零 - Curse of the Yellow Moon

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Gai walked the streets of Arato without much purpose. He had flown to Japan a day ago, but being the man he was, he couldn't help but spend a day in Tokyo, more precisely, in Akihabara area. Just browsing the bigger game and hardware stores took most of his day and when he had almost made his mind to leave and come back at a better time, he stumbled across a coding competition and he just had to watch. Not that any of the participants could even get close to his level, but it was quite entertaining, especially some weird shenanigans that some of them had tried and even succeeded in pulling off. Before he knew it, it was night-time already and he was dragged into some sort of a pub where gamers and programmers gathered, at the outskirts of the city. Gai would have gladly got drunk and even slept there at the dusty tables, but as dawn approached, he silently slid away from the mildly drunk company and escaped outside to the street. Though his head ached and he felt sleepy, he knew he had important stuff to take care of and without further hesitation headed got in his car and drove off towards Arato, hoping to avoid the biggest traffic jam.

Upon entering the cafe, Gai knew he was looking pretty messed up. He had not slept for around two days, except for the few hours in the car after he had parked in an underground parking in Arato. His hair was thickened and messy and there were black spots under his eyes, which must have looked quite tired and weary. He did not feel like sleeping, however, so he decided to have a good cup of strong coffee to chase away the drowsiness and start looking for Shigeru. He sat at a table and tried to tidy up his messy clothes: he was wearing blue jeans with a black T-shirt that had no writings on it and a greyish jacket. As the waitress came towards him, he asked for a black coffee and tried to pay with his credit card, suddenly remembering, that cash was the most common way in Japan, making him search for any paper money in his pockets. Luckily, there were some left from the yesterday, so he managed to avoid having to search for an ATM. When the drink arrived, he poured several packages of sugar in it and mixed it with the spoon, while neglecting the cream. As he drank the coffee, feeling its hotness sting the tip of his tongue and the sweet taste spread across his mouth, bringing forth awareness and focus, he began to dwell on his plan of action.

He was here, in the place where everything had happened, so digging back through his memories wouldn't be too hard. He decided it would be helpful if he could find Shigeru first, since the man had apparently been doing some sort of research into the events and there was no need for Gai to do exactly the same all over again. Of course, if he didn't manage to find anyone today, he'd start researching on his own. The though of visiting a hypnotist or a psychiatrist crossed his mind and just as he was thinking of running a quick web search at a local internet cafe, his attention was drawn to one man from the corner of the room, who seemed oddly familiar for some reason. The man carried his cup of tea towards the largest group of people, sitting at the cafe and as Gai traced him with his eyes, he began to look at the other members' faces noticing the same odd familiarity to those strangers. Was it his lack of sleep puling pranks on him, or were those really some of the people he had graduated with? He discarded the first opportunity, since he had done quite a lot of work in state similar to his present condition and not once had his lack of sleep faltered his concentration. The group apparently accepted the ma with some interest, so Gai decided to move closer, in order to be able to hear better. All he had to hear were several sentences, to know his initial hunch was hundred per cent correct. "Well, it seems I'm quite the lucky one." he though as he drank the last of his coffee and headed towards the group. They didn't really seem to notice him, so he touched two of them on the backs and waved to the rest "Hello there, my fellow survivors. Or should I say classmates? Long time no see, eh?" He noticed none of them seemed to recognise him, perhaps since he was not really a social butterfly back at high school and he had also swapped his dorky glasses for contact lenses. "I'm Akihiko Gai, the cool guy who always sat at the back of the class? Does it ring any bells?"
 
Takaiya bites his lip very slightly, he's never liked having his photo taken because he was always scared of what he'd see. He nods his consent for having his photo taken, unable to speak. Things were happening much to fast for him, already he was feeling strained. He gazes at the blur that is his face and feels his stomach flip a little in horror, he opens his mouth and then shuts it again.. subconsciously tightening his grip upon the bell.


Takaiya gazes at the other camera and feels a strange sensation while looking at it, instinctively he pulls back slightly. There's something about it that makes him very tense, though he can't put his finger on it. The camera isn't radiating evil, nor malice.. but there's something about it that makes his teeth set on age. “s-so.. what is the camera's special function?” he asks quietly, knowing that he'll find out sooner or later regardless. The long haired young man jumps slightly at the sound of the shutter, and laughs weakly at himself. “the day has only just started and I'm already a bundle of nerves..” he says weakly.


Takaiya waits, waits and tenses when the photo develops. He's almost about to say 'I've changed my mind, I don't want to see it! You know, maybe I should just go home..' before the words could leave Takaiya's lips he sees the photo. The colour drains from his face and his hands start to shake, he tares his gaze away from the photo as his mind flashes back. He's seen pictures like it.


Pictures that showed a man with ropes around his limbs, only to be found dismembered and dead a few days later. Pictures that foreshadowed death... though stuff like that couldn't possibly be true, could it?


he vaguely hears Shigeru's voice as he thinks. 'what if it's to late, and I'm already as good as dead?' Takaiya meets his eyes and clears his throat. “I'm afraid I must ask..are you sure something can be done?”


