Ken didn't have a problem being one of the first people awake in the dorm; the grade-schooler often managed to meander downstairs to the dining room before Akihiko was awake and making a mess with pancake batter. Occasionally strawberries as well, but usually pancake batter.

At least, on mornings that Akihiko stayed around to eat breakfast; the silver-haired teen wasn't in sight when Ken came downstairs, his backpack in hand, and he had to sigh. "...Did Akihiko-senpai eat anything …?" He shook his head as he asked the question, plonking the backpack down in a chair that had a Gekkoukan uniform blazer slung across the back.

"Aki's in the shower right now, so not yet." Ken lifted his head at the reply, spotting the speaker in the kitchen proper. It was another teenager, the pink straps of an apron visible with his back turned. The smell of cooking eggs and meat made Ken grin as he snuck closer to the counter - he could see the platter of biscuits out in his range.

One hand was on the edge of the platter when the teenager spoke again. "Oi. You had your two already, Ken. Takeba would notice you taking another one." There was a laugh in the voice, undercutting the gruff tone. He looked up sheepishly as the teenager turned to look at him, a single eyebrow arched. "This will be ready in five minutes, alright? You can sit for that long."

Knowing he was caught, Ken did his best to not pout as he backed away from the counter. "Fine, Shinjiro, fine…." he said, trying to make his voice sound a bit more upset than he actually was.

It didn't seem to work, because Shinjiro just gave him a more exasperated look. "Really; awake what, twenty minutes and already choosing the wounded puppy look?" He sounded amused at least, and it was enough to make Ken snicker. "Besides, you know that won't fill you up until lunch, even with how early they have it at your grade."

"Yeah, Yeah, I know …" Ken said in between his sniggers as he hopped onto a barstool instead. "But Yukari-senpai should at least cover the plate when she leaves them out." He said as he pushed it aside, watching Shinjiro as he went back to cooking. "I don't know if either of the new senpai know about how the kitchen here works."

"Well, Mitsuru said that one of 'em was poking the microwave when they arrived, so they know that detail at least." Shinjiro shrugged, flipping what Ken could now see was an omelette in his pan before continuing to talk. "Haven't really gotten to meet them myself, yet, so I can't really tell you much else."

"Really?" Ken blinked. "But you're in high school with them …" pausing to think, he shook his head. "I only saw them yesterday before Yukari-senpai took them to school early, so I didn't get to talk much. Kotone-senpai seemed friendly at least; Minato-senpai … well, I don't know if he was staring at me or if he was falling asleep on his feet, but he seemed confused in my general direction."

Shinjiro gave a shrug, using the hand that wasn't keeping the omelette from burning to grab a plate. "In his defense, it is kinda odd to see a grade schooler hanging out with a bunch of high schoolers," He said as he put half of the omelette on the plate, a bit of rice following soon after. He repeated the action with two more plates before turning off the stove and turning, not bothering to take the apron off as he handed one plate to Ken. "Y'sure you don't want to go back to one of the grade school dorms? If more people get moved in here, you're gonna have to get used to everyone else." Moon grey eyes locked onto Ken's hazel, and the grade-schooler gave a firm nod as he took the plate.

"I'm sure; I do genuinely feel safer here, and Eiko-kun was saying that the grade school dorms tend to have roommates." He frowned at the thought, even as Shinjiro sat down next to him. "I like having my own room."

Shinjiro let out an understanding noise at that. "You certainly have enough books to warrant your own room." He agreed as he started to eat, Ken following suit. Silence lingered for a few moments before Shinjiro spoke again, a low hum in his voice. "But you're prolly gonna have to next year, y'know? Gramps said he'd be willing to keep a lot of those books safe for you if you didn't want to take all of them with you."

Ken frowned around his bite of omelette. "I know, but … I don't wanna think about it right now." he mumbled. "You've still got this year before you graduate." The tone was sad, and it was enough to make Shinjiro sigh and shake his head.

"Fair enough, I'll drop it for now." He said, looking back at his own food and eating again. A tense silence fell for a few moments before the senior looked at Ken again. "Although you mentioned Eiko; is she in your class this year?"

Ken gave a small 'mmm' as he took a drink of water, and set down the glass before answering. "Yeah - her, Sakura-kun, and Sanaki-kun." He agreed. "They abducted me for lunch yesterday, once we found out what class Tomoi-kun was in." At that, a small smile came on his face. "Sakura-kun was pouting over the onigiri you made."

A small chuckle escaped Shinjiro at that. "I made sure to put more in there this time." He nodded, and then let a wry smirk come across his face as he heard the door to the men's bathroom open. "Sides, at least you don't do what Aki used to; someone tried to take his food in grade school? He'd bite them."

