Days of Darkness

A/N: Hey guys, how do you do? This story is gonna be good, I guarantee it. Now, I know I'm not famed for continuing stories (I have lots that wasn't well-recieved) but I assure you this story will continue (I had written most of the story) and will feature characters from Attack on Titan (episode 10) so be patient! Not to bore you with details, details and more details, I'll wrote the rest of the AN at the bot.

Enjoy.

January 30, 2010...

A day of epic proportions. Legions of creatures known as "Shadows" suddenly appeared out of nowhere and attacked the bay city of Iwatodai, Japan.

They had arrived to herald their creator, Nyx, and once she arrived and made contact with the Lord of Shadows, Erebus, the world would be engulfed in Darkness.

Only through the intervention of an elite vigilante group of student fighters, the Specialized Extracurricular Execution Squad (SEES), was the world saved. They cut a path through the horde of Shadows and made their way to the top of Tartarus, the Shadow's Lair.

Their elite member, Minato Arisato, a boy of 17, confronted the Personification of the Night, Nyx, singlehandedly, and sealed her away using his soul.

He fell into a deep coma for three days, but regained consciousness on the third. He couldn't recall what happened with Nyx, only that they formed a deal before he sealed her. A deal that would be fulfilled in three years.

Unfortunately, the arrival of Nyx also allowed thousands of "outsiders", some who were thrown there due to the coming of Nyx, and others whose homes were also destroyed by Shadows, to flee into the refuge of our world through a phenomenon known as the "Abyss of Time". The Grand Seal of Nyx tied their fate with our world. They were to be known as the "Exiles". Very few chose to integrate themselves into the local population. A third of the Exiles chose to side with the Shadows who devoured their realm, and were known as "Dark Exiles", or "the Betrayers", while the remaining Exiles remained neutral, living outside society as second-class citizens. They were simply called 'Exiles'. They were often mistreated by the natives of Japan, they called "Person of the Land", "Lander" or just "Native".

The Government became aware of Shadows and Shadows began to roam the world at night, though they did not cause major trouble, except target those with the Potential. Though, life was never the same again, the world was still at peace.

For now.

Minato Arisato prepared for the opening day in college, and he was excited. Never in all his years of running and hiding from Shadows did he expect he'd live that long. Now seemed like a dream come true. Together with Junpei, they headed off to the Imperial Iwatodai University, located east of Iwatodai.

"We're in for the long haul, eh bro?" Junpei said as he dressed up.

"Yeah." Minato said, "Though, I heard some of those Exiles are enrolling there."

"Heh! Exiles!" Junpei scoffed, "The guys at school say they're with the Shadows!"

"Not all." Minato said, "Some of them hate the Shadows as much as we do. You do know their homelands were destroyed by Shadows, right?"

"I suppose. But most just HAD to join up with the Shadows! And the rest who DON'T join with the Shadows are out on our streets."

"That could have been us if we failed, bro." Minato said, "Besides, not like they have a choice."

"I wonder how some of them managed to get in I.I.U.?" Junpei wondered.

"Well, Mitsuru-senpai starting a scholarship program for Exile Scholars. Most of them grabbed the opportunity." Minato said.

"Well, that's pretty generous of Senpai." Junpei said, "After all, it was a little bit of the Kirijo Group's fault, right?"

"Not like she had anything to do with it directly..." Minato frowned. Nearly 14 years after the accident at the Kirijo Group, and still Mitsuru Kirijo, the well respected and highly regarded heiress of the Kirijo Group, is still paying for the sins of her grandfather. She, after all, was a subject of her Grandfather's sick experimentations that resulted in her gaining the ability to summon a Persona.

"Yeah..." Junpei frowned as well, remembering how Chidori, his girlfriend, was a subject of those experimentations.

They passed by an Exile man, who was peddling school supplies by the street. Wanting to help out, Minato bought a handful of pens, while Junpei bought a ballcap and a candy bar. The peddler thanked them in broken Japanese.

"Now I kinda feel bad about these guys." Junpei said sadly.

"Yeah. What's worse is that nearly all of them have the Potential. Not a day goes by where they aren't attacked by the Shadows..." Minato said, "We have to help them out."

"How?" Junpei said, unwrapping the candy bar and chomping down.

"Well... I'm not sure yet." Minato admitted, "Maybe something to defend them, like a shelter or a club."

"Not gonna work." Junpei said, "The amount of people who don't like the Exiles... Probably more than half the town. No one will want to defend them."

"There must be something we can do?" Minato said, "How about we form some kind of self defence force?"

"Like the Japan S.D.F.?" Junpei said, "Sounds like a good idea! I could help instruct them in the Way of the Sword."

"Junpei, first of all, you hold your sword like a baseball bat." Minato said, before remembering something, "I forgot my Registration Sheet at home!"

