Okay, let's start. Let's start at the day I first stepped foot at Tatsumi Port Island. I can remember it as it was yesterday…

Chapter One: Now It Begins…

"Time never waits.

It delivers all equally… to the same end…

You, who wish to safeguard the future,

However limited it may be…

You will be given one year;

Go forth without falter,

With your heart as your guide"

April 6, 2009, Evening

MONDAY

Today is another typical day for me. There's nothing special in walking around the monorail station heading to Tatsumi Port Island, a man-made island made and owned by the Kirijo Group. A hundred conversations all around me, my ears listening to none but my trusty headphones, my thoughts wandering as I waited in an orderly line, my duffel bag on my shoulders.

I'm not supposed to be here.

My grandfather would kill me if he found out that I've disobeyed him for the umptenth time and where I was heading. Well, I'm actually supposed to be on a train bound for Tokyo but I have to go to Iwatodai. I know it's against his wishes but, I knew that if I asked, he'd never let me go. Worse, he'd keep me under surveillance.

Yes, surveillance. Not grounded, surveillance.

Besides, Gekkoukan seems like a good place to finish my high school education. I sat down, fiddled with my mp3 player and played the song Burn My Dread as soon as we entered the monorail. There is one thing, though that makes me sort of reluctant to go to Tatsumi Port Island. I'm sort of reluctant to go because it was the place where… it was the place where my parents died. Don't get me wrong, I'm not a mopey kind of person, I'm not the type of person to curse the world, thinking it's against me. I just don't want to experience that kind of memories. Bad ones.

Okay, enough with the sad life stories. It's not like there's anything I can do about it anyway. I looked outside and was startled to see a blue butterfly on the window. I didn't know that butterflies can come in that particular shade of blue. The butterfly was there for a moment and then it flew away. Seeing it made me think of that old saying, when a butterfly beats its wings in China a tornado appears in America, or something like that.

Late Evening

I rolled my eyes as I heard the voice over the PA system say an apology. I heard the muffled voice even though I was still wearing my earphones. Oh well, since when were trains on time? I estimated that the train was over two hours late. Which would mean it was around midnight.

"Iwatodai, Iwatodai" the PA system said as the train stopped. "This is the final train bound for Tatsumi Port Island. Please make sure you board in time for departure…" I got off the train and looked around. There was still a lot of people, even at this hour but I didn't care. I was tired.

It had been a long day and there was the first day of school tomorrow. I paused and took out a note from my pocket. It had the directions to the dorm I was supposed to stay in and the last thing I wanted was to get lost at this time. "Let's see… where was it? I'm here and…" I was whispering to no one in particular when the clock struck midnight.

My music died.

"Huh?" I said, surprised at the sudden change. I looked at my surroundings and realized that it was not only my mp3 player that had shut down. My music died but so did everything else. The constant babble of the crowd, the machines and even the lights died. But the most surprising of all was the moon. It had grown to almost twice its size and it had taken on an eerie glow that illuminated all beneath it. The clock at the top of the station was stuck at 12:00 am and the monorail was silent. It was then that I noticed that I was the only thing moving.

The crowd that was around me before was suddenly silent. I was the only human being in sight.

"What in the world?" I said with disbelief. "What the heck is this?" It was like I was suddenly sucked into a late night horror movie. I almost expected Dracula to come out of nowhere. I was surrounded by coffins. Red tinted, dark coffins stood where there used to be humans. Accompanied with the creepy light of the abnormal moon, the coffins looked even creepier. Looking around once more, I took a step forward. As I did this, it occurred to me "Why am I not inside a creepy coffin right now?" I hesitated a moment longer and sighed.

This is probably some sort of misunderstanding. I'm probably in the middle of a horror movie shooting, and they probably mistook me for an extra. I should get to the dorm first then figure out what to do from then.

I made my way to the dorm but, once I left the platform… I saw that it was not only the station that was strangely transformed but every place that I could see. But that's not all, once I stepped foot at Moonlight Bridge, the hairs at the back of my neck stood on end when I saw that the water turned to blood.

