Chapter Two: Gekkoukan High

April 7, 2009, Early Morning

Minato's Room

TUESDAY

I woke up early and took a bath. I was already dressed in my school uniform and clearing the boxes for an easy unpacking once I got home. I looked up when I heard someone knocking on my door.

"It's Yukari. Are you awake?"

Hearing that, memories of last night flooded to me. The city's transformation, the boy, Yukari and Mitsuru… I shook my head and opened the door.

"Good morning. Did you sleep okay?" Yukari asked.

"Yeah. Good enough, I suppose." I answered.

"Oh, that's great." Seeing the boxes, she said. "I see you've started to unpack your things."

"Nah." I said "I'm just clearing for an easy unpacking once I get home."

"Yeah? You're pretty resourceful huh?" Yukari said. "Anyway, Mitsuru-senpai asked me to take you to school. Are you ready to go, Arisato-kun?"

I don't really need someone to take me to school. Then again, I don't want to get late on the 1st day… I guess sight-seeing can wait till later.

"Yeah." I said, looking at my room before we leave. "Let's go."

Inside "Anehazuru"

Yukari and I boarded the monorail. I noticed that there were a lot of Gekkoukan students aboard.

"We have to take the monorail to get to school." Yukari said, striking up a conversation. "Bet your last school wasn't like that, huh?"

"Yeah, my last school wasn't like this." I answered. "Then again, most schools in Tokyo don't have water surrounding them."

"Well, this is my favorite part. It feels like your gliding over the sea here." She said. At her words, I looked over the crystal clear waters.

Moonlight Bridge… There. That's where that happened. What did I hope to gain by coming here? It's not like I can remember much of what happened anyway. I have to find out what happened back then... but...

C'mon Arisato. Stop pitying yourself. This is not like you. I looked to my left to catch Yukari staring at me. "Oh, I'm sorry. Uh, you were saying?"

"Oh, um…" Yukari blinked then she looked away. "We will walk from Port Island Station." Did I do something wrong? After a while, she turned to me and smiled. "Have you ever heard of Tatsumi Port Island? Our school is right in the middle."

"I see." I said. Looking at the window, I saw the building. "Is that it?"

"Yep."

Gekkoukan. I wonder how things will turn out?

Gekkoukan High

"Well, here we are. Gekkoukan High!" Yukari said, acting like a tour guide. I couldn't but laugh, not noticing the stares of other students.

"Morning!" said a female student.

"Good Morning." I said.

"Morning!" Yukari said. "You're gonna love it here!" She said, turning to me.

Once we reached the shoe lockers, Yukari asked me if I was okay from there.

"Yeah. Thanks, Takeba-san." I replied.

"No prob." She said. "You should see your homeroom teacher first. The Faculty Office is to our left."

"And that concludes the tour, huh?" I asked her.

Yukari chuckled. "Pretty much. You have any questions before I go?"

I shook my head. Yukari's face grew serious as she leaned closer "About last night… Don't tell anyone what you saw, okay?"

"I wasn't going to. It's not like anyone's gonna believe me anyway." I said.

She smiled again. "See you later!"

I decided to go to the bulletin board before the Faculty Office. Near it I heard two students arguing about the boy's uniform. At my first look, I couldn't see my name. I guess it made sense that there were so many names in the roster. I looked for my name one more time and I saw a small note with my name on it "Minato Arisato- Class F". I looked closer and saw Yukari's name on the list as well. Hmm… so we're in the same class huh?

I went to the Faculty Office next. Once I entered, I saw a teacher seated in front of a desk. She had short hair with a shade of brown a bit darker than Yukari's. "Oh, are you the new student? Minato Arisato…" She frowned a bit when she saw my name. Then she shrugged and said, "You are in the eleventh grade, right?"

Then she flipped through the pages of my profile. "You've lived in a lot of different places, Minato-kun. Your previous school was in Tokyo, let's see… in 1999, ten years ago, right? Your parents…" She gasped then, she looked at me.