"Dude, you better hurry up." Junpei said, "I'll head on ahead and hold the line."

Minato nodded and began running. He managed to reach home within five minutes, and grabbed his sheet. He made a beeline for the University, turned around a corner when he suddenly collided with a woman. They both fell on top of each other, rolled down the slope before crashing into a lamp post.

"Ow!" She groaned weakly, "What the hell, man...?"

Minato was dazed but looked into the woman's face. Her face was heart shaped and lovely. Her eyes were ruby red. Her red hair was long, but fashioned into a tight ponytail with four hairclips (styled as XXII), that left spikes bristling in the back. Her pale skin was like alabaster. She looked beautiful, but at the same time, dangerous. Her arms, neck, and torso were covered in scars.

"I'm sorry," Minato apologized weakly

"You think you can get your hand off my ass?" She said. Minato blushed before withdrawing his hand from the tangled mess of legs and limbs before getting up. He offered a hand to the fallen woman, but she proudly got up on her own. She looked at Minato intently.

"...Did you push me down because I was an Exile...?" She said cautiously.

"What? Why would I do that?" Minato said in surprise.

"If you did," she hissed, "I'm gonna beat the living shit out of you!"

"I swear!" Minato pleaded, "Plus, you don't need to beat me up. I think I already broke my ribs and my coccyx..."

She narrowed her eyes and sized him up, "... Okay, fine, I believe you." She muttered after a while.

"Um, my name is Minato Arisato." Minato said, extending his hand.

The Exile looked at his hand warily before shaking it, "Minako Arisato."

Minato felt strange. He was quite sure they weren't related, being from other worlds and all, but he somehow felt a connection with her.

"Mind doing me a favor?" Minako said.

"Oh, yeah, sure!" Minato cried immediately, wanting to make up for sending the young woman down the slope.

"I'm headed to this school, Iwatodai Imperial-Something-something. I can't really find my way around this town. Mind helping me out?"

"I was actually headed there right now." Minato said, "You can come with me."

Minako nodded and picked up her belongings, "Let's go then, Minato."

Minato smiled awkwardly and they went off. Minato couldn't help but steal glances at Minako's direction. He did not feel attracted to her, but he felt as if he knew her from somewhere. As if they were meant to meet.

"Are you an enrollee as well?" She asked suddenly.

"Second year," Minato said.

"Me too." Minako nodded, "Well, at least I know someone now."

"Yeah." Minato said, "So, uh, I wanna ask something..."

"Yes?"

"Why did you think I pushed you?" Minato asked.

She shrugged, "It's the kind of thing people around here do. One even stuck gum to my hair."

"Really?!" Minato cried in shock, "Unbelievable..."

"Yeah." Minako nodded, "Of course, I sent that idiot to the hospital with a broken nose..."

Minato laughed, but Minako's face remained passive, as if she was serious.

"So, uh, where are you from...?"

"You know," Minako said suddenly, "If you want to ask if I'm an Exile, the answer is yes."

Minato nodded, "Shadows?"

She nodded, "Yep. Those things devoured everything our world."

"Bastards." Minato hissed.

"Yeah. I heard about you, by the way." Minako winked, "You're something of a celebrity among the Exile Community."

Minato blushed. He didn't like attention and preferred not to be praised for something he needed to do, "Is that so?"

"Yes, it is... Oh great Messiah." Minako said, sweeping an arm and bowing in jest. She then smiled at Minato.

"C-Come on, now..." Minato said and they both laughed.

"You know, I pictured you... taller, more imposing." Minako said, "You aren't exactly scary to look at. You look like you'd prefer to sleep all day and listen to music."

Minato nodded, because that was what he preferred to do all day, "Well, looks are often misleading."

Minato and Minako continued walking, before they came across a blonde Exile, a student of IIU.

"Heeeey Minako." He greeted cheerily, "Who's the Lander?"

"Hey Lee." She greeted, "This is Minato Arisato, you know, the guy who beat the shit out of them Shadows?"

The Exile, Lee, widened his eyes, "No way."

"Way." Minako winked.

"How much did she pay you to go out with her?" Lee asked Minato.

Minako's face contorted with rage, and she smacked Lee, "G-Get out of here!"

"Alright, alright... It was nice meeting you!" Lee said before taking off.

"As you can see..." Minako huffed, "Some Exiles have no decorum..."

Minato laughed and they continued. When they arrived at IIU, Minako seemed impressed.

"Our schools back home are much more smaller..." She mused, "They certainly don't look this inviting."

"Come on," Minato said, "Junpei's waiting for us."

"Who's Junpei?" Minako asked.

"He's, well, he's a Junpei." Minato said simply.

When Minato and Minako arrived, Junpei was crossing his arms and seemed livid.

"I hold the line for you for the sake of our friendship and brotherhood... AND YOU GO RUNNING OFF TO PICK UP GIRLS?!" He roared so loudly that the registrar jumped in surprise.