"I did that once, Shinji!" Akihiko's voice preceded him, the silver-haired teen giving Shinjiro an offended look. Ken snickered at that even as he looked at his plate; Shinjiro simply gave Akihio a knowing look.

"Once a year, more like it; I'm shocked it took until middle school for people to realize that they needed to leave your food alone." He retorted, ducking his head away from Akihiko's half-hearted smack. "Speaking of which, the covered plate is yours; not as many veggies, but I made sure there was at least some."

"...Nothing worse than spinach?" Akihiko gave the food a wary look even as he grabbed the plate Shinjiro pointed out.

"It's either that or I put supplements in there on ya. Just eat your breakfast."

Ken was laughing at that, his food finished. Banter like this was another perk to waking up early. "Good morning to you too, Akihiko-senpai." He greeted after a moment, and Akihiko smiled at him even as he elbowed Shinjiro's head.

"Mornin Ken; sleep well?" He said, ignoring the returning slap from Shinjiro.

"Yep!" Ken hopped down from his stool and grabbed his plate, looking at Shinjiro as he rubbed the offended spot on his head. The teenager seemed to understand what Ken was asking, because he handed the empty plate over. "You can sit there, senpai; I'm done for now." Trotting off before Akihiko could protest, Ken set about cleaning the plates as the silver-haired teen took the now open stool with a 'thanks'.

Akihiko took a few bites of his breakfast before speaking up, and Ken had finished washing the plates to sit on the counter across from him and Shinjiro. "Hey, Shinji, I know it's still the first week," he began, making Shinjiro look at him as he took off the apron. "But would you mind if I went out again tonight? I got that weird feeling on patrol again last night."

Shinjiro's eyebrows arched as he stood up, the apron in his hands. "That ping hit you again?" He asked, and hummed at the responding nod Akihiko gave him. "Where at?"

"Still the Port Island station, but I didn't get there until near the end of the night." Akihiko sighed and tapped his fork against the plate for a moment, storm grey eyes staring into the distance. "I wanna see if I can actually track it down tonight; things are getting fiestier out there at night, so it'd be smart to make sure it's not more problems."

There was a wince from Ken, and Shinjiro frowned. "That's not a bad thought, but … be careful, alright?" He asked Akihiko, who responded with a tired smile.

"I will; if it's too much for me, I'll come get you and Mitsuru if I can." The reassurance was simple, but it seemed to be enough to make Shinjiro relax. "But it's more a matter of curiosity, you know? I know why I can get the ping from you, but not whatever is at the station …"

"I'm just here to take stuff to the face, Aki; you know more than me." Shinjiro shrugged and hung the apron up on the hook just outside the kitchen. The statement made Akihiko snort.

"Wow, Shinji; phrasing."

"I know what I said, dammit."

Ken snickered again, even though he knew there were some connotations going over his head. It was more the principle of the matter that made him laugh as he hopped down from the counter , grabbing the two bento boxes he spotted nearby. "You don't think it's something dangerous you're picking up, Akihiko-senpai?" he asked as he stepped into the dining room again, Shinjiro handing him his backpack.

"No, I don't think it is?" There was a touch of confusion in Akihiko's voice, his right hand wavering in a 'so so' gesture. "It's more … I can't really describe it in words, but it feels like something I should know."

Shinjiro gave another hum at that, tugging the blazer on over his maroon turtleneck. He had opened his mouth to say something when he suddenly jerked forward a step; a look behind him showed that someone else had crashed into him, clearly distracted.

Ken and Akihiko both watched as Kotone staggered back after a second, the junior's crimson eyes blinking rapidly as she shook her head. "... Okay, I clearly needed more sleep; sorry about that, I just wasn't as awake as I thought I was." She said with a small laugh as Shinjiro turned to look at her in confusion.

"... I didn't even hear you comin downstairs." He commented, looking past Kotone. "Did you slide down the bannister or something?"

"Nope, but now that you've put it in my head, I just might." The auburn laughed and offered a smile up at Shinjiro. "I'm Arisato Kotone, by the way." She greeted as she looked further into the kitchen, waving at the sight of Ken. "Good morning, Ken-san!"

"Morning, Kotone-senpai," Ken greeted back, smiling in amusement. "You didn't hurt yourself crashing into Shinjiro, did you?"

Kotone blinked again, then shook her head. "Nope, just woke up a bit more; thought I had turned into a wall or door at first." She admitted, looking back up at Shinjiro. "... Sorry about that?"

Shinjiro gave a shrug, doing his best to keep his face neutral. "Eh, Aki's gotten me in headlocks before; you're good." He responded, jerking a thumb at the seated Akihiko. Akihiko had the cheek to wave at that, smirking.

