Chapter 1 Episode 1

"Look, a meteor!"

Harry smiled as his little brother, Shion, pointed up at the beautiful night sky. The twins were opposite of Harry, who was huddled up against Papa for protection from the cold winter night. Despite the cheery fire and warm stew, Harry couldn't suppress a body-shaking shiver.

Papa frowned and hugged the 16-year-old closer. He had wanted Harry to stay at home, since his sickness was always aggravated by the snow and cold. But Harry had insisted on coming. He didn't want to be shut up in the house for another vacation, being taken care of by one of Papa's scientists. So even if he was too exhausted to move tomorrow with a fever and cough, Harry would still consider it worth it.

Suou, his little sister, glanced around for the falling star. "Huh? Where?"

"Hey, Papa, is it really true that if you say a wish three times before a meteor disappears, it'll come true?" Shion asked.

Papa took a sip of his stew. "That's just an old superstition they believe in Japan. Your mother was the one who first told me about it. They've got a lot of superstitions. They've even got charms that are supposed to make you grow tall or pretty."

"Really?" Suou exclaimed excitedly. She clapped her hands together and turned her large, hopeful green eyes up towards the heavens, desperate to catch sight of a shooting star.

Harry laughed. "Oh, Suou, you're already the prettiest girl in the world. What are you wishing for?"

"It's a secret!"

Shion turned to Papa. "So then, is it true that the only time meteors fall is when somebody dies?"

Harry bit his lip. "Maybe," Papa said, "But what I can tell you is back when we could still see the real stars, that was only a fairy tale."

"Look, another one!"

"What? Where?"

Stars began falling. First only one at a time, then in twos and threes, until the entire sky was streaked by meteors falling. Harry stood up, looking at the sky with a mix of awe and horror. "Papa?"

"So, it's begun…"

The entire sky was bright now, like daytime. The ground trembled as the light came closer and closer. Harry belatedly realized what it was. "No!" Harry lunged uselessly at his siblings as the meteor crashed into the earth.

"Harry! Suou!" Mikhail screamed as he desperately searched through the rubble for his children. He spotted one lying on his side. "Shion!" Mikhail skidded to his son's side. Shion was bleeding and his eye was swelled shut. "Shion! Shion!"

Shion struggled to open one eye and speak.

"Where's Suou?"

It's been two years since that fateful night—the night that's gone down in history as the "Tokyo Explosion."

The same night Shion became a Contractor. The same night Harry became…different.

It's strange how easily your entire life can change in a single night. Harry knows this better than most. He was incredibly sick for 6 years before that night and now he is completely healthy and more.

My generation has never seen the real stars of the night sky. They vanished 12 years ago when the Gates appeared in Tokyo and Brazil. The one in Tokyo is called "Hell's Gate," and the one in Brazil was known as "Heaven's Gate." The Gates cause all sorts of strange, unexplainable phenomena, and it's dangerous for people to even get near them.

The world's a different place than it used to be. Part of it had to do with the war. We didn't feel the effects to badly over here, but change is just around the corner—

"Hey!" Suou yelled and raced up to the tree next to Petya's window. The cat perched on its branch yowled as she chased it off, its bell collar jingling. Suou panted as Bella, one of her Papa's scientists, opened the door.

"Welcome home, Suou. What's wrong?"

"Hey, Bella. I just chased off a cat that was after Petya."

"Really? We better keep the window closed."

"How's Harry been today?"

The British woman held the door open for the tiny redhead, her gold eyes warm. "He stayed in his room for most of the day, doing school work and exercising." Suou hung up her coat and took her shoes off by the door. "They only time he's been out of his room was to make dinner."

"Betraying me to my own sister! How could you Bella?" Harry joked as he stepped out of the kitchen. In an instant, his arms were full with his baby sister. "Stop worrying, dear. How was school? Are all your friends okay? Was lunch good?"

Suou rolled her eyes good naturedly as Harry mother-hened over her. "Yes, "Mother," everyone's fine. Guess what happened today! Someone at school asked Tanya to go out with him."

"Really?" Bella asked, "Who was it?"

"Do I need to threaten them?" Harry added playfully.

"It was Nika! I couldn't believe it!"

"Are you serious? But I thought Nika was your boyfriend."

"No! We're just friends!"

Bella and Harry exchanged one of those "she's-so-cute" looks that sent Suou fuming. "Hmm…well, that's not how it looked," Harry said.

"He is not!"

"Well there has to be some boy that you do like. Who is it?"

"You know I don't like anyone!" Mother figures. Ugh!

I don't really understand it, but the sky disappeared 13 years ago. We have an artificial sky now, a replacement sky. But there is one thing I do know for certain:

The stars we now see…each one represents the life of a contractor.

Suou stood hesitantly outside Shion's secret room. To anyone else, it would just be a bare hallway with a weird security pad. She knocked on the wall with one hand, the other holding some stew. "I've brought some dinner for you."

