Demon City simulation Iwatodai Dormitory, 2nd floor, Minato's room, 2009.
The computer screen read, 'Ten years have passed since my parents died. Ten years that I have not spent outside of this city, devoid of any humans other than myself and my childhood friend. Ten years is the time that I have spent living in the demon-infested city of Iwatodai. The demons do not see me as food or sport to kill, they think of me as something to ignore, which is fine considering that a red-skinned Oni was one of the only demons that tried to interact with me so far.'
Minato read the entry in his digital journal over a few times before it was saved and closed. He had been attending school at a Gekkoukan High that existed in the simulation, but the school's staff never peeked outside the building as demons occasionally forayed onto the grounds and were always kept out of the building by a barrier. Aside from the staff at Gekkoukan, Minato had no contact with other people since the demons ignored him and argued with each other, plus there's the fact that when Minato had been placed into the simulation, he had been separated from Minako and so far has not seen any trace of her.
That all changed one April when during the evening, when he was getting ready to make dinner, someone came into the lounge on the first floor. It was a female human who was dressed in a pink cardigan, black skirt that ended well above her knees, a simple pair of shoes, and white socks that ended just above her knees. She also had several cases of luggage with her.
Minato asked the girl, "Who are you? Are you going to attend Gekkoukan High School this year?"
She replied, "To answer your question, I will be attending Gekkoukan High as a junior this year. My name is Yukari Takeba. Who are you, and how long have you been living here?"
"Minato Arisato. I've been in this demon-infested city for ten years."
"D- Demons!? Are those seriously those weird creatures that are everywhere in the city now?"
"I don't know if you're been here, but so far as I know right now, I've had no contact with other humans ever since ten years ago."
"Ten years. . . oh yeah, my father was injured in an incident around the same time. I was sent here recently. So what's so important about ten years ago?"
"That's when my parents died. In this simulation, it was written of as an accident, but I know that it was no accident."
"Wait, you mean. . . that this world isn't the real world!?"
"Exactly. However, there's been no trace of a pathway out of the simulation right now, so I've had to wait and survive in this unforgiving environment for ten years. When I first came, I had been separated from a childhood friend and I haven't seen her for ten years. I've talked too long now. I need to make dinner for tonight."
Yukari decided to help Minato make dinner and after they were done eating, Minato took Yukari's stuff to an empty room on the third floor. He also gave her a key and said, "That key cannot be lost under any circumstances. It will allow you to enter your room at any time."
Yukari understood and said goodnight to him before retiring to her room.
The next day, Minato took the monorail to Gekkoukan High and realized upon arriving at the lobby that Yukari was following him. "So this place is Gekkoukan High School." she said, rather impressed.
"Something's odd. Did you notice anything out of the ordinary today?" Minato asked.
"Yeah. There's been no demons in sight so far today."
"In any case, we should probably head to the auditorium. The principal is probably there, but the staff of Gekkoukan High School in this simulation are all Artificial Intelligences and thus blank personalities that are not alive, so they cannot really be considered 'human' in a sense."
When School was over for the day, the two returned to the Dormitory and it wasn't until close to dinnertime that new company had arrived. It was a red-haired girl accompanied by a teen who appeared to have white hair and someone who appeared to be a company CEO. Minato asked, 'Who are you guys?"
The CEO-like guy said, "My name is Takeharu Kirijo and the red-haired girl is my daughter Mitsuru." while the white-haired guy introduced himself as Akihiko Sanada.
"My name is Minato Arisato. I've been here in this simulation for ten years."
Yukari introduced herself and then thing got straight to business. Takeharu said, "With the four of you, I guess that the Iwatodai City of the simulation can be properly explored now. Minato, Yukari, you both should also note that Akihiko and Mitsuru will be attending Gekkoukan as seniors."
"That means that they are our sempai, right?" Minato asked.
Mitsuru replied, "Yes."
Minato gave Mitsuru and Akihiko room keys and helped Takeharu get their stuff to their rooms. Yukari also helped and when that was done, Takeharu decided to make dinner. After the meal was done, everyone retired to their rooms and Takeharu slept in the lounge.
The next day came and due to it being a Saturday, School was in session for only half as long, so when it was over, Mitsuru told Minato, Akihiko, and Yukari that they would be exploring the city. There were no objections and so far, the nearby mall had been properly explored completely. Minato noted that there were no demons anywhere in the mall when he was with Mitsuru and exploring the simulation's Club Escapade. At the Police Station, they found a rapier and short sword that they equipped. Once outside the station, a Will-o-Wisp appeared in front of them.
"That's a demon. They're usually everywhere in the city, but ever since Yukari arrived, they haven't been really active and they haven't been appearing everywhere either." Minato told Mitsuru.
The Will-o-Wisp ignored them and headed into a nearby Café. Mitsuru wanted to pursue it, but Minato said, "Let's not chase it. The demons have been ignoring me for the most part when they were absolutely everywhere. Heck, several Apsarae run the stores in the simulation and they've never attacked me. I pay the full yen price whenever I buy something from the stores that they run, so they have no excuse to attack me for."