"You've also sat on me before, I think you're fine." Akihiko responded as he stood up, his food half finished as he walked over to where Shinjiro and Kotone were standing. "But you're one of the new juniors, yeah?" When Kotone gave a responding nod, Akihiko's smirk shifted into a smile. "Heh, good to meet you; I'm Sanada Akihiko."

"Aragaki Shinjiro," Shinjiro's automatic follow up was reflexive, and Ken had to hide his snicker behind his hoodie; Kotone had reacted like most people did when meeting the seniors, and was blinking at them in surprise.

"I know we said hello yesterday, but I'm Amada Ken." He spoke up after a moment, poking out from behind Shinjiro's side. Kotone looked at him after a moment and smiled, crimson eyes more alert than they had been.

"Yeah - good morning, Ken-san," she smiled, hands adjusting the blue ribbon at her neck before she nodded at the seniors. "And it's nice to meet you two as well, Akihiko-senpai, Shinjiro-senpai!"

Akihiko's smile remained, and even Shinjiro offered a small one as he shifted a bit. "There's plenty of food in the pantry and fridge, so help yourself to breakfast." Shinjiro jerked his head at the kitchen, moon grey eyes meeting crimson. "The notepad on the fridge is for any requests …or letting me know if you have allergic reactions to anything. We're short a dorm mother, so we've gotta keep eyes out for each other when the Landlord isn't poking his head in."

"I was wondering about that, honestly." Kotone gave a hum. "Good to know that it's a 'no'."

"The dorm here just got renovated over spring break too, so that hasn't really helped things either." Akihiko looked up at the ceiling as he spoke, as if in emphasis. "Hopefully that can be adjusted, but until then, we're responsible for it." At that, he lightly nudged Shinjiro. "Or, well, Shinji is; after our home economics class, he doesn't trust Mitsuru anywhere near the kitchen."

Shinjiro gave Akihiko a look flatter than fresh pavement. "You know damn well why that is, Aki."

Kotone snickered. "Oh, that sounds like a story!" She laughed, even as she slipped past the seniors with a small 'excuse me'. "But that's okay - I like cooking, especially baking, so I might sneak in here often."

"You don't need to sneak, just clean up after yourself." Shinjiro gave a shrug as he watched her. "I have confidence you know the basic courtesy of "don't eat shit with a name on it" and whatnot. And until I hear three fire alarms in quick order, I'm willing to trust people alone in the kitchen."

"Why three?" Kotone asked, poking her head over the counter.

There was a heavy sigh from Ken, and Shinjiro nodded at him. "Because grilled cheeses have a terrible tendency to burn in the split second a person looks away from them."

"Ah yes." Kotone sighed in mock dismay. "The never ending struggle to not burn my bread."

Akihiko's responding cackle made her smile, and even Shinjiro let out an amused snort. "Okay, you're funny," Akihiko got out after a moment, grinning as he returned to his plate of food. "We're going to get along fine."

Ken snickered at that, and Shinjiro just shook his head as he took the bento that Ken lifted up to him. "Alright, you two, don't give the fanclub a conniption on day two of school. I don't wanna deal with the headaches they cause any more than you do, Aki."

Akihiko just groaned around the food in his mouth, and Kotone blinked. "... Akihiko-senpai has a Fanclub?" She asked aloud. Shinjiro and Ken both gave a nod, Shinjiro's face more visibly annoyed than Ken's. Words failed Kotone at that, and she instead looked at Akihiko with a confused hand gesture.

"I don't get it either!" Akihiko protested once he had finished his bite. "Really, I don't!"

"Captain of the boxing team, maybe?" Ken offered, and all four of the older teens shrugged.

"Maybe? I don't know, but I don't like them crowding me …" Akihiko grumbled as he took another bite of food. Kotone gave him a sympathetic look before reaching forward to pat him on the head. "Thanks."

"I'd offer my street hockey stick but I feel that'd get us in trouble."

Shinjiro opened his mouth, as if to say something; he seemed to think better of it after a moment and just shook his head instead. "Yeah, please don't." He said after a moment, earning snickers from Ken. "Either way, I think we're gonna head out - Taco wanted to double check some stuff before club really gets going."

"Alright; see you in class, Shinji." Akihiko turned around in his seat to grin at Shinjiro and Ken. "Have a good day of class as well, Ken." Kotone smiled as Ken returned the 'good day' with a wave to her as he followed Shinjiro out the door, the senior grabbing his book back from the sign in desk as they walked.

She went back to making her breakfast at that, having located ham to go with a small bit of eggs. Kotone was halfway through making her food when an errant thought hit her, and she looked at Akihiko when he wandered in to wash his plate. "... 'Taco'?" She repeated the name, crimson eyes confused.

"A friend of Shinji's from kendo club." Akihiko chuckled. "I don't know how the nickname started, but it's there." At that, he gave Kotone a curious look. "Did you have a sports club you were part of at your old school?"

