Time never waits.

It delivers all equally to the same end.

You, who wish to safeguard the future, however limited it may be...

You will be given one year; go forth without falter, with your heart as your guide...

A bump on the road woke up the blunet sleeping on the backseat of the rather luxurious car, putting an end to whatever he was going through during his sleep. He remembered the words falling into place and a blue butterfly fluttering by backwards in the darkness but he paid it no mind, instead he yelled at the driver because his careless driving had disrupted his sleep.

"Are you even looking?" The irate blunet spat at the driver on the front, wrapped up in several layers of expensive clothing, headphones clipped to his ears and his favorite belongings next to his feet in a backpack, while the rest of the luggage was in the trunk.

"Sorry sir, but the traffic is bad right now,"

Minato checked his cellphone, noting the time was very close to midnight. "Hey, step on it!" he barked orders at the driver but after a look around, the traffic was indeed bad and he was stuck in the middle, with the vehicles bumper to bumper and a red light overhead. His destination was close but so was...

"Ugh, I should have taken the monorail," Minato lamented and grabbed his backpack that included his most favorite belongings, laptop, various players and headphones, other cellphones, watches and several other expensive purchases.

"Sir, are you going out?" The driver asked, glancing at the rear view mirror and his passenger did look ready to step out in the middle of the traffic. Minato did not bother responding to the question, instead his eyes were fixed on his cellphone as the clock ticked closer to the dreaded time.

5.

4.

3.

2.

Just as the clock struck twelve, the display on his cell blacked out and his MP3 player stopped blasting music. The driver on the front seat, who was in the middle of requesting his fare was replaced by a coffin and the world outside transformed, dark to green and liquid to blood.

"Stupid driver," Minato spat, kicking the door open and stepping out into the road. The same was for all the other vehicles, as anything mechanic and electric had ceased working and the people inside had transformed into coffins, except for the blue haired teenager who opened the trunk of the car and grabbed a single suitcase, one that carried his essential clothing and left the rest in the car.

"Wow, at least we are in the city,"

The city of Iwatodai.

Minato hurled the backpack over his shoulder and dragged the suitcase along as he took one step a time, looking around his old hometown, one that he was forced to leave after a certain accident.

The death of his parents.

His other family members were happy to take him in as his parents had left a great amount of fortune in his name, being two successful and wealthy scientists. He grew up in a loving but somewhat greedy family and he was all too happy to stay in Tokyo with his uncle but something just clicked in his mind when he saw that Gekkoukan Highschool had opened admissions across the country and after a few phone calls, here he was.

The city had changed much in the last decade and for the worst as some had said that the owner of the city, the Kirijo Group operated the same as their own plaything with an autocratic style of leadership with severe sanctions, soaring high prices and swift repercussions for anyone who spoke against them. The way of the group resembled martial law but despite that, the city was illustrious and attracted tourists all year round.

Even now, Minato would ponder his decision of coming here but he was not too bothered. He had no intention of staying long, making friends or speaking up against the Group. He was always a loner at the end of the day and kept to himself despite the horde of people wanting to befriend him.

As he walked through the dead city, Minato pulled out a pamphlet and then a single key from his pocket.

"Where was it again...?"

Since dorm life was not his cup of tea, Minato had brought an apartment in one of the more polish area of the island. He first wanted to rent it for an year but there was a good discount on upfront payment and purchase. The school was just a few blocks away from his new home so that was another added perk.

Minato navigated his way through the city and the coffins, hurrying up when he heard a few whispers from the corners and eventually, he reached his apartment, a double story building all for himself. He unlocked the door with the key he had been given and stepped inside, a little pleased at the fact that his new home was already furnished with the living essentials. He dropped his belongings on the floor, locked the door behind him and went ahead to inspect his investment.

"Nice place..."

