the beach, all of the kids had found something to occupy themselves. Takashi Waku was rebounding his soccer ball off the rocks. Aiko Tokosumi decided to go for a swim in the ocean. Chizuru Honda just happened to be swimming, as well. Daiichi Yamura and Mako Nakarai were sitting by the rocks and talking.
Isao Kako was standing by the shore, gazing at Chizu swimming. Yosuke Kirie came up and made a comment to him, resulting in Kako slapping him in the back of the head. Maki Ano and Maria Ichinose were playing frisbee with Yoko Machi and little Kana Ushiro, the youngest in the class. Nagi Namoto and Tsubasa Hiiragi were laying on their towels, taking in the sun's rays, when eventually they decided to join in the frisbee game as well.
Both Takami Komoda and Masaru Kodaka had decided to use this time out at the beach to read a book, Komo was reading The Awakening, and Kodama was reading a science fiction novel, most likely 1984. They both must have been very caught up into their books, as Kanji Yoshikawa and Junji Karita had been sitting by the two, hyping over the release of some new video game for Playstation that Maki had told them about earlier.
Kunihiko Moji, on the other hand, simply watched the others passed the early afternoon with happiness. He found it nice to be around such a lively bunch. Well, save for one or two of the more dull ones who had kept to themselves, mainly Mayako Makishima and Jun Ushiro, Kana's older brother.
"Hey, Moji!" He turned to see Waku calling out to him, his right arm holding a soccer ball and his left arm waving him over.
"How long are you just gonna just sit there and stare, man? C'mon. How 'bout we play a quick game?"
"Waku," Moji warmly responded, "why would you bring that thing? We're all the way on the beach."
"Yeah, but most of the others are either swimming or sunbathing on the rocks, and the only other thing going on is frisbee." Waku then tossed the ball up in the air to bounce it off his foot. "And I'm a lot better at sports where I can kick something."
"Waku! Head's up!"
Before Waku could turn to face the familiarly tomboyish voice of Maki Ano, the accursed frisbee he went on about made a hard landing with the surface of his forehead, causing him to lose the kick of his soccer ball.
"Augh! Dammit, Maki! Would you watch your aim?!"
"I think her aim was just about right." This sarcastic response came from none other than Maria, Waku's friend from school. As Waku and the two girls went on, the rest of the group began to gather to the commotion.
"Man, you guys broke my balance. I had a good thirty kicks in a row going there."
"Oh, yeah?" Kako replied, eagerly grabbing the ball so as to show off, "I bet I could top that with no sweat."
"Hey, you're more than welcome to try." replied Waku. Kako seemed to take this as an insult as he hastily tossed the ball to kick it, only to kick it hard into the rocks, causing it to rebound harshly. Everyone jolted their heads right at it with a fear of getting hit, mainly Kana, who the ball would of hit had it not been for the interception from Ushiro.
"Would you watch it, you moron. You're gonna give somebody a concussion." Ushiro said quite harshly to Kako.
"Hey, how was I supposed to know how hard to kick it?" Kako lamely responded, as if to excuse himself, "Like I've ever played soccer before."
"Hey, what's going on over here?" Anko asked curiously, returning from her swim with Chizu.
"Nothin' much," replied Kanji, "Waku and Kako were just having a little kick-off."
"C'mon, Kako. Kana could have gotten hurt..." Kirie added in before facing another slap across the head by Kako's hand.
"Okay! would you all quit rubbing it in my face?! God!" Kako seemed to be really agitated by Kirie's small comment, as if everyone in the class was ganging up on him.
"Forget about it, guys," Maya replied from the sidelines, picking up the frisbee that hit Waku's head. "Let's just let bygones bey bygones and enjoy the nice day," she added as she tossed the frisbee with a hard aim.
The group couldn't help but notice how much distance the frisbee got, almost as if the wind was dragging towards a specific area. The frisbee then proceeded to drift across the ocean, heading towards what appeared to be a shack out in the sea connected to the shore by a small pier. Eventually, the frisbee managed to go so far that it tapped the window of the shack.