Kotone did her best not to flinch, turning it into a head shake. "Narumi was pretty small, and there weren't a lot of options for girl's teams. … Just volleyball, really." She explained. "I had a few friends I played street hockey with, but nothing official."

"Street hockey?" Akihiko's eyebrows rose. "Huh; Gekkoukan has some out there clubs, but I don't think that's one of them." He paused for a moment, leaning against the counter by the sink. "... And Iwatodai rarely gets cold enough for actual hockey."

"I tried actual hockey once," Kotone nodded. "Balancing on knife blades is fun." Grinning at Akihiko's laugh, she nodded at him as she finished her own food. "I know Ken-san mentioned you were the boxing club captain, so that's one option; and Shinjiro-senpai's captain for kendo?"

"No, that's Taco; Shinji just helps him keep things organised." Akihiko let out a sad laugh. "He's too busy for full captain stuff honestly; between doing a lot of the cooking here and looking after Ken, I've had to drag him out for food more than once so he actually relaxes."

The tone of his voice made Kotone frown, and she hopped onto the counter behind her to eat the food on her plate. "Is it bad that I thought they were actually siblings, up until Ken gave his name?" She asked.

Akihiko's wince did not inspire confidence.

"I mean, basically?" He sighed. "It's a mess, but …" storm greys darted to the stairs, making sure nobody was coming downstairs, and then returned to Kotone. "Without going into too many details? The 'Ankle Biters' were involved."

"Oh… OH!" Kotone felt her spine stiffen at that, and she gave Akihiko a narrow look. "... Is this whole dorm just a sort of sanctuary for that weird timeframe, then? Because there's you," she pointed to him with her chopsticks for emphasis, "me, Minato, Mitsuru-senpai for sure, and now you saying that about Ken-san and Shinjiro-senpai…"

Akihiko grimaced briefly, and once again waved his hand in a so-so gesture. "Kinda? It's … a bit more complicated, and Mitsuru is really the one who has most of the details. You threw her off balance with how used to it you were when you arrived, so she's been kind of scrambling to string words together coherently about it."

Kotone hummed around a bite of ham, her crimson eyes darting up to look at the ceiling for a moment. "I've met more people awake in that time frame in two days than I've met in the rest of my eight years of awareness of it. That's … kinda suspicious, not gonna lie."

She missed the way Akihiko's eyes widened for a moment, but he still seemed worried when she looked at him again. "Eight years?" he repeated her statement, and the worried look grew stronger when Kotone nodded again. "And you didn't have any means of keeping yourself safe?"

"I mean …" the hand that wasn't holding her chopsticks went up to her ribbon, fingers on the blue fabric. "They didn't like it when I slapped them with hockey sticks, at least. But for the most part I stayed inside; the ankle biters aren't exactly good at opening doors."

Akihiko didn't seem any less worried, because he sighed and shook his head. "Still …" he tapered off at that, fingers drumming on his arm. "Well, that's going to make things even messier on Mitsuru's end. Provided you don't mind I tell her that?"

"Do you think it'll help her figure out how to word her explanation?" Kotone tilted her head in curiosity.

"Maybe? It's hard to tell with her; she … had a very interesting sales pitch when explaining it to me." Akihiko chuckled at something, the worry slowly creeping out of his face. "But, that's something to worry about later - did you want more details on sports clubs or something? I can explain those pretty well at least."

Kotone gave a nod, grateful to have a normal conversation topic come up. Akihiko's nerves seemed to settle as well, and the two were still talking about it when they began to drift out of the dorm to school a few minutes later.

Minato grumbled under his breath as the girls stomped away from him. "Really? Did they really think griping at me about Kotone would fix their problem?" He groaned, reaching for his school bag. Beside him was an equally befuddled Junpei, the cap-wearing teen staring at the door as it snapped shut.

"That was some anime logic for sure, and I say that as someone who enjoys the stuff." He agreed, scratching his head. "I mean, you and Koto-tan stay at the same dorm as Akihiko-senpai, right? It's not weird for them to walk to school together."

"I do not control the speed at which my sister makes friends either!" Minato rolled his eyes as he stood up. "Maybe they'd be better off if they took her example and actually talked instead of just gawking."

"You wanna let Koto-tan know? Already day two and people are being up in her business; that's rough." Junpei was standing up a moment later, school bag tucked haphazardly under his arm. Minato thought for a moment, then shrugged.

"If they're coming to me instead of trying to confront her in person? I think they're intimidated." He admitted, and then gave Junpei a small nod. "She'll be able to handle it herself, and she only goes for the knees as a last resort."

"I .. don't know if I should be comforted or worried by how confident you are in that statement."