I don't know if I kept the look of annoyance from my face. The teacher stammered. "I-I'm sorry… I've been so busy and I…" her voice faltered.

"I saw in the bulletin board that I was in Class F." I said, deciding to change the subject.

"Uh, yes, I'm Ms. Toriumi. I teach Composition." She said, obviously thankful for the change of subject. "Welcome to our school."

I nodded. "Thank you, Ms. Toriumi. It's nice to meet you."

She was impressed by my enthusiasm and told me that we have to go to the Welcoming Ceremony. I followed her to the auditorium. Once I got myself seated, I got what I was expecting. A boring talk by a boring principal. I pinched myself to prevent me from nodding off. Then a school mate turned to me and started talking. "Hey, dude. Since you came to school with Yukari this morning, don't deny it man, I saw the two of you walking together."

"Okay… what about it?" I asked.

"Do you know if she has a boyfriend?" He asked.

Well, she is pretty, so it isn't too far to assume that she's popular. So it makes sense that people are interested in her…

"Huh? Why are you asking me? I wouldn't know." I answered.

The guy was pretty disappointed. Then he asked me with a follow up question. "How well do you know her?"

I was saved from answering when a snobby looking teacher protested. Ms. Toriumi scolded us so she wouldn't get in trouble. Her warning was ignored however. The students were even more encouraged to talk because of it.

After School

I leaned back in my chair once homeroom ended. My first day wasn't so bad. After the introduction, things went by quickly. I still felt some unease in being the new guy though.

"Sup dude?"

I turned to see the source of the voice and saw a student sporting a baseball cap and a dress shirt underneath his uniform. The student with the goatee emanated a carefree spirit.

"How's it goin?" He asked me.

"Not bad. This morning nearly bored me to death though." I stood up from my chair and leaned on it with my hands in my pockets. "Who're you?"

"Me? Name's Junpei Iori." He stretched his hand out. "Nice to meet ya."

I shook his hand. "Minato Arisato."

"Yeah. So I heard. You're the new guy right?" His smile grew even wider. "I transferred here myself when I was in 8th grade. So I know how tough it is to be the new guy."

"Tell me about it." I shrugged.

"Hey, it's Yuka-tan!" Junpei said, looking over my shoulder. It turns out he was referring to Yukari. "I didn't think we'd be in the same class again."

Yuka-tan? As in Yucatan, Mexico? I can bet it's typical of Junpei to brand people with nicknames like that.

Slightly annoyed by my smirk, Yukari chastised Junpei. "I swear you'll talk to anyone if they listen. Did you ever think you might be bothering someone?"

"Bothering? Hey me 'n Minato here are havin' fun! Right man?" Junpei laughed.

"If you say so…" Yukari said. She turned to me. "Anyway, some coincidence we'd be in the same homeroom huh?"

"Yeah." I stood straight. "If you believe in that kind of stuff."

"Still, it is surprising." Yukari said.

"Were you surprised to be in the same class as Junpei here?" I asked. Happy that he was included in the conversation, Junpei beamed.

"Yeah. By the way, I heard that the two of you came to school together this morning." Junpei leaned closer to the two of us. "What's the deal with that? Spill it man!"

"Wha-what are you talking about?!" Yukari stammered.

"What?" I asked blankly. Why are people here assuming things too quickly?

"We live in the same dorm." Yukari went frantic. Her face pink. "There's nothing going on between us, okay?"

She's pretty touchy about it, huh…

"Really?" Junpei smiled his mega-watt grin and elbowed me. "Minato here aint denying anything."

"N-no. There's nothing. Really." I said.

"You see?" Yukari turned to me. "Hey… you didn't say anything to anyone about…. You know what, did you?"

Not here! Especially in front of a jumping-to-conclusions Junpei.

I tried to play it innocent. "You know what?"

