Awakening…

[4.6 – 4.7. 2009]

"Attention passengers we have arrived at our destination Iwatodai. We apologize for every inconvenience the delay has caused."

Opening his eyes the boy with blue hair glanced out the window a last time before he stood up and grabbed his bag. With music still blasting into his ears he got off the train and was about to walk out of the station.

He stood on top of the stairs as he closed his eyes shortly. Suddenly the clock signaled it was 0:00 o'clock and right at the same time everything got covered in a greenish glow. The player around his neck shut off and no more music was heard. Everything had turned quiet.

The boy opened his eyes again, unfazed by his surroundings. Instead he pulled out a piece of paper and started walking. Not once sparing the coffins around him a single glance.

Slowly his way brought him to a building. He noticed that the lights seemed still to be on. Something he rarely saw during this hour of the day. Shrugging it off, he went into the building.

Taking in his surroundings he found himself in some kind of lobby. It strongly reminded him of one of these hotel lobbies. But seeing how this was supposed to be a dorm from his new school he wasn't that much surprised.

"Your late. I have been waiting a long time for you." A voice suddenly was heard and the boy turned to look at a child that stood behind the counter.

The child wore strange striped clothing that reminded one of prisoners wearing. His eyes had two shades of blue and yet seemed fitting for the child. His hair was black but it had a somewhat dark blue shade to it.

"If you want to proceed..." The strange child snapped with his fingers and suddenly stood before him. "Please sign your name there."

The blue haired boy looked over to the contracted that had appeared out of nowhere and blankly stared at it for a moment.

"Don't worry. It only says that you take full responsibility for your actions, you know the usual stuff." The child smiled up at the blue haired.

Without giving it much thought he moved to sign it. Fast the blue haired's name was written on it and he stepped back from it, turning to look at the child who was back behind the counter again.

The child took the contract into his hands and smiled as he stepped back closer to the shadows behind him. "Minato Arisato. I have waited for you a long time…"

"No one can escape time, it delivers us all to the same end. You can't plug your ears and cover your eyes…"

Minato blinked. He felt like he had heard these words somewhere before. But he couldn't remember where. Minato watched how the child before him was swallowed into the shadows his one hand outstretched like he was reaching for him. "And so it begins…"

"WHO IS THERE?!"

Minato turned around, staring at a girl that stood a few meters away from him. The girl had light brown hair and wore a sweater jacket with a red slash around her left arm something was written on it but he could only see a S.E. the rest was too far away for him to see. But Minato noted that she trembled a little, her hand was hovering over a holder that seemingly held a gun in it. He also noticed her slightly heavy breathing.

Minato's eyes flickered from the gun to her face. Is she going to use it?

"Takeba! Wait!" Just when the girl was about to draw out her gun Minato heard these words and the greenish glow disappeared, everything turned back to normal. His earphones started to blast loudly music again and the lights of the room brightened up the lounge normally.

The blue haired looked up to see an older girl walk up to them. The other girl smiled a little relieved at her appearance. The older girl had long dark red hair with matching dark red eyes. Her whole body language gave of a mature aura and a flare of elegance.

"You must be the transfer student. I didn't expect you to come so late. My name is Kirijo Mitsuru. I am one of the students who live in this dorm."

Minato nodded shortly in acknowledgment. Thought he couldn't help but to glance at the gun the other girl still absent minded hold in her hand.

"Uhm… transfer student?" the brown haired girl asked a little unsure.

"Yes. It was a last minute decision to assign him here. He will eventually be moved to a room in the boy's dorm."

"Is it okay for him to be here?"

"I guess we will see…"

Minato silently listened to them and wondered if that mean they had put him into a girl's dorm but then he dismissed this thought. Gekkoukan High was a rumored school founded by the Kirijo Group. They wouldn't just but a boy into the girl's dorm… or would they?

"This is Takeba Yukari. She will be a junior this spring just like you." Mitsuru spoke catching Minatos attention again.

"…Hi, I am Yukari." The brown haired, Yukari, added smiling a little nervous.

Minato eyed her for a second before his eyes fell onto the gun again. "What's the gun for?"