When Yukari and Akihiko came back, they told Minato and Mitsuru that a Preta had tried to attack them while exploring the Karaoke club, but Akihiko had found a pair of boxing gloves nearby and put them on before beating up the Preta and killing it. Minato then said, "So far right now, it seems that the only hostile demons we've encountered are Pretas. Thankfully they are weak, but we can't let our guard down."
"Minato is right. We should head back to the Dorm." Mitsuru said and everyone agreed. Once back at the Dorm, it was nearly dinnertime and Minato, Mitsuru, and Akihiko put their weapons in their rooms before talking to Takeharu about what had happened today. Once that was done, a knock on the front door of the dorm was heard and Minato answered it. When he did, he found himself looking at an auburn-haired girl who wore the female uniform of Gekkoukan High School.
"Um, do I know you?" Minato asked her.
Her response was, "Ten years ago. . ."
Minato put a hand to his head as he remembered what had happened on that day. He said, "It's been too long since we last saw each other, Minako . . . uh, what was your last name again?"
"Shirodo, my last name is Shirodo. And yes, it's been awhile since I last saw you, Minato." Minako said before embracing Minato in a hug.
Minato responded by hugging her and when it was broken, she was given a key that corresponded to a room similar to Minato's that was on the third floor. Minato explained and it was uneventful until later that night, specifically at midnight.
Waking up suddenly, Minato noticed that everything was a pale green color and got his weapon ready after getting dressed and rushing to the fourth floor. Up there, some sort of conference room was behind a set of two heavy oak doors that were surprisingly unlocked and inside a metal case that was on a chair, Minato found a naginata. Hearing a crashing sound, Minato rushed down to the third floor and found Mitsuru fighting off a Preta while Minako and Yukari had been cornered by three Will-o-Wisps. Killing one of them with a sword swing, Minato had caught the wisps' attention and allowed the two girls to escape up the stairs. Akihiko and Takeharu joined up with Minato and Mitsuru as they went up to the fourth floor and went through a metal door that lead to the roof.
Minako and Yukari were waiting for them up there and they also noticed their surroundings.
"Wh- What's going on!?" Minako asked the blue-haired friend of hers.
"It seems that the demons are already becoming hostile towards us after days of casual ignorance. In my case though, it was ten years of being ignored." He replied.
There was an egg-shaped object on the roof, nowhere near anyone. Several Pretas and an Alp suddenly appeared in front of it but before they could act, a beam of light hit the object and an intense light shone for a few seconds as a few less intense beams pranced around and pierced Minato, Yukari, Minako, Akihiko, and Mitsuru. Minato noticed a brand on his left cheek shoot veins across his body and he transformed into a silver-haired humanoid that had red eyes, a platinum torso, and mechanical limbs. The humanoid had a lyre in its right hand that it wielded like a one-handed axe. Minako also transformed into a humanoid with mechanical limbs, but her form had a golden torso, longer brown hair, and she wielded a heart-shaped lyre like Minato's form was wielding it. Mitsuru had transformed into an iron-masked humanoid that wielded a rapier and a dagger, Akihiko had become a mechanical-looking humanoid that was encased in platinum armor and had a large chest, a red left hand, and sword where the right hand should have been, and Yukari had transformed into a humanoid that had black skin and wore a pink dress that ended slightly above its knees. The form also had long, yellow hair and its dress was adorned with images of cows.
Using his new form's weaponized lyre, Minato killed three of the Pretas, devouring their bodies and Minako did the same. Mitsuru's form also killed a few Pretas and devoured the ones that she killed as did Akihiko and Yukari. The two Pretas that remained got near the Alp in preparation of a combo attack, but before they could do that, the Pretas were sliced and diced by something fast as it dashed by and leapt into the air and came down, impaling the Alp on its right leg, which was sharp as a sword and made of steel as the thing's descent was stopped by the roof. Minato and the others reverted to human form and saw what the newcomer was. It was a humanoid that wore a winged helmet and black clothes, both its legs were metal and sharp like a weapon properly maintained, two golden wings sprouting from its back and it wore iron gloves.
"Surprised to see me, Yuka-tan?" The figure asked Yukari before it devoured the Alp and the two Pretas that it killed before it reverted to a teenager that wore the male Gekkoukan High uniform, a purple collared shirt underneath the school jacket, a silver necklace, and a baseball cap. He wielded a sharpened stick shaped like a katana to his right, holding it with his right hand. His left hand had a brand that depicted a winged helmet similar to the form that he reverted from.
"J- Junpei!? What are you doing here?" Yukari asked him.
"It looks like I managed to get here in time. In any case, I was running late to get into the simulation because my father was drunk again. In any case, it looks like you guys happen to have the same power as me now." he replied while looking at the brands that had appeared on Yukari's right thigh, Akihiko's left shoulder, Minako's right cheek, and Mitsuru's left arm.
"Yeah, whatever you say." Minato said before he retired to his room for the night.
From here on out, here's what happens.
"Normal dialogue in Human Form"
'Thoughts'
"Normal dialogue in Atma Form"
A/N: Read and Review, if you want to.