"'Yes' is acceptable." Minato felt a smile tweak over his lips at Junpei's responding laugh, and the two walked to the shoe lockers together. "But you said you wanted to show me some of the stuff around Port Island station?"

"Yeah; I know Paulwiona Mall was a bigger draw yesterday cuz of the music shop, but Port Island station has some cool stuff if you look around." Junpei grinned, waving at a couple of other students as Minato pulled on his street shoes. "I know the convenience store well, there's the movie theater, a flower shop…"

"They really decided to put a lot of life into the monorail stations." Minato observed, biting back a yawn. "Ah, sorry - still sleepy."

"Don't worry about it; I'm more impressed you stayed awake in Ekoda-sensei's lecture." Junpei laughed as they walked out, the fresh spring air waking Minato up a bit more. "But yeah, the station! I haven't really been up to the second level a lot, but Kaz said there's a few good food places. Also a lot of sporting goods stores."

He fell quiet for a moment, humming. "... oh yeah. One place to not go; the back alley that loops under the rails. A lot of punks like to hang out there after school, and the only places that actually sit there are a mahjong parlor and some weird store called Que Sera Sera."

"... 'Que Sera Sera'?" Minato repeated the name, confused. "...Isn't that Spanish? … Hmm. That feels weirdly out of place. Even with all the French influence in this city."

"Doesn't it?" Junpei laughed weakly. "Some of the guys have out there opinions on it, but none of it make sense. There's also rumors about weird people showing up at the station at night, but well. It's a monorail station; where else are weird people supposed to go?"

"If my experiences at Aomori are normal? Wild Duck."

Junpei's laughter made Minato smile a bit more. "Dude, don't just say that in a flat tone! I wasn't prepared!" He wheezed after a few moments, coal-black eyes bright. "But well played! I have to be in the mood for the place, myself."

"I like my fries a bit crunchier than what Wild Duck gives, personally." Minato sighed. "And I haven't found a good seafood place on the way to and from school, either. The 'takoyaki' stand doesn't count."

"I mean, it tastes good? But yeah, there's not a lot of seafood shops here, despite being by the ocean." Junpei scratched his head at that, pushing his cap up a bit. "I think it's because it's more industrial? Dunno - I moved here in eighth grade myself, so I don't know quite as much as people like Kaz or Kenji."

Minato gave a wry smile as they reached the station. "...Kotone would also point out that I'm incredibly picky about my seafood." He shrugged. "We're from Osaka originally."

"... So I'm not imagining the Osaka-ben you have once in a while." Junpei gave a nod. "Honestly, Koto-tan using it more obviously than you was part of what threw me off of you being twins."

About ready to open his mouth to reply, Minato instead caught what Junpei had said. "... Koto-tan?" he repeated, grey-blue eyes looking at sable.

"Yeah; cute girls get cute nicknames." Junpei replied with a shrug, then seemed to realize his predicament as he gave Minato a nervous look. "... I - if she doesn't mind, that is! Yuka-tan just kinda rolls with it, grumbling aside."

"Kotone won't mind it," Minato chuckled a bit. "Just expect her to return fire at some point."

"I accept the terms and conditions!"

Minato chuckled more, and looked around the station. "Besides, what am I going to do to stop you?" He asked, holding up the arm that wasn't carrying his school bag. "A limp udon noodle has more strength than me."

"Yeah, but you're smart," Junpei countered. "I can see you figuring out a revenge so subtle I wouldn't notice until you pulled out a metaphorical 'Draw four' card on me."

There was another snort, and Minato continued to talk even as he glanced around the station. Several students were going in and out of the movie theater Junpei had mentioned, with some going to the third level where the monorail proper entered and departed.

Small fountains and vending machines were here and there, and Minato took note of a few people sitting at benches around small patches of flowers and shrubs. Most of them seemed to be young adults or college students, talking about things he couldn't hear as Junpei beckoned him up to the second level.

Up there, though, Minato thought he could feel someone watching him. It was subtle at first, a small niggling, but it was enough to make him more actively look around when he and Junpei found a small barbeque restaurant to eat at.

One table at the back stood out to him; two people sat there, one of them hard to make out from behind a laptop, beyond their bright blue hair. The person seated next to them, however, stood out in a contrasting black and white hoodie; from what Minato could make out from a distance, their hair was also black and white.

Minato was trying to be subtle, but it seemed he had been noticed. It was the only way to explain why the hoodie person shifted and looked directly at him when they went to take a sip of their drink. He couldn't quite pick out eye color from the distance he was at, but the look made him want to shirk away.

'Wait,' a part of him tried to dredge up memories of the first night in Iwatodai, 'is that …?'