"Huh?" Yukari nervously fitched around with it until she placed it back into its holder. "Uhm… its sorta… like a hobby…"

"Hobby?" Minato raised an eyebrow. Pretty strange one if you ask me…

"Uhm… well not like a hobby but…"

"You know how it is these days… It's for self-defense." Minato raised an eyebrow again and Mitsuru smiled a little. "It's not a real gun of course."

Minato kept quiet. He could tell that this was not the whole truth. He had noticed that Mitsuru also carried a gun with her. Yes, he was sure they were keeping something from him. But he shrugged it off. Everybody had something they didn't want to tell.

"It's getting late, so you should get some rest. Your room is on the second floor at the end of the hallway. Your things should already be there." Minato nodded and was about to leave as Yukari spoke up again.

"I will show the way. Follow me." The blue haired watched how she took the lead and then quietly followed her.

Quietly they walked next to each other and Minato shortly glanced at her seeing that Yukari was seemingly in deep thoughts. When they reached the end of the hall way she turned to him presenting the door.

"This is it. Pretty easy to remember, huh?" She smiled a little nervous. "…Since it's the end of the hall way."

Then she gave Minato a key and he looked at it for a second before he looked back up at her. "Make sure you don't lose your key or you will never hear the end of it…" Yukari lightly joked. "So any questions?"

Minato thought about it. He knew that these two knew more than they let on and he was tempted to ask them if they knew about that strange hour. He also remembered that strange child he had meet earlier, but then… they didn't seem like they would know anything about him. So Minato settled to asked about that contract he had signed. "What was that contract about?"

Yukari blinked confused. "Contract?"

Minato shook his head. "Never mind."

It was quiet for a moment before between the two and Minato decided that this was a good moment to just get into his room until Yukari suddenly spoke up again.

"Uhm… Can I ask you something?" Minato looked back at her and nodded.

"On your way here… you didn't see something strange did you?" Yukari seemed to be worried and very careful as she asked this and Minato thought about what she meant.

There was nothing I wasn't used to already. He thought. Besides this strange kid and the contract I signed.

Yukari started to look more than a little nervous as Minato didn't answer right away. Feeling a little sorry for her Minato shock his head and Yukari looked slightly relived but still worried.

"Well… okay then." She then left and walked away but then turned back to him. "I am sure you still have other questions… but uhm… let's save them for later okay? See you tomorrow, good night."

The blue haired looked shortly after her before he entered his room. He placed his bag on the ground and then lay on the bed staring at the ceiling. Should I have asked them about this hour? They seemed to know something. But if I am wrong and they don't know anything… I will just wait and see.

Shaking his head the teen stood up again and got ready to go to bed. Soon he lay on his bed and drifted off to sleep.

[4.7.2009] – Evening

"OH HELL NO!" The auburn haired girl yelled as she stormed into the living room a blue haired boy with glasses following her.

"Damn it Minako it's just for a few days!" The boy yelled after her as he tried to keep up with her.

"The last time you said that I needed a month to locate the person! He was in a different town for heaven's sake!" Minako yelled once more. The other two persons also living there looked up from what they were doing.

"Minako! This time it's really only a few days!" The boy tried once more before Minako turned around sharply.

"Well your luck... I DON'T BELIEVE YOU JIN!" Mianko answered this time a little calmer but still slightly angered.

The boy, Jin, let out a sigh. "Look all you have to do is go out at night and search for our targets to see if they end up in these coffins, that's all."

Minako glared now at Jin. "And why the hell can't you do that?"

"Because, I have to maintain the webpage." Jin simply answered crossing his arms. "Chidori draws too much attention and Takaya is out of question. Since you don't have anything better to do you will observer them."

"Minako." The girl looked up to see their leader approaching them. "I know you still struggle with our purpose in life. Our world is crawling with sin and we are the only ones that can set it right again."

Minako looked down feeling a little ashamed that their leader had to reprimand her. She could see Jin smirking from the corner of her eyes. "I understand Takaya-san. I am sorry."

"It's okay. Just don't forget our role." Takaya answered as he left again.

"I will start tomorrow night with it then…" Minako mumbled as she left for her room she shared with Chidori, ignoring Jin who was about to taunt her.

