...06/10/2009 Tuesday; Morning...
The sky had dawned pale over Tatsumi Port Island, the clouds dragging lazily as if the weather itself was in no hurry to start the day.
Down below, the city was already pulsing—hurried businessmen, housewives with shopping bags, students in scattered groups.
The cycle began again, indifferent, as it always did.
At the entrance of Gekkoukan High, the gate swallowed the tide of blue and white uniforms climbing the hill. Conversations, laughter, complaints about exams—the soundtrack of another ordinary morning.
Minato walked amid the crowd, his headphones over his ears. The music filled the silence around him, but not the silence within him.
There was a void there, with the exact shape of someone who didn't talk much, but who was missed precisely because of it. Shinjiro.
The quiet way he carried himself. The discreet presence that was now a deafening absence.
He raised his eyes.
Further ahead, three figures stood out in the flow of students. Mitsuru walked in the center, her red hair swaying to the rhythm of her steps.
Akihiko was to her right, gesturing something—probably about what they should do until the next full moon, knowing him.
And to her left... Hiro.
Even from a distance, Minato noticed. The lowered head. The slightly hunched shoulders.
Mitsuru was saying something to him, and Hiro responded with short nods, almost automatic. He was there, but not completely.
Minato's chest tightened.
Then he felt it.
Hurried footsteps approaching from behind—too fast to be casual.
Before he could turn around, an arm wrapped around his neck in a friendly headlock, the weight of an entire body leaning on his shoulders.
"Phew..." Junpei's voice arrived along with the smell of hair gel and the breathless panting of someone who had just run a marathon. "...made it in time."
Minato shot a sideways glance at Junpei and, unhurried, paused the music on his MP3 player.
With the same naturalness as someone swatting away a fly, he peeled his friend's arm off his neck.
"Woke up late again?" A light smile escaped as he slipped his hands into his pockets.
"No... I actually woke up early today." Junpei adjusted the bag on his shoulder with an exaggerated tug. "But the stupid subway door closed right in my face! In my face! Then the next one took forever to get there."
The two climbed the stairs side by side, their shoes echoing on the concrete steps.
When the lobby doors opened, the buzz swallowed them. Students clustered in groups—backpacks on the floor, notebooks being reviewed in a hurry, cell phones changing hands.
A second-year girl passed by grumbling about the history test. Two guys from the track club argued about practice schedules.
Junpei felt his pocket vibrate. He grabbed his cell phone with a quick motion, his eyes scanning the screen. A grin spread across his face.
"Hey, Minato. You feel like going to Paulownia Mall after class?"
Minato stopped. His eyes narrowed with lazy curiosity. "Hmm, why?"
"The arcade's got a new promotion!" Junpei spun his phone so Minato could see the screen. The promotional image displayed the flashy sign: AN HOUR AND A HALF OF GAMING FOR ONLY 500 YEN! "Pay five hundred yen and play all you want. An hour and a half, man!"
Minato studied the screen for a moment. He knew Junpei far too well not to know what was coming next.
The arcade on promotion days was a battlefield—kids screaming, teenagers fighting over machines, lines that coiled like snakes through the corridors. But Junpei had that sparkle in his eyes.
"Sure. I don't have anything important to do today." Minato shrugged. "But you know it's probably gonna be packed."
Junpei waved his hand in the air, as if dismissing an absurd idea.
"Nah. That arcade hardly ever has more than twenty people." The grin widened, confident. "Anyway, glad you're in. 'Cause that way I won't be on my own."
Minato didn't answer—just resumed walking. Junpei pocketed his phone and followed, and the two crossed the lobby toward the hallway of classrooms.
After all, even with everything weighing on them, classes weren't going to stop. Exams were approaching. Clubs demanded attendance. Ordinary life insisted on carrying on.
And maybe that was exactly what they needed.
...06/10/2009 Tuesday; Sunset...
The sun bid farewell to Tatsumi Port Island with a palette of oranges and pinks that tinted the windows of Paulownia Mall.
The late afternoon brought the usual bustle: students dragging backpacks, couples holding hands, workers freshly off their shifts. The city's nightlife was beginning to pulse.
