By Moonlight - Arc 1

Arc 1 of By Moonlight

Prologue
I was running… as fast as I possibly could. I heavy and quick footsteps reverberated throughout the darkened hall, barely lit by an unknown source. I was panting and heaving, almost completely winded, my legs threatening to give out on me. I forced myself to keep going. I couldn’t stop… I had to keep going.

This hallway seemed to go on forever… I couldn’t see the end. The walls slowly closed in on me as I went. Still I ran. Further and further down that hallway. I heard her voice, crying out my name. I heard it so clear down that hallway. She was being assaulted as I ran, I knew it… I knew exactly what was happening… I could hear the man’s grunting along with her cries for help. I ran faster, pushing myself further. The walls closed in further, further, giving my shoulders barely enough room. I saw the glint of light approach, and I pushed myself even more to get there. I slowed, unable to find the proper room to run anymore, forcing my body sideways to squeeze further. Her voice was barely there, now… resigned to the fact that nobody was coming to help her. I tried to squeeze my way through, my chest and back sliding against the stone walls. I reach out through the crack towards the light, gripping the outside edge of the doorway, attempting to pull myself through.

I saw her… she was there… abused and beaten… the man over her finished with her. She had a blank stare, tears down her cheeks, an emotionless expression… she didn’t even resist as the man brought down the knife.

I reached out to her as time slowed, desperately holding my hand out, screaming out to her.

“TSUKIIIII!”

---

I wake up, roused from my sleep by the train I was on. I was seated at a window seat on my own, my head leaned against the glass, staring out at the scenery outside. I was traveling through Toyko, staring blankly out at the nightly cityscape, the bright lights making the streets below bright as daytime. This was my third train on my way to Tokyo, and the last one I would be on before reaching my destination. It didn’t take too long to pass through Tokyo on the bullet train and pass over the water on a long bridge. Tokyo wasn’t where I was headed. My destination was an artificial island-based city just outside the Koto Ward of Tokyo. A much smaller city than Tokyo, of course, but it was still quite large, and it was where I would be living for the next few years.

Tsukiyo.

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family: "TimesNewRoman","serif"">I was transferred over here from my previous school, on recommendation from most if not all of my teachers based on my impeccable grades and test scores. I was granted a full scholarship to the academy in the city, aptly named Tsukiyo Academy, though the city was named after the school, not the other way around. The entire city was built around the school, and had everything Tokyo had to offer, maybe then some. I gazed out across the water, the curved bridge leading to the city. Tsukiyo was alight, just as much as Tokyo was. I could see the school itself from here, the huge, snow white buildings towering over the central district of the city. Though the school wasn’t the tallest building in the city, it was certainly the largest, and dominated the island.

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family: "TimesNewRoman","serif"">That would be my new school until I went to college… I was far, far away from home, but it didn’t bother me. I didn’t have anyone I really cared too much about back at home. My father actually insisted I go here, as he thought it best. He told me it was for the opportunity, but I knew better. Even so, I didn’t argue, and took the soonest train out of my hometown towards Tokyo. It took the whole day to get here.

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family: "TimesNewRoman","serif"">I was quite far from home.

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family: "TimesNewRoman","serif"">The train eventually slowed and came to a stop at the station. I gathered my things from the luggage compartment and stepped to the doors as they opened. I exited the train, stepping onto the platform and forward, down a set of stairs, leaving the station thereafter. I pull a pamphlet from my pocket, taking a look at it. It told me the address of the dorm I’d be staying in. Late at night, nobody was going to tell me where it was, so I’d have to find it myself. It shouldn’t be too much of a hassle.

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family: "TimesNewRoman","serif"">Sure enough, I made it. It was a bit of a walk from the station, and I did almost get lost a few times, but other than that, I didn’t run into any snags. I look at the pamphlet to make sure the address was right before looking back up at the 4 story dormitory. It was placed close enough to the school as well as the mall nearby, and luckily for me wasn’t in one of the backstreet areas of the city. It seemed innocent enough as I walked up the steps and opened the wooden double doors. I take a look at the inside. It was quite a neat looking lobby, with red carpets, a living area to my right, complete with two sofas, a coffee table, and two chairs, a reception desk to my left, a bar at the far end of the room, and towards the end, large stairs leading upwards. I look around for anyone, though it seemed it was too late for anyone else who may be in the dorm to be awake… I thought I was expected.

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family: "TimesNewRoman","serif"">Turns out, I was.

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family: "TimesNewRoman","serif"">“Oh, hello!” I hear a voice say, from across the room.

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family: "TimesNewRoman","serif"">I look over and at the stairwell, I see a girl walking towards me. Long white hair and sparkling blue eyes were her most striking features. She wore the standard black uniform of Tsukiyo Academy, though it made me wonder why she would bother wearing it this late. I guess she was planning on washing it in the morning… I myself had my uniform in my clothing bag. The uniform was mailed to me when I accepted the scholarship.

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family: "TimesNewRoman","serif"">“You must be… um…” She put a finger to her cheek, thinking to herself. “Um… a-anyway… my name is Rin Nagase! What’s yours?”

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family: "TimesNewRoman","serif"">She had an enthusiastic and cheerful smile as she beamed up at me, though in return I simply stared blankly and unemotionally, not very amused by her. I didn’t bother answering her, a response which she frowned at.

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family: "TimesNewRoman","serif"">“Not very talkative, are you…?” She said. “Um… well, you’ll be staying here, um… you already know that though… ah…”

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family: "TimesNewRoman","serif"">She stammered a bit, clearly not used to speaking to someone as unresponsive as I am.