The thought was cut off by Junpei nudging him, asking what food he wanted. Minato looked back at the menu board after mumbling an apology, one eye glancing towards where the hoodie person was sitting. They were no longer staring at them, and instead seemed to be muttering fiercely at the person next to them.

From the way they seemed to have a hand rubbing a leg, Minato wondered if their companion had kicked them under the table for staring.

Not wanting to unintentionally start a scene - the place was rather crowded - Minato simply gave his order and followed Junpei to the empty booth on the opposite side of the restaurant. The sensation of being watched had faded, but that didn't stop the blue-haired teen from glancing over at the table in question. It took more control than he wanted to admit to keep from looking at them when he and Junpei left, splitting ways at the stairs for the station.

Back at the dorm, Minato was amused to find Kotone bustling about in the kitchen, a bowl of what appeared to be popcorn in her hands. Ken was behind her, the grade-schooler's arms supporting glasses and ramune bottles. Pausing to take his shoes off, Minato arched an eyebrow. "Did I miss something?"

"Depends on if you want to watch the Featherman premiere!" Kotone chirped, crimson eyes almost glowing. Ken nodded behind her, the grade-schooler's face equally bright.

"I was worried I wouldn't be done with homework in time, honestly …" Ken admitted with a small laugh, counting the bottles and glasses in his arms. "I … might also need to get another ramune…"

Minato shook his head with a smile. "I had barbeque with someone from school, so I'll be fine with water." He nodded. "... Featherman sounds like a relaxing time, though; haven't watched that in some time …"

"They're bringing back White Swallow, if that means anything?" Ken tilted his head at Minato at that, gingerly setting the drinks and glasses down on the glass coffee table. Minato couldn't stop the low whistle at that.

"I … think Kotone and I were five the last time that one was in a season?" He admitted, glancing at his sister for confirmation. Kotone answered him with a shrug as she flopped onto the sofa behind her, popcorn bouncing in and out of the bowl from the force of the motion. Minato sighed in amusement. "Right. What's a memory?" he shook his head and sat next to his sister, making sure there was room for Ken to get a good view of the television as well.

Ken let out a small snort, and Minato found himself more amused. It didn't take long for his thoughts to flicker back to the strange, black-haired child from the first night at the dorm, and it was tempting to ask Ken if he potentially knew the child. But, when he went to ask, the words wouldn't leave him; they were in his head, ready to be said, but slipped away like water.

The familiar theme song coming on was part of a distraction. Yukari manifesting from seemingly nowhere as it started didn't help, the pink-wearing junior materialising on the floor by the coffee table in what Minato swore was mere seconds. Deciding not to question it, Minato just shook his head and settled into the sofa to watch the show.

Kotone and Yukari both getting into the show enough to mimic the poses was a wonderfully mundane feeling. One that became hysterical when Mitsuru entered the dorm while they were mid pose - the redhead seemed absolutely befuddled, and Minato couldn't help but laugh at the face she was making at the sight. Especially not when Shinjiro entered behind her, looked, and merely shrugged before heading into the men's bathroom.

Ken at least was laughing with him, and Minato took solace in that as he went upstairs after the two hour episode reached its conclusion. Setting his school bag down on the desk, he opened the window blinds enough to let in the waxing moonlight before getting ready for bed. It didn't take him long before he was burrowing into his duvet, the lingering thoughts of the day melting away from Minato's thoughts as sleep claimed him.

It was why the soft, almost haunting operatic wails made him jerk his head up, grey-blue eyes wide in confusion when he was greeted with a room as blue as his hair. Ready to open his mouth for context, Minato instead froze when a new voice made his head turn to look directly in front of him.

"Welcome, my friend, to the Velvet Room."

Junpei didn't like how much energy it took to look impassive for the cashier at the convenience store; the other young man looked about ready to fall asleep where he stood, and absolutely not deserving of the cap-wearing teen's baggage. He was at least able to offer a semi-convincing wave as he took the bag full of pizza and energy drinks, a chocolate bar in one hand to keep it from melting.

Once outside of the store and around the corner, not in sight of anyone, Junpei let out the suppressed growl and kicked at the plastic recycling bin sitting nearby. "Fuckin - stupid old man, making the end of the day go absolutely sour." He muttered, ignoring the dull thunking noise rattling inside of the bin in favor of biting into his chocolate bar. "'I don't understand'? No, I don't, you drunkard! The hell am I supposed to understand when I don't remember anything about her?"

Chewing a bit, Junpei walked more to the main part of Port Island's station. Mercifully enough, his presence wasn't out of place; there were groups of people trickling in and out of the movie theater, and the late trains were still coming and going. A teenager with a bag full of junk food was nothing noteworthy, even if his mood was sour.

Granted, the chocolate was helping, and Junpei sat down at a bench with a heavy sigh to focus on it instead. And well, the day before he had decided to go home before midnight. School hadn't been particularly interesting, and he had actually tried to stay awake during all the classes! Ekoda-sensei's monotone lecture still did him in.