Minako lay down on her bed and stared at the ceiling. She didn't know how to feel about their next target. She was glad that she was only responsible for locating them and to figure out their daily routines. It was a blessing for her that Takaya was aware of how she felt about the killing and never once demanded from her to be present when they fulfilled the requests.

She knew that she could never bring herself to kill someone on her free will. Her eyes glanced over to the small bottle on her nightstand that was filled with small blue pills. "Never again… will I kill someone…"

"You're quiet determinate."

Minako looked to the side to see a child wearing striped clothing in the room. "I didn't notice the Dark Hour had started already…"

Looking around she noticed the greenish glow her room had gotten and let out a small sight. She should have gotten used to it but it still sent down shivers her back.

"You don't seem to be surprised to see me?" The boy questioned tilting his head to the side in confusion.

Minako sat up and smiled. "Why should I? You visited me before didn't you?"

"So you remember?" The boy smiled now too. "That's a relieve. I thought you would have forgotten about me already."

Minako only shook her head but kept smiling. How can I forget a strange kid that appeared in the Dark Hour out of nowhere?

"Do you remember your contract?" The boy suddenly asked and the girl blinked confused shortly.

"Contract… Oh wait you mean that thing you made me sign the first time we meet?" The child smiled at her answer and nodded. "What's with it?"

"Nothing. Just wanted to see if you still remember it." The boy chuckled and Minako couldn't help to look at him a little confused.

"I don't think I could ever forget that…" Minako mumbled quietly as she let herself fall back onto her bed.

"Soon he will awaken to his power." The child suddenly said serious and Minako sat up again looking at him questioning.

"He?"

"You will know when it's time." The boy answered smiling before he waved. "I should be going now… I will see you soon again. Bye…"

"Wait!" Minako yelled and hurried to stand up from her bed but the boy had already disappeared into the shadows of her room.

Everything then switched back to normal as the green glow disappeared. Minako stood in the middle of her room staring at the ground confused by the boy's words, until her head suddenly snapped up. "I forgot to ask for his name again!"

[4.8.2009] – Night

Minato lay in his bad not able to sleep. The past day and today hadn't been very eventful. He had made a new friend, Iori Junpei. And he had a strange dream about a strange long nosed guy. He didn't know what to make out of it yet.

Slowly his eyes closed and Minato was about to drift off into sleep, as he suddenly heard commotion from downstairs. His eyes snapped open again and he noticed that the strange hour had already started.

He sat up and walked to the door deciding to see what was going on as someone suddenly knocked on it.

"WAKE UP!" Without giving Minato much time to respond the door opened. "Sorry! I am coming in."

Yukari then stood before him slightly out of breath and a little panic written on her face. "I don't have time to explain! We need to get out of here!"

Not knowing what was going on Minato just nodded in agreement as the whole building shook. Whatever that commotion was about he had a feeling that it was something serious. "Hurry! We are going to leave through the back door downstairs!"

Just as they were about to run down Yukari turned around to him again hurriedly placing something in his hands. "Wait! Here take this."

Minato looked blankly at the sword in his hand and was wondering why the hell she would give him one. First these people carried around fake guns and now she gave him a sword? After whatever was going on here, he was sure to demand some answers from them.

Just as they reached the stairs they heard something break from afar and Yukari cursed, but still kept leading Minato down the stairs, until suddenly a voice echoed.

"Takeba! Do you read me?" Minato recognized it as Mitsuru's voice and wondered shortly how he was able to hear it.

"Yes Mitsuru-Senpei. I can hear you clearly!" Yukari answered stopping in her way to listen to what Mitsuru had to say.

"Be careful there is more than one enemy!" Mitsuru warned and Minato wondered what she meant by enemy. "The one we are fighting isn't the one Akihiko saw!"

"What?!" Just as Yukari spoke the whole building shock and the two heard a loud bang from the back door. "Let's pull back!"

Yukari yelled dragging Minato back up the stairs. "What should we do… they are downstairs…"

Yukari spoke to herself and Minato wondered if she really was sure what she was doing but he choose not to say anything. "We have no choice… let's go further up!"

Hurried the two run up the stairs till they reached the last floor and were slightly out of breath, shaking Yukari pulled out some keys and run over to a door and opened it. "Hurry!" She yelled and Minato followed suit out the door.