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family: "TimesNewRoman","serif"">“Um… well, boy’s rooms are on the second floor… girls are on first…” She tried to compose herself, shaking her head.

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family: "TimesNewRoman","serif"">I look over to the reception desk, noticing a red sign-in booklet that caught my attention more than the girl in front of me was.

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family: "TimesNewRoman","serif"">“Um…” She said, trying to get my attention again. “Well… as I said, my name is Rin Nagase. I’m a sophomore at Tsukiyo Academy and one of your new dorm mates from now on! I hope we can get along well!”

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family: "TimesNewRoman","serif"">Her cheery smile returned to her, closing her eyes and tilting her head, placing her hands behind her as she grinned. I still gave her my blank stare.

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family: "TimesNewRoman","serif"">“Narukami.” I hear another voice say from the stairwell.

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family: "TimesNewRoman","serif"">I look over to see a male come down the stairs. He had gray hair and matching gray eyes, cut short. He wasn’t wearing his school uniform, instead wearing casual around-the-house clothes, which made more sense to me at this hour. He seemed much more down-to-earth than the girl first to greet me, and seemed to give of an air of seniority… which made sense because he looked to be at least a year older than myself. He also looked quite blunt and tough, someone I wouldn’t want to get into a fight with.

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family: "TimesNewRoman","serif"">He stepped up beside the girl, saying, “That’s your name, isn’t it? Rai Narukami?”

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family: "TimesNewRoman","serif"">“Oh, right! That was it!” The girl said, pointing a finger up in remembrance.

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family: "TimesNewRoman","serif"">I don’t answer him either, but the fact that I didn’t deny it meant that I confirmed.

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family: "TimesNewRoman","serif"">“Well… my name is Kiryu Sanada.” He said, not bothering to hold out a hand, catching the hints. I’m glad someone understood, at least. “I’m a senior at Tsukiyo Academy, and captain of the boxing team.”

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family: "TimesNewRoman","serif"">That’s why he looked so brusque.

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family: "TimesNewRoman","serif"">The girl looked over to Kiryu and smiled. “Ah, Kiryu-senpai. I was just about to show him to his room.”

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family: "TimesNewRoman","serif"">“Hrm… alright.” Kiryu said, crossing his arms. “Well, you’re probably tired after the trip over here, so I’ll leave Rin to show you to your room. We can get to know each other better tomorrow after school.”

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family: "TimesNewRoman","serif"">I could sense the slight sarcasm in his voice when he said that, not because he didn’t want to get to know me, but because he could tell I wasn’t the type to open up and be friendly around anyone.

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family: "TimesNewRoman","serif"">With that, Kiryu left me with the girl again, and she once again turned to me and smiled.

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family: "TimesNewRoman","serif"">“Well… I’ll just show you to your room then!” She beamed. “Like I said, boys are on the second floor. C’mon.”

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family: "TimesNewRoman","serif"">She walked towards the stairwell, and I followed her up two flights of stairs to the second floor. I noticed at the landing there was another sofa and chair and coffee table, as well as two vending machines, to the right leading to a hallway with rooms flanking both sides. She led me down this hallway, all the way to the window at the end, turning right to the farthest room.

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family: "TimesNewRoman","serif"">“This is your room.” She told me, gesturing towards it. “Um… do you have any questions?”

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family: "TimesNewRoman","serif"">I once again remain silent. I didn’t like this girl… she was too happy for my tastes… it really brought down my mood.

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family: "TimesNewRoman","serif"">The girl sighed, her shoulders slouching.

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family: "TimesNewRoman","serif"">“Anyway… first day of school is in the morning, so make sure you get some rest.”

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family: "TimesNewRoman","serif"">She made a single wave to me before heading back down the hall, disappearing around the corner to head down to the first floor. I look back to my door and open it up, stepping inside and shutting the door behind me. I turn on the light and observe my new quarters. A neatly made bed was at the forward wall, flanked by a nightstand with two drawers. In the leftmost corner was a work desk that seemed to have all the school essentials neatly prepared for me, and in the forward left corner was an LED TV on its own table. A closet was on the right wall, which contained a dresser for my clothes as well as a rack with hangers on it. The room was plain and boring… and it would suit me just fine.

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family: "TimesNewRoman","serif"">I put my things down on the bed, sitting down next to it before opening it up and rummaging through it. I find my BridgeGear headset and my laptop, setting both down on the nightstand. I stare at them… the one game I had for the console was Endless Utopia Online. I had been playing the game for a while now… matter of fact, it was what took up most of my spare time outside of studies, though a gamer I was not. I only had one reason for playing the game…

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family: "TimesNewRoman","serif"">I’ve had distant contact with certain individuals who will not be named… I had certain connections that let me get information on certain people. You see, I was looking for someone; one person in particular, who I have been searching for, for years now. One of my associates told me that someone on contact with this man played Endless Utopia Online. If I could find this player, I could find the man I’m looking for… once I found out where he was… I was going to kill him.

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family: "TimesNewRoman","serif"">For what he did to me… to my family… I would find him, and I would kill him myself. I was so close now, I could feel it. The day was soon where I would look him in the eye and make him know what he did before ending his existence. For four years, it’s all I’ve been living for.

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;line-height:115%;font-family: "TimesNewRoman","serif"">My one purpose in life was to kill the man who took it away from me.