Inside the mall, in front of the Arcade entrance, two figures contemplated reality with opposite reactions.
Junpei stood with his mouth hanging open. His shoulders dropped as if someone had placed weights on them.
The line spilled out the Arcade door, snaked down the hallway, and threatened to turn the corner.
Kids tugged at their parents' sleeves. Teenagers checked their phones with bored expressions. A group of girls laughed loudly near the entrance, blocking the walkway even more.
Junpei stood with his mouth hanging open. His shoulders dropped as if someone had placed weights on them. "Holy cow... it's packed."
Minato watched the scene with the serene expression of someone who had expected exactly that. "I told you it would be full."
"Ah..." Junpei let out a sigh that seemed to come from his soul. "...you and that mouth of yours. We're gonna be here until tomorrow."
The corner of Minato's mouth lifted—an almost imperceptible smile, but enough to show he was amused by the situation.
Then he felt something.
A light chill at the nape of his neck, the kind of sensation he had learned to recognize. His eyes scanned the crowd.
And he found her.
At the end of a side hallway, where the mall lights didn't reach as well, a figure stood out among the passersby.
Blue assistant's dress. Silver hair. Impeccable posture like that of an antique doll.
Elizabeth gave an elegant bow the moment Minato's eyes met hers—a theatrical yet precise gesture. Then she turned and disappeared into the darkness of the hallway.
The Velvet Room.
It had been days since his last visit. And if Elizabeth was there, in person, it likely meant Igor wanted to see him.
Minato lowered his eyes to the floor for an instant, processing. Then he looked at Junpei.
"Junpei, can you hold our spot in line for a bit?"
Junpei blinked, surprised. "Huh... sure. Why?"
Minato gestured with his head toward the pharmacy on the other side of the mall. His hands remained in his pockets. "I'm gonna pick up some stuff Yukari asked for. She said the dorm's medical supplies are running low."
"Ahh... right." Junpei scratched his head, as if the information had just clicked into place. "She was complaining about stuff running low. Go ahead. I'll hold the fort."
Minato nodded and moved away from Junpei, vanishing into the crowd.
His steps were light, dodging groups of students and skirting the mall benches with precision.
When he entered the hallway, the darkness swallowed him.
It wasn't ordinary darkness. There was no smell of mold or the echo of old pipes.
It was a clean, untouched void, as if that space existed beyond the reach of the rest of the world. But at the far end, a light flickered.
Blue.
Elizabeth stood before the indigo door, her hands clasped holding a grimoire, her expression serene. The glow of the Velvet Room reflected in her golden eyes.
When Minato approached, she nodded.
"Hello, Minato. It has been a while." There was a touch of kindness in her voice—not the distant formality of an assistant, but something closer. "I imagine you have been occupied with what happened these past few days."
Minato stopped before her.
"Hi, Elizabeth." His voice was calm, but it carried the weight of sleepless nights. "Things are... complicated. I didn't even remember to come here. Does Igor want to talk to me?"
Elizabeth nodded and extended her arm toward the door. "Yes. My master wishes to speak with you."
She took a step to the side. The door opened without a sound, and from within poured a blue light so intense it swallowed the entire hallway. Minato didn't hesitate. He crossed the threshold.
The sensation was the same as always—and yet, always new.
His mind detached from his body like a leaf blowing in the wind. He was pulled through an infinite corridor of open doors, each one revealing glimmers of possibilities his eyes couldn't grasp.
The blue enveloped him, passed through him, and for an instant he wasn't Minato Arisato, he was merely a consciousness navigating the space between dream and reality.
Then everything flashed white.
When the light subsided, he was seated.
The sofa was the same as always. The elevator rose infinitely, its invisible gears humming at a frequency that only existed there.
The indigo walls, the air that smelled of velvet and mystery. And before him, seated in the enormous elegant armchair, legs crossed and fingers interlaced over his lap...
Igor.
His grin widened. It was an ear-to-ear smile, too wide for a human face, but perfectly suited to that place.
His bloodshot eyes gleamed with a spark Minato had never been able to decipher.
"Welcome to the Velvet Room." Igor's voice filled the elevator as if coming from all directions at once. "It has been a while since our last conversation, Minato."
TO BE CONTINUED...