"Don't tell me you forgot already!" Yukari said.

"I was only kidding. Don't worry about it." I reassured her.

"I'm serious." She glared at me. "Don't say anything about last night!"

Uh- oh…

"Last Night? Did I hear it correctly? Last Night?" Junpei stared at the two of us.

I smacked my forehead. Yukari almost stumbled as she realized what she just said.

Okay. Time to play it cool, like always.

"Don't get the wrong idea, Stupei. I meant what I said. There's nothing going on between us!" Yukari yelled.

"Then what's this late night business that you don't want anybody to know about?" Junpei asked. His eyes narrowed to slits.

I coughed. "Only something that most people would misunderstand." I patted Junpei's shoulders. "But I know that you'd understand." I made Junpei lean closer as I whispered some words in his ear.

"Ohh… I get it now." Junpei said, shaking his head.

"Don't be noisy, okay?" I winked at him. "I have trust in you."

"Yeah. Don't worry, man. I got your back! Kirijo-senpai will never know!" Junpei said. Then he ran out of the room.

I turned around to see a confused Yukari. "Kirijo-senpai? What did you tell him?"

I chuckled. "I told him that when I arrived last night, I saw you knock over a cup and it broke. I told him that you told me that it was Mitsuru-senpai's favorite and most expensive teacup and that you don't want her to know that you broke it."

Yukari laughed. "Only Stupei would believe something like that. Oh, I have to do some things for Archery club. Did I mention that I was a member? So see ya."

I left the room after that. I ran into Stupei- I mean, Junpei on my way out of the school. "You're already making an impression, man. And it's only your first day."

"What kind of impression?" I asked.

"Oh, you know what I mean. Believe it or not, Yuka-tan is pretty popular. You da man!" Junpei beamed. "It's gonna be a fun year. I can feel it!"

I smiled at his enthusiasm. "Yeah? You think so?"

"Of course, man! Hey, look at the jocks." He said, gesturing to the jocks. "Are you planning on joining a club?"

"Depends." I put my hands in my pockets "You?"

"Nah. It's not my kind of thing." He said.

"I gotta go." I said, looking at my watch. "Got some things to do."

Once I left Junpei, I headed straight to the dorm.

Iwatodai Dorm, Evening

Once I entered the dorm, I was greeted by Mitsuru-senpai. She was reading a hardbound novel with a teacup in her hand.

"Welcome back." She said, looking up from her novel. "How was your day?"

"It was fine." I replied.

"That's good." Senpai said. "You really shouldn't be outside on your own at night. It's too dangerous."

"I see. I'll keep that in mind senpai."

"You must be tired, Arisato." Mitsuru said, turning her attention to her book again. "Get a good rest tonight."

Oblivious to their plans, I headed straight to my room.

Minato's Room

Okay, time to unpack. One by one I laid out the contents of the first box. Casual clothes, a few soap bars and shampoo. Once I systematically put them in their proper places, I tackled the contents of the second box. I had a total of three boxes shipped to the dorm. The second box's contents were school uniforms, two sets of formal clothing just in case, and other things.

The third box's contents were the ones that I valued the most. In it were some pictures of the Arisato family, one of the few where we were complete, and the very sword that my grandfather said my father gave me. The sword had a blade of gleaming silver and its hilt was intricately carved with various designs. I felt tempted to practice some moves but given the space of the room and the length of my sword, Demon's Bane, I decided against it.

Instead, I hung the blade with its sheath on the wall opposite the desk. I sat on the bed. That reminds me… the night before, Yukari-san and Mitsuru-senpai wore a red armband and if memory serves right, it said 'SEES'. It must be an acronym. Wonder what it means?

Dormitory Lounge - Mitsuru's POV

Soon after Arisato went upstairs, I heard footsteps coming down the stairs.

"I'm going out for a bit."

I diverted my attention from my book to the standing figure of Akihiko Sanada before me. "Hm? And why would you go out at this time of night?"