"Come in," a voice said. Suou typed in the security code and the door opened. Shion turned around in his wheelchair to face her and smiled, though his one visible seemed emotionless. "Hello, Suou. How was your day?"

She closed the door behind her and placed his food on the table holding his laptop. "Hey Shion. It was good."

"Are you still wearing your lucky charm?"

Suou nodded and took out the necklace. Shion asked about this every time he saw her. It gave her hope that her brother wasn't cruel or uncaring like people always thought Contractors were. After all, why would a Contractor care about a good luck charm? The charm itself was an orange glass disk on a chain that Shion and Papa had given her 2 years ago. "I always have it."

As Suou told Shion about her day as he ate, she couldn't help feeling pity for her contractor brother. Harry, who was stuck at home from 10 to 16 because of how sick he was, always preferred to stay inside, out of habit more than anything else. But Shion…Shion was never let out of his room. So Suou took as many pictures as she could for him, so he could see the outside world.

"Love, huh?" Shion said. "Now that's one emotion I can't logically sort out. It's just a hormonal reaction to another person's pheromones, yet people hinge their whole lives upon it."

"It's more than that!" Suou snapped. "It brings people together." Shion gave her a weird look. "Uh…what?"

"Nothing. I just think it's cute that you're able to believe in such fantasies that's all."

Suou pouted. "Hey, stop that. Don't make fun."

"You've got to wake up someday, Suou. Just as Papa and Mama did."

"Oh! I found Mama's new book." Suou took out the book filled with pictures of Japan and Hell's Gate. "It looks like she's doing well. I was thinking…we should go see Mama in Japan. Don't you think?"

"Why?"

"What do you mean, why?"

Shion turned back to his computer. "She wouldn't serve any necessary function in my life right now. Besides, even with his sickness, Harry's been a far better Mother than she ever was. I thought you realized it as well, considering how often you call him Mother."

"It's just a nickname, stupid!" Suou ran into her father as she stormed out of the room, shocking her out of her anger. He quickly grabbed her arm and dragged her away from the door. "Papa?"

"I've warned you not to spend time in there." He was angry, she realized, and scared.

"But Papa, Shion is my twin brother. He'd never try to hurt me."

"He doesn't care that you're his sister. He doesn't see things that way anymore and you will get hurt if you don't understand that."

"I won't! He's my brother!"

Papa noticed the book she was holding. "Her book? Suou, you can't keep buying those."

"I just—she's waiting for us! I know she is!"

"Suou!" Papa grabbed her shoulders and shook her. "Stop this dreaming and wake up. Time only moves in one direction, and there's no going back." Sobbing, Suou broke out of his grip and ran to Harry's room.

He was sitting at his desk doing school work when Suou jumped him. She buried her face in his long, black hair and tried to muffle her sobs. Harry swiveled around and embraced her, rubbing her back and saying comforting nonsense. "What's wrong?" he whispered as she crawled into his lap like she'd do when she was 6.

"A-Are cont-tractors…heartless?"

Harry tightened his grip on her. Of course… "No, I don't think so." Suou looked up, surprised. "But their heart isn't first on their list of priorities. They can't help forming attachments just like the rest of us…but most of the time, their rationality will win. However, I suspect…that if a contractor truly cares about someone, like Shion does for you and me, they would move mountains for us."

Neither sibling noticed the gold-eyed woman standing in the hallway. And if her eyes were a little shinier than normal…well, the walls weren't going to tell anyone.

Without any warning, your entire life can change in a single night. And there's nothing you can do about it.

Suou didn't realize that she was crying as she ran through the snow, towards home. There are no signs to warn of the sudden transformation into a Contractor. The personality is significantly altered after the transformation and they become highly unpredictable. And by tomorrow…she probably wouldn't remember Tanya…

Someone grabbed her from behind and put a hand over her mouth before she could scream. Suou struggled and buried her elbow into her attacker's ribs. "Ah! Suou!"

"Harry?"

Harry spun her around so she could get a good look at him. He seemed frantic, almost unhinged like…

Something bad had happened.

He threw his arms around her and crushed her to his chest. "Oh, God. I was so worried!" he said. "There are police and military outside the house. I think Shion and Papa are still inside."

"We have to get them out!"

Harry pressed a kiss to the top of her head. "I guess there is no use trying to talk you out of it, is there? Come on."

The two ran for the shed that held one of the many secret passages that led to the house. Fortunately they weren't spotted and they were soon racing through the silver chrome halls with Harry dragging Suou along. "Shion's room first!"

Harry gave no sign that he heard her, but adjusted his course accordingly. The secret passage opened up to an empty room, but that didn't keep Harry from entering it. He fished out some of Shion's clothes and threw them at Suou. "Put those on. You'll blend in easier as a boy than a girl."