After a small tour around the building, he unlocked his bedroom and stepped inside, giving out a harrowing sigh since he had to carry his belongings all by himself. The lack of servants was going to be an issue but maybe he could find someone in the coming days. He spent the next few minutes taking out his clothes, laptop and basic hygiene products, decorating his new room until he grew fed up and sat on the bed.

There were still ten minutes to the end of the Hour.

"What a drag..."

Minato said, unbuttoning and stripping out of his jacket. He leaned back on his hands and closed his eye for the moment-

"Hello..."

The blunet jolted up on his bed and he stood up, grabbing his still heavy backpack to defend himself from intruders which was unlikely given that nobody else but him operated in the current hour so then where did the voice...

Minato caught someone in the doorway and realizing that he was the stronger one between the two, he relaxed the hold around the backpack and took a few steps forward, a very annoyed glare etched onto his normally bored and stoic face.

"What the hell are you doing here?"

Minato asked, looking down to keep his stare...

On the boy...

He had no idea how such a mongrel was able to enter his apartment, clad in a disheveled prison suit and old sandals and carrying what seemed to be a red file with a single piece of paper inside.

"Who the hell are you?"

The boy did not respond to his question, instead he pushed the file he was holding in his direction, an eerie yet annoying smile plastered on his face, one that pleaded him to take the contract but Minato had no intention of doing so.

"What?"

"Please sign the contract..."

The blunet huffed and went back to his bed, sitting down and fixing another glare on the boy. "Go away, fool. Or else."

The child was not deterred by his hostile response and moved closer to the bed, still holding out the contract for him to sign.

"Please, this is for your own good," he pleaded again, widening his large blue eyes.

"I said, get lost," Minato warned again. He had signed all the contracts that he needed to and no intention of even humoring the boy with whatever stupidity he was up to. "Leave now."

"You must sign the contract," he asked for the third time and-

"To hell with your contract!"

Minato spat and snatched the file from his grasp. He tore the file in half and then did the same to the single piece of paper inside, shredding the stupid contract to bits which he then tossed in the face of the boy.

"There, now beat it!"

The child did not respond to his outburst as he seemed on the verge of tears looking at the pieces of paper next to his feet. He stood still as a robot, not moving or even breathing, just staring down in disbelief while Minato was just about ready to physically drag him out from his apartment.

Just then, the child disappeared and the blunet blinked, quickly looking around to locate him but he was nowhere to be found.

"What is going on...?"

He sped out of the room and searched around the house in-case the boy broke something out of spite but after searching well over for ten minutes, he found no sign of damage or the boy and so he went back to his room. The Hour was over by then but his sleep had vanished after what had transpired.

Minato walked towards the window and took a look at the city which was now bustling well into midnight. His gut feeling about coming back to the city was coming back to bite him as he felt like he had made a mistake, especially after what had occurred.

The players had assembled.

The battle lines had been drawn.

The Gods has picked their champions, however flawed they maybe.

And the mother of all awaited at the end.

Minato closed the window and pulled the curtains, blocking out the light as he stalked off to bed.

"Whatever..."

All under the watchful of someone unknown and familiar...

Wow, never thought I'd post a new story here again but... the world is a strange place. I had not updated worth a shit in the past year and a half but here I am. This is honestly a once in a lifetime phenomena that is happening right now, makes it hard to even keep up. The entire planet is effectively in lockdown mode and I have nothing better to do until this boils over.

So here is something. This idea was on my mind for a while and if you connect the dots you will be what is going on. This was more of a personality chapter to give an insight into how different this Minato is, guy grew up into an asshole. Let's see how this goes, this will brutal and sad like my other fics so there's a warning.

Let's hope I don't get to finish this as a vaccination pops up tomorrow and we all go back to work.

Do review and toss around theories.

And I mean this truly, to all my readers, new and old, haters or fans, take care of yourselves and your friends and family in these times. This is not a common flu as evident by the spike in the death percentage. Be very, very careful in the coming months.

Doom and gloom out of the way, I hope this provides some sort of distraction, for me and for you as well.

Take care.
Cheers!