So, note in hand, ignoring things that I saw, I made my way to the dorm immediately. Without a proper watch, I couldn't tell how much time passed. But I think it was around 30 to 45 minutes before I reached the steps to the front door of the dorm. The dorm wasn't that far from the station, but then again, I wasn't moving very fast. Looking around every time I reached a corner tended to slow one's pace. But hey, you can't be too careful, right?

Looking around one more time, I adjusted my duffel bag and opened the double doors of the dorm. Once I got inside, I paused and put my bag on the ground. I expected the lights to be on but then again, at this late hour, most students would be asleep. I warily looked around and inspected the reception desk with my gaze. The reception desk seemed normal enough, nothing out of the ordinary. I sighed and tried to convince myself to forget what happened outside. I bent to pick up my bag, deciding to sleep the remainder of the night away.

"You're late."

I twitched, turning immediately at the direction of the voice. Behind the reception desk, there now stood a young boy dressed in white pajamas with black horizontal stripes. The boy was watching me and I, him.

"I've been waiting a long time." The boy said, taking a piece of paper from the desk. "Please sign here." He said, gesturing me to come closer.

I walked closer, looked at the innocent figure of the boy then at the piece of paper he was giving me. "What's this?" I asked, casually not betraying my wariness of the whole situation.

The boy smiled, as if he was itching to answer the question. "It's a contract. There's no need to be afraid. It only binds you to accepting full responsibility for your actions."

Only? I thought. Looking at the paper he gave me, I saw that there was something written. "I chooseth this fate of mine own free will…" What's with the old English? Did the writer come from the 14th century or something? Then as if the boy was reading my mind, he chuckled. Below those words, there was a blank. For my name I presume.

"Please sign here." The boy tapped the paper with a pen. Don't ask me where he got it. I thought, Oh well, if signing this would end this crazy night. I took the pen from the boy's outstretched hand and signed.

The contract looked something like this.

I chooseth this fate of mine own free will…

Minato Arisato

"Very well." The boy said, taking the paper. "Time is something no one can escape." He said as he left the reception desk. "It delivers us all to the same end. Wishing it won't make it go away. And so it begins…"

Begins? What begins? And just like that, the boy disappeared into the shadows. Before I even had time to be surprised, another voice, this one a girl's said, "Who's there!?"

I was getting tired of these voices appearing out of nowhere. I was tired and sleepy. I sighed before I turned, barely able to keep my expression straight. I raised one eyebrow when I saw her. It wasn't because she was pretty, it was because she was even more surprised to see me, than I was to see her. She was stammering, saying something like, "Why are you here? But it's…" Or something like that.

I probably had a bored or annoyed expression on my face. But it changed to one of wariness when I saw what she was holding. A gun. She was about to raise it from its holster and I simultaneously stepped forward when another voice stopped me.

"Takeba, wait!"

I looked over the previous girl's shoulder to see the speaker. It was another girl with red hair curled by the length of her shoulders. She had a similar ribbon to the first girl but hers was significantly larger. Their clothes were similar enough to be of the same school. It was then that I noticed that both of them wore a red armband with the letters SEES over them.

And both of them had holsters by their waists. What the heck? Is this SEES thing some sort of mafia organization? I relaxed when the girl with the short hair (Takeba, I presume) lowered her gun. But I was ready enough to jump at a moment's notice. The second girl was calm, which made me wary and calm at the same time. She had a similar effect on the first girl.

My eyes remained glued to the two when the green light of the moon faded away and the lights went on. My mp3 player resumed playing 'Burn My Dread' and the sound filled the room. The first girl remained tense a moment longer and then finally relaxed. Hmm… so the creepy night fades… Is that the reason she was so tense? I wasn't inside a coffin like everyone else, then again, so weren't they…

I stood straight, relaxing from my position. I put my bag on top one of the couches, forgetting the tension from before.