Spending time hanging out with Minato was fun. Junpei chewed slowly at that, brain working. The blue-haired boy was a lot quieter than most of the crew Junpei regularly hung out with, but it was a nice change of pace from Kaz's brand of enthusiasm and Kenji's … questionable choice in women. At least Minato was up for playing card games and getting food other than Hagakure. Maybe he could poke around to try and find a seafood place to point the guy at, if only to see what exactly he qualified as 'incredibly picky'.

"... I wonder if he or Koto-tan are awake," Junpei said aloud, fishing in his jacket's pocket for his cell phone with one hand as he went to grab the slice of pizza from his bag. It was somewhat sad that Kotone wasn't in the same homeroom as him and Minato, because what little he had gotten to interact with her was a treat. She radiated energy in an infectious way, and had rolled with the Sailor Moon jokes Junpei had prodded her with after seeing the brooch she wore with her uniform.

Watching her set a high score at the punching game that first day of school had also left an impression, and Junpei had quickly filed her under the 'do not anger under any circumstance' section of his brain. "Kinda funny that Koto-tan does that much damage, if Minato-san is saying he's kind of a limp noodle sports wise." He laughed to himself, taking a bite of pizza as he managed to unearth his phone.

Flipping it open, he grimaced at the sight of 23.59 on the main screen's clock before he opened his contacts list. "... Maybe I'll just send Koto-tan a text, and if she's not awake, go to the Arcade for a bit to cool my head…" Junpei mumbled as he scrolled to the auburn's name, sable eyes darting around to make sure nobody would think to grab his bag while distracted.

It was why he didn't fully register that his phone had hit midnight until the street lights overhead went pitch black. Confused - had someone accidentally hit the breaker? - Junpei lifted his head to look around, only to slowly register that something was terribly, terribly wrong.

Port Island Station was supposed to be a white color that was almost blinding to look at in sunlight, not zombie green.

Junpei stood up abruptly, knocking his bag to the concrete as he spun around. "W - what the hell!?" he yelled, trying to find someone else awake. The golden light he was spotting was the moon, which alarmed him even more. "And why is that so big!" He scrambled backwards, sable eyes wide on it.

He didn't know what he backed up into at first, but it was enough to make Junpei drop his phone with a metallic clatter. Shouting, he stepped away from it to look, his eyes finally adjusted to the green and gold atmosphere around him.

It was a coffin.

Junpei didn't know that the panicked yell that he heard was him at first, but he knew he had scrambled away from the first coffin, only to crash into another. He had fallen onto his rear after that one, and was rapidly scooting away as he realized just how many coffins were around him now, glinting ominously in the unnatural lighting.

The abrupt cold of his back hitting the convenience store wall was enough to jerk him to reality, in time to hear what sounded to be fluttering bird wings. Whipping his head around, Junpei tried to locate the source - a lucky glance upward gave him the answer as the sight of what looked like a raven started to circle in the air above him. A one-eyed, skull-like face on the chest of the bird- was it a face!? - and a lantern clutched in its talons were enough to indicate that it wasn't just a raven, however.

It seemed to know that Junpei was there, for it let out a shriek that was both inside and outside his skull, and three others appeared to fly in tighter and tighter circles above him.

He yelled again, Junpei knew he did, but it sounded strangely different in his head as something in the back of his mind seemed to wake up. He ignored it briefly to dodge away from the first raven diving at him. The sound of the lantern striking concrete made him get to his feet, vaulting over the recycling bin he had kicked earlier in an attempt to keep some distance between him and these bird-like things.

It was only his hyper aware state that let Junpei take note of something being flung from up high at one of the ravens. The sound of metal cutting metal echoed a second later, and he watched the fourth raven's lanter fall to the ground nearby with a crash of metal and breaking glass. The flame guttered out as whatever had been thrown struck a foot away from it, burying itself a good distance into the concrete.

Junpei didn't know if he was imagining it, but at that moment, he swore it was a scythe.

At the least, it distracted the raven who's lantern had been destroyed; it let out a shriek that sounded indignant and wheeled upwards. A retort that was answered in turn by the projectile vanishing from where it was in Junpei's peripheral.

There were still three ravens to worry about, however, and Junpei only knew one of them was attacking when the lantern lit up. He could feel the air around him heat up in the split second it took him to yell and leap away, narrowly dodging the fireball that was in his place a moment later.

Crying out again, Junpei didn't realize he had been pushed out from the shelter of the convenience store's roof until he crashed into yet another coffin, knocking him onto his rear again. The ravens, seemingly coordinating their assault, began to swoop. Not knowing what else to do, Junpei threw his arms up in front of his head and braced for impact.