Takaiya gazes at the other's who've arrived and smiles weakly. “hello Akira san and Gai san.. I remember both of you..” he says shyly, not used to talking to this many people.
 
"This place is a café. So, who is your friend? I could help find him." Xira glanced at down spot she placed the letter she received in her haori. 'Speaking of looking for someone...I wonder if Shigeru is actually here or hadn't arrived yet.' She was quickly pulled out of her thoughts, "That's good. I'm sorry, I should have moved out of the way." The amber eyed female backed away from him to give him space.

She looked at him, wondering if he was okay til he asked about her priestess robes. "I am a shrine maiden. It's fine, you were just asking a question...Did you say Shigeru?" The miko questioned after, 'He might be one of the others.'
 
"Yeah my buddy's name is Shigeru" Shuji notices a bit of surprise but decides to negate it. He opens the door of the café and automatically sees a group of somewhat familiar faces "wait a minute, are you one of-" Shuji put his hand on the side of the face, beginning to laugh. "Was everyone late? Jeez" Shuji tries to think prior to high-school and holds to door open "Oh man" Shuji says laughing to himself "I thought I recognized you. You were Sira right?..." Shuji begins to mutter. "Was is Sira? No... Jira, Xira?.... No.... Kira? Hmm. Her name, was it of Sino decent?..." Before he gets lost in his out loud thoughts, Shuji introduces himself "Okada Shuji is what I'm called. Yes, I'm here because of that letter." Shuji motions for the both of them to go inside, as they were letting out to cool air. "[Crap] I just saw them... I'm not that blind am I?" Shuji searches for his glasses but instead spots the group afterward.
 
"Please calm down, Kurosawa-san. Now's not the time to panic" huffed Shigeru when the dainty male started to break down at the sight of the ghostly photograph. Takaiya then threw him a question which seems to have set off something inside of Shigeru. The blond's voice became more pronounced, almost agitated even. "We're still alive, aren't we? We can still do something about it!" blurted Shigeru. Though he sounded courageous, this was just a facade to cover up what Shigeru was feeling. In truth, he was just as terrified as Takaiya but at least he knew that running away won't do anything. "Please, Kurosawa-san. I need you and your faculties intact if we're going to get through this..."

Their conversation was interrupted by the ringing of the cafe's chime and for a moment, Shigeru's attention was torn away from Mei and Takaiya. He spotted several people approaching their table, all of them bearing familiar faces. One by one, the newcomers introduced themselves. First was a dark-haired male named Akira whom Shigeru barely recognized. The man was quick to explain the reason behind the lack of familiarity, it's funny how much a different hairstyle can change one's appearance. The next one to make an introduction was a gruff male named Gai. Shigeru recognized him easily for some reason, perhaps they were of the same peer group back in high school? The door's chime rung once more and an unusual pair walked in and started looking around. One of them was a brunette male wearing a pair of glasses who looked a bit on edge. Trailing behind him was a... miko? Perhaps describing the two as an "unusual pair" was inadequate.

"Oh, thank god you all made it!" sighed Shigeru, unable to hide his relief at seeing all the survivors of the Yellow Moon Graduation in one piece. As he walked over to greet the ones that just joined them, the antique camera he had placed on the table went off on its own, snapping a picture of the group. The sound of the shutter going off caused Shigeru to look back at the camera, feeling uneasiness as he stared at it. He decided to ignore it for now and focus on greeting the others. "Everyone, thank you for coming on such short notice. It's good to see you all" smiled Shigeru to the group. "I believe we have a lot of catching up to do. How about we continue this at my place?" he offered whilst collecting his materials and stuffing them into his bag.
 
The young miko was ecstatic to hear someone else was looking for Shigeru,'Now, I'm positive he's one of the other survivors.' She thought after hearing his response to her question. Xira tried to look over his shoulder when he had suddenly stopped right in the entryway of the café once opening the door. "Sorry, I didn't hear that last par- You had it right the third time..."She decided to remain, until he had talked to her directly again. "I'm Tsuki Xira." The amber eyed female said before lightly bowing then standing straight up again. "Them? The other survivors are already here in this same shop...I can't believe I didn't notice them at all." she mutter this quietly to herself after finally catching a glimpse of the group.
 
Shuji doesn't sit down, assuming Shigeru planned everyone's departure at the very moment. "I wouldn't mind, I don't have much to do, I'll just catch up on work I have sent over when I get back to my mom's place." He checks his watch, as he had forgotten to bring his cellular phone with him, It'd probably burden him anyways. "So, Let's consider it a uh..reunion. Excluding when we cover that... soft topic." Shuji shifted his weight, which helped him not need to sit as much. He then got distracted by a couple flickering candle lights. The color at the very core, it brought a memory vague to him, but he felt he hadn't experienced the actual pain he envisioned; He felt as if instead it was somebody dear to him. "... If only I could remember, who that was.." Shuji muttered to himself, a mutter easily drowned out by the unified voice of the café.
 
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