As soon as he stepped outside he heard her lock the door. The next he noticed he was on the roof top and a bright round moon was shining down on them.

"We should be save here for now…" Yukari sighed in relieve but then the building shock again.

Minato and Yukari turned around just in time to see multiple hands reach up and pull themselves up. One hand hold up a blue mask that seemingly was looking around till it spotted them and suddenly more hands appeared carrying swords as it made its way over to them.

"This is what we call shadows…" Yukari suddenly spoke as she stepped forward pulling out the fake gun and pointed it at her head. Her breathing was uneven and Minato saw that she struggled to pull the trigger.

Why would she even shot herself in a moment like this… He wondered but then he watched surprised how one arm of the monster knocked Yukari off her feet the gun left on the ground right in front of him.

A little unsure Minato looked at the gun and then at the Shadow before him. Slowly he picked it up still staring at the creature before him. He lifted the gun and looked at it a little closer before his eyes looked back up only to see the strange boy before him.

"Go on…" The boy only said as he imitated with his hand a gun and hold it against his head, acting like he was shooting himself.

Minato heard his own heart beat as he slowly imitated the child's movements. His heart beat was steady and yet he was slightly breathing heavily. His eyes were completely focused on the Shadow before him.

"Per… so… na…" The blue haired quietly mumbled before he pulled the trigger and the sound of shattering glass was heard.

"Thou art I… and I am thou… from the sea of thy soul I cometh… I am Orpheus, master of strings…"

Suddenly a sharp pain shot through Minato's head and Orpheus too looked like he was in great pain. Not able to bear it much longer Minato screamed out in pain while Orpheus was toren into pieces taking on a different form.

A few minutes earlier at a different place…

Minako run hurriedly down the street, as fumbled with an earpiece she pressed into her right ear while still running and trying to keep track of what she was following.

"JIN! CAN YOU HEAR ME?!" She yelled as she took a turn and started to climb up the ladder of a building. "JIN?!"

"I hear you! There is no need to yell." An annoyed voice finally answered through the ear piece. "What is it Minako? Did you find the Target?!"

"Wrong! I found something more interesting! There is a huge shadow! And it is following someone!" Minako answered as she finally made it to the roof of the building and kept on running on the roofs.

"Can you locate me?! You guys have to see it! It looks like it is attack a building!" Minako ask as she barely made the jump between two roof tops.

"Okay we are on our way." Jin answered hurried, in the background she could hear that he was packing his usual metal briefcase with all his explosives together. "Wait for us there!"

"Hurry!" Minako only said as she came to a stop on the edge of a rooftop. It was only a block away from the building that was under attack. Her red eyes narrowed as she noticed that there wasn't only the huge one but also smaller shadows too.

"I should help…" Minako mumbled as she watched two people step out of the building and fighting the smaller shadows. "But…"

Her hand trembled as it hovered over her pocket. "I…"

Suddenly her eyes snapped up as she saw something climb up the building. It was the huge shadow she had seen earlier. Its body was a mess of limps and she felt a little sick watching it.

Her red eyes narrowed again as she noticed that it was targeting something on the roof top. In the back of her mind she could feel her persona Eurydice yelling at her to help, to do something or to at least summon her. But Minako couldn't she couldn't bring herself to summon her.

The auburn haired heard steps behind her. She didn't turn around. She knew that they belonged to Jin, Takaya and Chidori. "You weren't kidding…"

Suddenly a sharp pain went through Minako's head and she clenched it in pain and tried hard not to shout out in pain.

"Minako?" Chidori asked confused as she noticed how said girl fell on her knees.

"Jin, the pills." Takaya only said calmly as he turned back to look at the building. "She is losing her control."

"On it." Jin answered digging in his pockets for a small bottle with pills. When he found it he took one out and went over to Minako and Chidori.

"Here take it." He told the auburn haired girl who wordlessly did what he said. The pain didn't subside instantly but she could feel it lessen. Still clenching her head she tried to look back to the roof top to see what was happening and momentary froze as she heard a barbaric scream that sounded familiar for her.

"Thanatos…" was all she fearfully whispered as the world around her turned black. The last she heard was Takaya telling everyone to return to their hideout.