"Can't you see the newspaper headlines?" Akihiko asked, getting his jacket. "It's getting worse, Mitsuru."

"I know." I sipped some tea. "People who had no problems before are suddenly developing acute cases of Apathy Syndrome…"

"Yeah. We see it more often in the news now." Akihiko said. "They're saying it's due to stress, but… as if. We both know that it has to be their work. It's not worth my time, otherwise."

I sighed at his recklessness. "You have a one-track mind, Akihiko. Will you be okay on your own?"

Akihiko laughed. "I'll be fine. I'm just gonna get some practice." And before I could say more, Akihiko left the dorm. When will he stop thinking that this is a game?

April 8, 2009, Evening

WEDNESDAY

Not much happened at school this morning. Other than researching a bit about the school club called "SEES", hearing a few rumors, answering some questions and getting used to school, nothing out of the ordinary. There were some particularly interesting rumors circulating around the school.

The rumor about Apathy Syndrome was one of them. I heard that Apathy Syndrome is some sort of sickness that does not target one type of person. People who are inflicted with this sickness will suddenly appear and act like zombies. There is no clue whatsoever about its cause. There are certainly weird things going on in this city…

When I entered the dorm, I saw two people by the couches to my right. Yukari was talking with an unfamiliar gentleman wearing a sophisticated looking tan suit. The man had his back to the door so it was Yukari who saw me first.

"Oh, he's back." She said. Then the man turned around to look at me and said "So, this is our new guest…"

I walked closer to the two and greeted them both. "Good Evening to you as well." The man said. "My name is Shuji Ikutsuki. I'm the Chairman of the Board for Gekkoukan High, your school."

So this is the Chairman of the Board. When I looked up on SEES a while ago, I found out that he's the advisor of the school club. But what kind of club has a name like "Specialized Extracurricular Execution Squad"? It sounds like the name for a special SWAT group. And I doubt that they can 'execute' anybody with just 3 members. Namely, Mitsuru-senpai as the leader and Yukari-san and another senior named Akihiko Sanada. But then again, Mitsuru-senpai is a Kirijo. Her father's is the CEO of the Kirijo group so I guess she has some power along with that…

But what bothers me is that the 3 members of the group are also the other residents of this dorm. And now their advisor is visiting. I'm the only one here who's not part of SEES. Well, I guess this is what Yukari meant when she asked if it was okay for me to be here.

"Ikutsuki… Hard to say isn't it?" The Chairman said, bringing me out of my thoughts. "That's why I don't like introducing myself. I get tongue-tied sometimes, you see."

What's so hard to say about Ikutsuki? Does he have speech problems? "I understand." I lied. Shuji Ikutsuki nodded. "I apologize about the confusion regarding your accommodations."

Ah, so that's why he wanted to talk to me. They want me out of the dorm, so I won't interfere with their 'executing' things…

"I understand." I said. "These things happen sometimes…"

"It may take a while before you receive the proper room assignment." He said. "Is there anything you'd like to ask?"

"Huh? I thought I was going to be transferred to another dorm…" I said.

"What's the matter?" The Chairman chuckled. "Are the accommodations here not to your liking?"

"No, uh it's not that." I said. Not wanting them to know that I'd been researching about them, I asked a question. "Why are you here?"

"To welcome you, of course." He said.

"Oh, thanks." I asked another question just to be sure. "Who else lives here?"

"There are only 4 students in this dorm. You, Yukari here, Mitsuru and a senior named Akihiko Sanada. I hope you'll all have a successful school year." He answered. "Now if you'll excuse me…." Ikutsuki stood up and brushed his clothes. "You must be tired from all the excitement lately. Go to bed early tonight. As they say, 'The early bird catches the bookworm!'"

Uh, okay? Am I supposed to laugh?

"You'll get used to his lame jokes." Yukari whispered.

I excused myself and went to my room.