"Jeez, Maya," Kanji stated, "I wouldn't have thought that you would be able to throw THAT far."
"My bad," Maya retorted, showing slight embarassment.
"Well, I guess we're going to have to go get it," Waku soon implied, "I hope whoever lives there won't be too pissed off, or anything." They had no idea that the owner of that shack had their eyes on them throughout the whole day.
Soon, the whole group arrived at the shack to apologize. Maki and Maria had originally wanted to go apologize by themselves, since it was their frisbee in the first place, but eventually Waku managed to convince everyone to come along.
"So, who's gonna knock?" Kako asked, nervously, "Well, don't think of asking me to do it. I wasn't the one who overshot the stupid frisbee."
"No, that would be the soccer ball that almost gave my sister a concussion that YOU overshot," Ushiro retorted, immediately pissing Kako off. "Whatever, I'll knock." And so Ushiro proceeded to do so.
The door was almost immediately answered by a tall, pale-looking man who looked to be about in his thirties with white hair and rimmed glasses. The man appeared to be almost as friendly as he did shady at the same time.
"Oh, can I help you children?" The man inquired.
"Well, uh," Machi nervously began, feeling slightly off-put, "Y'see, we were kinda playing on the beach, and we accidently threw that frisbee over there towards your house, and..."
"Oh, so that was you kids. That was you kids....." The man murmured to himself, "Well, don't worry about it. It looks like you barely scratched it, anyway."
"W-well, uh..." Machi went on, "I guess we'll just take it and be on our way, then..."
"Oh, wait. Do you have to leave right now?" The man almost immediately asked, "Are you sure you wouldn't want to stay for a bit? Maybe if I could offer you some tea-"
"Thanks, but we really should be go-" Maki began, but then she caught a glimpse of some of the man's inner possessions, discovering that his shack was chockfull of computers. "Hey, mister, what's up with the crazy setup."
"Oh right, my computers. My computers....." The man replied, "Well you see, I'm actually here working on this project, and I usually come here from time to time for some inspiration for development on certain ideas. Game development, if you will."
"Wait, you mean you're a game developer?" Karita immediately asked with much enthusiasm.
"Oh, yes, I am. Yes, I am..." He replied very monotonously, "To be honest, I was just working on a new game for which I could use kids like yourselves." The kids looked at him very cautiously due to that comment. "Oh, as beta testers, of course. Of course...Why don't you come inside and I'll tell you all about it."
Though the kids felt very weary of him, they ended up coming into his shack. It was much more spacious than it looked from the outside, though surprisingly the only source of light the man had in his shack aside from his computer monitors came from his windows; he didn't have a single lamp or light of any kind in his roof.
"So, what sort of game ARE you making here?" Nakama asked very straightforwardly.
"Oh, it's a very interesting game, actually, though the setup is a tad cliché" The man quickly answered, "The game centers around an invasion from a certain number of enemies, specifically twenty enemies in this case. And the only defense that the Earth has to protect itself will be a colossal robot, nay, a pitch black behemoth, gifted with strength beyond mortal reckoning. This robot, kids, is to be helmed by none other than...yourselves."
"Dude, that DOES sound pretty cool!" Maki stated. There seemed to be a bright shine in her eyes.
"Yeah, I'm game." Kanji added.
"Well," said Waku, "I don't mind trying it out, I guess."
"Me neither," said Moji.
"Oh, well then," The man enthusiastically interjected. He then pulled out a red, arrow-like metal plate "If you're all interested, all you have to do is place you hand on this plate to 'contract' yourselves as pilots. It sounds corny, I know, but it'll be necessary for my program's server to let you play the game."
"Okay, I'll try it out," Waku said as he placed his hand on the plate. A text then flickered on one of the man's computers.
Takashi Waku, Age 13, Type B, Born March 20th 1991.
"W-whoa..." Waku stated with much surprise, "How does it know all that about me?"
"Cool! Can I try next?" Maki asked excitedly.
Maki Ano, Age 13, Type O, Born July 19th 1991.
"Me too!" Kako hastily interjected.
Isao Kako, Age 13, Type B, Born August 4th 1991.