A heartbeat later, and the distinctive crash of thunder almost on top of him made Junpei look up sharply. It was quick enough to catch a flash of indigo light as what seemed to be lightning struck the rear raven, which let out a death shriek as the electric current jumped from its lantern to the second bird.

The lightning didn't seem to do as much damage to the second one, but now both it and the final raven had whirled around to shriek murder at whatever had downed their comrade. A second indigo lightning bolt - and the accompanying blast of thunder - was the response, and the ravens had made the mistake of corralling close to one another.

Two metallic conduits in close proximity were a lightning rod too good to miss.

Junpei watched as the ravens both went up in a torrent of light, their screeches cut off as they seemed to dissolve into shadows with a shattering ceramic noise. It was only in the stillness that followed that Junpei realized he was shaking, face damp.

"Hey, are you alright?!"

The familiar voice jolted Junpei back to reality with more efficiency than a third lightning bolt, and his eyes snapped forward. There, red sweater vest oddly sharp in the green-gold lighting, was one Sanada Akihiko.

"S-sen …pai?"

Junpei knew that, if he had more of his normal sense, he would have been embarrassed by how weak his voice sounded as he struggled up to his feet. It was only later, being told what had happened in more detail, that he realized he had stumbled forward.

Akihiko fortunately had enough sense to dart closer, catching Junpei and supporting the younger teen with his shoulders. "Shit … you hurt?" He asked, storm grey eyes giving Junpei a thorough look over as he moved to the nearby bench. Junpei gave a weak shake of his head, words not cooperating with him. "Well, that's good … c'mon, let's get you sitting down."

Shifting, Akihiko looked around as he helped Junpei sit back down on the bench, the cap-wearing teen reaching for what seemed to be a bag of food nearby. Akihiko could feel the ping from the night before again, still at the station; it was close, but not close enough for him to feel comfortable leaving Junpei alone in this state.

"I hate how active those damn things get when the moon gets full…" Akihiko muttered instead, scowling. Junpei looked up at him, his shaking hands holding a can of soda.

"W … what were those …?" He asked, voice gaining a bit more life to it. It was enough to make Akihiko look back at him, offering a nod as he adjusted the white belt at his waist.

"Short story for now? Not friends." Akihiko gave a weak laugh. "I … would like to give you more details, but you look ready to pass out. Willing to take a rain check until after class tomorrow?" Junpei seemed to take a moment to think before nodding, sipping his soda. "Okay, good - I'll slip out before I get swamped and can meet you at Hagakure. For now, let's get you home; or are you staying at one of the dorms?"

"N - nah, home." Junpei shook his head. "It's … is it safe to walk back?"

"I'll go with you; just give me directions." Akihiko nodded, successfully blocking out the part of him that wanted to chase the mysterious pinging sensation. "I can move around a bit more freely than you right now."

"Hah, sounds right for the Golden Boy." Junpei gave a weak shrug. "...Should prolly find my phone before heading back though …" Akihiko gave an understanding, trying to motion to Junpei to stay sitting as he scanned around for the object. It didn't take long to find it, and once it was tucked away safely, Akihiko slung the arm that Junpei wasn't using to hold his bag over his shoulders, and began walking away from the station.

Neither of them were aware of the figure watching them from the second floor of the station, the blade of a scythe jammed into the gap between mask and flesh of the fourth raven as it cawed helplessly. "Well, that was some good fortune," A woman's voice left the figure, a bemused current undercutting the words. "I was afraid I'd have to be more drastic when only one of you terrors took the bait, but someone was quick on the draw."

Another caw left the raven, and the young woman shifted the scythe in her hand. "Sorry, no snack for you tonight. Or tomorrow." She commented in her airy voice, before a deliberate jerk of her hand separated the mask from the raven's flesh with a clatter.

Ignoring the frantic caws, she lifted a foot to crush the orange ceramic with a stomp, the 'IX' etching shattering from the impact. The raven's voice cut off mid caw, and it slowly began to dissolve as the young woman stepped forward, slinging the scythe onto shoulders covered by a black and white hoodie.

"Guess I should make sure nobody at the rails gets turned into lunchables, shouldn't I?" she commented in the same airy voice, heading for the stairs. No response came to her, but the woman's face bore an unusually serene smile anyway. "Ah, this is going to be a long night~"

And now things are going off the rails a bit! I love not being limited to the game limitations of stuff like stats and what have you~ Also the side games+Movies enabling some thoughts I had when I first got into this game at 15 - I got a very distinct impression of things from what my first exposure was.

Plus it was fun to do some of these scenes, esp the bit of Akihiko finding Junpei. I always wondered how that would have gone if we saw it in game.

Also this will start the every other week updates, so see you on the 28th!