Minako closed in on Minato, "I see now."

Minato nodded, "Junpei, gimme a break. This is Minako. She's new around here and didn't know where the school was. I just met her."

"Oh, a likely story!" Junpei huffed, and muttered.

Someone tapped Minato from behind. It was Yukari Takeba, She wasn't Minato's official girlfriend, but they had a mutual understanding and dated regularly.

"Hi." She greeted cheerily.

"Hey Yukari-chan." Minato smiled, "Finished with enrollment?"

"Just need to present my receipt." Minato said.

She looked at Minako and smiled, "Who's you're friend?"

"Oh, sorry..." Minato said, "This is Minako Arisato. She's an Exile friend I just met. We're not related."

Minako smiled politely, "Hello."

"Ah..." Yukari smiled, "I'm Yukari Takeba."

"I know. Everyone at SEES is well known at the Exile Community." She said. Yukari blushed.

"Hey, what about me? I'm a part of SEES!" Junpei cried indignantly.

"Really?!" Minako gasped in shock.

Junpei purpled with rage.

"Relax, Junpei." Yukari rolled her eyes, "It's not like we did anything special or anything."

"Oh, right... We only saved the world. That's no big deal!" Junpei said sarcastically.

"Grow up..." Yukari sighed.

"A-Anyway, we'd better finish up." Minato said to dispel the situation. After filing more forms and whatnot, they were finally enrolled. Yukari, who had already finished enrolling, went to her class. Junpei left with Kenji.

Minako looked at Minato, "Thanks for helping me. You're the first native who befriended me. Therefore, I'm treating you to ramen! That's what you guys eat around here, right?"

"Yes, as per stereotype, I'm required to say 'that's right'." Minato said with a smile.

They went over to the Hagakure, where Minako took a long whiff at the delicious ramen-saturated air. They quickly ordered several bowls of ramen, which the two inhaled with gusto.

"Yumyum..." Minako sighed, "I love eating here! The stuff is actually pretty good."

"Yeah. I ate plenty of times back in the day." Minato said, rubbing his belly.

Minako wiped her mouth, "So, are we friends now, officially?"

"Of course. I mean, you don't need to ask permission to be friends. You just do it." Minato said.

"I see. Okay then, as friends, let's make a deal of always going out to have an eating contest. Loser has to pay. Deal?" Minako said with a fiery look.

"Ehhhh..." Minato said nervously. He didn't want to put pressure on Minako by forcing her to pay if she lost.

"I'm not poor, by the way." Minako rolled her eyes, "Back in my homeland, I fought the Shadows too. They dropped a lot of gold. I brought it over this world. Besides, I'm fairly certain you'll do most of the paying!"

"Oh, is that so?" Minato said competitively.

"Is that a deal?" Minako cried, "Shake on it!"

Minato took her hand and shook it, "Deal!"

After they left, Minato was surprised to learn she lived near his street. He also found out that Minako was a fun friend to have, as she constantly made jokes and seemed comfortable with Minato.

"So, in your world, what weapon did you use?" Minato asked.

"I used a lance. I called it "Sanguine Rose". I brought it over here during the Fall." She said with pride.

Minato whistled. He heard the Exiles were always armed, and Minako's testimony proved it.

"What happened to your world?" Minato asked.

Minako stopped. She darkened as a streak of pain flashed across her face. She stared into space and gasped at the malefic flashbacks of the destruction of her homeland, chills running through her body.

"I'm sorry." Minato said in embarrassment, "Don't answer that question."

Minako shook her head, but continued to shudder with horror, "No, i-it's fine... I just have a mild case of PTSD..."

"Mild?" Minato thought to himself. Minato held her hand and reassured her quietly.

"Look, I'm really sorry I upset you..." Minato said with guilt, "I'll make it up to you. Let me treat you to lunch tomorrow?"

Minako turned pale before returning to her usual hue, "Alright then!" She said cheerily, "It's a promise. Don't try to run from me because I know where you live!" She cried.

"So do I!" Minato said, "That makes no sense, though. Anyway, I'll see you again tomorrow, Exile!"

"Not if I see you first, Lander." She winked.

They promised to see each other tomorrow. They both felt rather excited and knew in their hearts that a long lasting friendship had just started between Exile and Lander.

A/N: What do you think of the story? As a special bonus, I will start accepting OCs (name, age, etc) for at least two or three chapters to a loyal reviewer. On the fifth Chapter, I'll accept Ocs. I'll PM those interested. But no assurance, okay? Your character will most likely die at some point (Shadows need to eat) which makes it more fun to make more OCs!

Anyway, for any questions, clarifications or violent reactions, write a review and slam the review button, and I'll be sure to send you a PM or whatnot.

Ciao.

-C