Soon, many of the others started to sign up.
Kunihiko Moji, Age 13, Type AB, Born June 20th 1991.
Mako Nakarai, Age 12, Type A, Born September 9th 1991.
Tsubasa Hiiragi, Age 13, Type AB, Born June 22nd 1991.
Kanji Yoshikawa, Age 13, Type O, Born May 3rd 1991.
Daiichi Yamura, Age 13, Type A, Born May 19th 1991.
Maria Ichinose, Age 13, Type O, Born March 20th 1991.
Nagi Namoto, Age 13, Type AB, Born June 18th 1991.
Aiko Tokosumi, Age 13, Type B, Born August 12th 1991.
Junji Karita, Age 13, Type O, Born July 21st 1991.
Yoko Machi, Age 12, Type B, Born December 5th 1991.
Masaru Kodaka, Age 13, Type O, Born December 29th 1990.
Takami Komoda, Age 13, Type A, Born March 15th 1991.
Chizuru Honda, Age 13, Type AB, Born February 14th 1991.
Kirie had been next in line to sign up, but he seemed to be very hesitant in making a decsion.
"What's up, Kirie?" Waku curiously asked.
"I...I dunno, guys," Kirie nervously mumbled, "I'm just not sure about all this-" but before eh could finish, Kako impatiently slapped his hand on the pad.
Yosuke Kirie, Age 12 Type A, Born October 15th 1991.
"Hey, what the hell, Kako?!" Waku stated. "Couldn't you've given him a minute to think about it?"
"Hey, the sooner we all sign up, the sooner we can play," Kako simply stated. Maya then proceeded to sign up. She seemed to give a smirk as she did so.
Mayako Makishima, Age 12, Type A, Born August 29th 1991.
Next to go up was Kana. Before signing up, however, she took a hopeful look at her brother.
"Jun, aren't you going to play?" Kana asked.
"Nah, I don't think so." Ushiro simply stated.
"But," Kana added, "I'd really like you to play, too. Otherwise it won't be as fun."
"C'mon, Ushiro," Waku butted in, "If we end up not liking it, we can always quit." The man looked at Waku sympathetically for making that statement.
Ushiro finally gave in. "Oh, fine, I'll do it. You go ahead and sing up first Kana. I'll do it after."
Feeling a bit happier, Kana proceeded to sign up as her brother asked her to do.
Kana Ushiro, Age 10, Type O, Born June 25th 1994.
Jun Ushiro, Age 12, Type A, Born Noember 20th 1991.
"Oh, well judging from your ages, I would guess that you children are in middle school." The man assessed.
"Well, aside from Kana, yes," Waku retorted, "So how exactly do we play this game of yours, Mr.....Oh. What's your name, anyway?"
The man hesitated for a moment. "Oh, well...You can just call me 'Kokopelli'."
The children looked at this Kokopelli man very curiously, with him stating that he would have a name like THAT.
"Just think of it as a pen name, if you'd like," Kokopelli quickly added. He then took a long pause. "Well, it seems the game has now begun."
The curios feelings the kids held towards Kokopelli only grew from that one line.
"Hang on," Katari inquired, "Isn't this supposed to be a computer game, or something?" He noticed that the gaze in Kokopelli's eyes began to darken.
"No, I'm afraid not," Kokopelli stated very abruptly. "That will all be made very clear to you, very soon."
The kids stared at him far more curiously than before, as if they were talking to a whole other person. "The next time we meet, I will demonstrate how to play the game to you. Until then, please try not to worry."
And before the kids could say anything, a wave of static overwhelmed them.
"Ugh, what happened..." Daichi felt very sore after waking up from his nap on the rocks, although the nice and calm sunset upon the shoreline was able to help him feel a bit better. "Jeez, how late is it....Aw, man! Did I get left behin-"
But before he could finish, he immediately noticed that all the other kids were around him, and were sleeping as well. Waku slowly started to awaken from the deep pitch of Daichi's voice.
"Nmm...Hey, Daichi....Ugh, what time is it?" Waku groggily asked.