Suou complied and Harry turned away in an attempt at privacy. Once she was finished, her hair safely tucked into her hood, they escaped back into the passage. "We should stop by my room," Harry told her. "I have some money saved up. It should be enough to get us to the rondevu."

She nodded; the rondevu was always Tokyo, right near the Gate. Papa told them to go there if they were ever separated. Soon they were in Harry's room. He grabbed his wallet from underneath his mattress and was about to return to the passageway when he heard someone talking in the hall. Glancing back at Suou, he placed a finger to his lips and crept forward so he could hear.

"Who are you? What do you want?" Papa? Harry shifted closer.

"I'll ask the questions. Where's the meteor core?" Who was that? He sounded…dark. Dark and cold. "Shion, was it? Tell me where Shion is."

Rage and fear welled in Harry. How dare this…person threaten his little brother! He was so furious that he barely noticed Suou crawling up behind him, but he didn't miss Papa's next words.

"He's not here. He escaped."

"Then I have no further need for you."

Light flashed brightly and Papa screamed before deadweight crashed to the ground sickeningly. Harry slapped a hand over Suou's mouth in case she screamed and gave away their location. Quietly, he cracked open the door.

Papa lay face down on the carpet. The hall was empty, the other man having disappeared. Harry fell next to his father and pressed a finger to his wrist. No pulse. Blinking away his tears, he snatched away his hand and tried to find the pulse on Papa's neck. Nothing.

No! He couldn't! Not Papa! Biting his lip, Harry looked back at Suou kneeling in the doorway, tears streaming down her flushed cheeks. He…he had to stay strong. For Suou. He was going to be strong for Suou and Shion and get them out of this mess.

Suddenly, a familiar woman appeared from the secret passage and ran up to check Papa's…body herself. "Professor! Damn it, he's dead. No external wounds, no vomit. No other signs of murder. It can't be…"

The blue haired woman looked at him and Harry realized why she felt so familiar. Her eyes were the same as Bella's. She looked past him, to Suou. "My name is April, I work for MI6. But I'm sure you already knew that. Shion, tell me what happened here. Do you know how the professor died?"

"Bella?"

B-April's eyes widened. She grasped Suou by the shoulders. "Suou? Where's Shion? You have to tell me."

"I don't know."

"Papa planned for something like this," Harry said, drawing their attention. "If the house was ever attacked, we're to meet up in Tokyo. I don't know if Shion will go, but…it's worth a shot."

April nodded. The heavy sound of footsteps was approaching. "Come on!" She grabbed Suou and sprinted for the passage with Harry at her heels. The three raced at a breakneck pace through the blindingly white halls as explosions echoed behind them. Soon, they reached the end of the tunnel and emerged in the middle of the forest.

They wasted no time and continued running. Suou could barely keep up; she was only a kid, not a secret agent like April, or was a work out fanatic like Harry could be. Suddenly, a blond man slammed into a tree in front of them, wearing a long, green cloak and holding a bag of…hamburgers?

"Hold it right there," Burger-man said. "I need you three to come with me. Cooperate, and I'll even share some of these with you." He held out his bag.

April whipped out a gun and shot at him. Harry gasped as the man glowed blue and blurred with some type of super speed. He ran around the clearing until he hit a tree. "Do you have to fight?" He whined as he bit into one of his burgers. "I really don't want to eat this entire bag of hamburgers."

Gritting his teeth, Harry grabbed Suou and tried to run, only to be caught by the Contractor. He slammed Harry up against a tree and leered. "There's no point running, tootsie. Come on, I'm already going to be sore tomorrow as it is. Unless you want to help me with that…"

Harry glared, shaking with anger. Just because he had long hair and a vaguely feminine face does not mean he was a woman! Something familiar snapped in his chest and the pervert's eyes widened when something grabbed him from behind and threw him into a snowdrift.

April began to glow with Synchrotron radiation. "A Contractor," the man griped. "What a nuisance."

She gestured up to the sky and her eyes flared read as the man took off running. Rain fell from the swirling clouds before he could stop.

Blood splattered the snow.

Harry panted as he ran back to Suou and April. Suou was staring at the corpse, horrified, while April got out a flask and took a few desperate gulps from it. Her contract, he assumed. "I wish I hadn't done that," she said, then looked at him. "Your file didn't mention that you were a wizard."

"I'm a what?"

Her eyes narrowed in confusion. "You mean you don't know—"

A branch snapped behind them. Harry whipped around, his heart pounding in anticipation of another fight.

A man emerged from the shadows and Harry's breath caught in his throat. He wore a long, tattered coat and his hair was the same length and color as Harry's. He had a mask on, snow white with a violet lightning bolt over his eye, almost like the one that scarred Harry's forehead. A dash of red paint created his mouth, like the one underneath was pressed into a grim line of determination.

April gasped. "It's you…" She whispered, and then positioned herself in front of them in a futile attempt to shield them from the man's view.

"BK-201…"