"We didn't think you would arrive so late." The redhead said. "Late trains as usual?"

"Yeah." I smiled. "It's pretty typical of trains, huh?"

The redhead nodded in agreement. "My name is Mitsuru Kirijo. I'm one of the students who live in this dorm." One of the students, huh? Why do I get the feeling that this dorm has few residents? Wait... Kirijo? As in KIRIJO GROUP?

"Who's he?" The first girl asked, snapping me out of my thoughts.

"My name is Minato Arisato." I offered my hand. "It's nice to meet you."

We shook hands. Yeah, that's it, just forget that you were about to shoot me. Were all one happy family here, right?

"He's a transfer student. It was a last minute decision to assign him here." Mitsuru answered her question. "He'll eventually be moved to a room in the boy's dorm."

Boy's dorm? Hey, come to think of it… I did see two girls when I came in, I'm not seeing any boys here…

"Is it okay for him to be here?" Takeba asked. Great. First night at Iwatodai and I get to spend it in a girl's dorm… Sigh. Why do these things keep happening to me?

"I guess we'll see…" Mitsuru said. "This is Yukari Takeba. She'll be a junior this spring, just like you."

"Hi I'm Yukari." She said. So her first name is Yukari.

"Is this the Girl's dorm?" I asked, better to be sure than to assume…

"No, it's not. but…" Yukari said and I couldn't keep the expression of relief from my face. "Umm… how should I explain it?" She said, turning to Mitsuru.

I couldn't help but feel extremely suspicious. "This is a co-ed dorm." Mitsuru said. "This is not your typical dorm though."

Really? Well she's not lying, but she's not telling the truth. Not all of it. I do have to commend her though, she said it with a straight face.

Then, she said. "I'll explain it to you later when I get the chance." As if she sensed that I don't exactly buy what she said. "Your room is on the second floor. Your things should already be there. Takeba will show you the way."

I followed Yukari to the second floor. As we walked, I noticed that most of the rooms we walked by were empty. My room was at the end of the hallway. "Your room is pretty easy to remember right?" She said. "Do you have any questions?"

What kind of questions? Oh, I wonder who that kid was…

"Does that kid live here too?" I asked. But she didn't seem to know what I was talking about. Or maybe, she's pretending to.

"Arisato-kun, can I ask you something?" She asked. I nodded. "On your way here from the station, was everything okay?"

"Yeah." I said with a straight face, just to see her reaction. It was true, as weird as the night had been, I did make it to the dorm safely…

"I see…" She breathed a sigh of relief. "Never mind then. Good night."

I watched her as she walked down the stairs. Finally, now I can get some rest. I opened the door and entered, unaware of a small figure by the corner. "Hahaha. Now it begins…"

Minato's Room

True. My things were already at my room each of them in their respective boxes. I decided to put off unpacking till tomorrow. I opened my duffel bag and took my school uniform out. I purposely packed it in, just in case I arrived too late and was too tired to unpack. After I hanged my uniform, I laid my duffel bag on the floor and kicked my shoes off. I lied down on the bed and closed my eyes.

So, Mitsuru Kirijo huh? Man, Grandfather is definitely going to kill me when he finds out. Sharing a dorm with the daughter of the Kirijo Group's CEO which just turns out to be Skylark's fiercest competitor. Ugh.

But man, what a night. The very moment I arrive, the city transforms. When I get to the dorm, a boy in prison clothes tells me to sign a weird contract. Then he disappears without a trace. Soon, a girl almost shoots me and Mitsuru Kirijo herself appears. Afterwards, we all act as if nothing happened. Come to think of it, most of the rooms we passed were empty. Is that a bad omen or what? I'm probably just overreacting. I hope this all makes sense tomorrow.

Author's Note: I added a few more tidbits in this chapter. Oh, and in case you were wondering what the heck a Skylark is... (Uh, no. It's not the bird) Hahaha. Just tune in on to find out!