"I'd have to say it's pretty late in the afternoon," Daichi responded. "Look behind you." And so Waku slowly turned to face the sunset.
"Man, that's beautiful....wait.....Aw, man!" Waku suddenly realized exactly HOW late it must have been. "The teach is gonna throw a fit if we're late for dinner. Hey guys, get up!"
Slowly, all of the other classmates began to awaken from their mysterious slumber. As they all got up, nobody had made mention of how it is they came to sleep on the beach, or about the strange dream they unknowingly all shared: that dream about the man at the shack who signed them all into that strange game with the robot.
Once they had returned to the school building, the teacher had given them but a light scolding on the late hour of their arrival before letting them eat in the dining hall. Kids from the other classes that were in the dining hall snickered at them. As they all sat together, eating their dinners and conversing with one another, Katari couldn't help but let out a sigh pinging towards disappointment.
"What's wrong, Katari?" Moji asked.
"Ah, nothing really, guys," Katari replied, "It's just that game seemed like it'd be really fun...Aw never mind. I'm just talkin' about that stupid dream I had." Yet he noticed that as soon as he mentioned 'game', everyone gave him a slightly shocked look of disbelief. "W-wait a minute. Do...do you guys know what I'm talking about?"
"That dream," Komo replied, "about the man in the shack who wanted us to play a game?"
"Y-yes. Exactly...." Katari said with amazement.
"That's too weird," Anko added to the disbelief. "We couldn't have all had the same dream, right?"
"Then that could only mean," Chizu coldly replied, "that it wasn't a dream at all."
"In that case," Maria inquired, "wasn't that Kokopelli guy supposed to teach us about the ga-"
But before she could finish, a huge rumbling sound vibrated through the building, knocking everyone onto the ground. But before the group hit the floor, the static wave overtook them once again.
They were still lying on the ground, but they all noticed immediately that it wasn't the ground of their school building. Rather, they found themselves in a rounded, spacious, brown-tinted area.
"W-where the hell are we?" Kako immediately asked, expecting someone to give him a quick and simple response.
"This is the cockpit," a voice replied to Kako. A voice familiar in his dreams. In all of their dreams.
The children then all turned to find that Kokopelli was in fact among them, sitting within a black armchair with three slender legs. He appeared differently than he did at first, however, as he now lacked the glasses he had on, and instead had a scar across his left cheek. He was also dressed completely in a long-sleeved black body suit with black boots. He almost appeared like a shadow, were it not for the pale gleam of his skin and hair.
"I told you, didn't I?" Kokopelli asked. "We meet again, so now I am going to show you how to operate this robot."
"What?!" Waku exclaimed. "We're actually inside a ROBOT right now?"
"Don't beileve me?" Kokopelli plainly responded. "See for yourself." The kids noticed that the brown-tint had disappeared, and replacing it was a breathtaking view of the entire area around them. The kids could see the beach, their school building, the city across. And just below them, they were able to make out a pair of long, black legs jetting to the ocean from beneath them. They WERE inside of a robot.
"This is incredible..." Kodama said without realizing that he was speaking out loud.
"Hey, what's that in front of us?" Maki pointed out. The kids all turned to face the front and see that Maki was not lying. A figure began to emerge before the robot from some kind of rift.
"It's time" Kokopelli said, with words filled with shear remorse.
-End of Ch.1-
In the next chapter: The game finally begins to unfold, as Kokopelli shows the kids how to operate the black behemoth to fight against the enemy emerging before them. Just how does this game work? Just who is Kokopelli? And what, if anything, could he have to hide? Find the answers to these questions in Chapter Two: Kokopelli vs. Arachne!
Auugh! Finally done with my first chapter. I didn't think the timing and managing ow to write this stuff would take so much work.
Anyway, sorry about the late start. Now I can REALLY give people something to read, and hopefully something to continue on. I write this fanfic with hopeful intent that readers will read stories like these and inform their friends of this manga/anime, because BOKURANO DESERVES MORE FANS!!!!!
Thank you for reading, and please try to stay tuned for the next chapter.
-King-of-Wings-360