Minato's Room

Hmmm… There are only 4 students in this dorm, the man said. Come to think of it, This dorm is bigger than most dorms. I don't have a roommate and I have a TV in my room. Hmph. Grandpa must have looked for a big dorm like this one, though I would have been satisfied by a normal boy's dorm. "This is a good enough dorm for you." He would have said.

I sighed and looked at the pictures by the lampshade. I fell asleep still wearing my school uniform and thinking about our home in Tokyo.

?, Late Evening

Yukari's POV

Soon after Minato-kun fell asleep, Mitsuru-senpai, Ikutsuki and I gathered at the command room on the 4th floor. We were watching Minato sleep on an enlarged HD feed on the computer in the command room.

"Working hard?" The Chairman asked. "How's he doing?"

"He asleep. He went to bed a while ago." Senpai answered. "Do you think he's…"

"Let's wait and see." Ikutsuki said. "The Dark Hour is approaching."

"Do we really have to do this?" I asked, uneasy. "Do we really have to spy on the guy?"

"We have to make sure he can take care of himself." Ikutsuki reassured me. "Don't think of it as spying. Just think of it as… collecting information, protecting him."

Yeah right. If he was a frog, you'd be dissecting him right now.

"How are we protecting him by spying?" I asked.

Minato-kun turned in his sleep as the clock of the monitor ticked the final seconds before the Dark Hour.

Dark Hour

The lights of the room turned off and I could see the moon's weird glow through the windows. Only the monitor remained unchanged. I asked Mitsuru about it once, why did it remain on even with the Dark Hour. The only thing she said was, "It's special."

Minato-kun remained sleeping. "Hmm… He's still sleeping." The Chairman observed. "As the two of you said, he didn't transmogrify into a coffin. As you can remember, an ordinary person Transmogrifies during the Dark Hour, and is oblivious to what is happening around."

"Then he must be…" I said.

"As you can see, he's not inside a coffin." Mitsuru-senpai said. "He's asleep, but he's definitely experiencing the Dark Hour."

"The only question is… Does he have the potential?" Ikutsuki said. "In any case, we should continue to monitor him for a few more days."

"Just how are we protecting him by spying?" I asked again.

Senpai punched a few buttons on the computer. "We have to be sure that he has the potential. Enough of it to combat the night's dangers."

"Just imagine it, Yukari." The Chairman said, wiping his glasses. "Being able to experience the Dark Hour, without having the ability to defend yourself. Scary isn't it?" Ikutsuki laughed. "Why do you think I always stay indoors?"

Still…I can't believe were treating him like a Guinea pig…

Meanwhile…

Minato's POV

I knew I was asleep but I can swear I heard a voice…

"Master Minato…"

I blinked as a white flash appeared before my eyes. Next thing I knew, I was seated in a seat. I was in what seemed to be an extremely large elevator. Wait a sec… Elevator?! Wasn't I in bed?

"Welcome to the Velvet Room." A mysterious old gentleman said. He was wearing a tuxedo and gloves. He was small and had a long nose on his rather small face. "My name is Igor. I am delighted to make your acquaintance."

"Er… Where- where am I?" I asked feebly.

"The Velvet Room exists between dream and reality, mind and matter… Only the contract signers can see and enter." Igor showed me the contract I signed when I entered the dorm, the one given to me by ghost boy. "You have a unique ability. And you are destined to hone it with my help. I only ask one thing from you. That you and only you are responsible for the actions and choices you make."

"This is Elizabeth. She is a resident here, like me." Igor said. Gesturing to a woman with short white hair, and she seemed to be dressed in a flight attendant's blue uniform. "Pleased to meet you, Minato." Elizabeth said.

What? "I-I don't understand… How do you know my name?"

"That is fine." Igor said. "For now." Then a blue hued key with golden designs floated to my hand. "Hold on to that… Until we meet again."

"Wait, hey! What do you mean?" I yelled but everything faded away.