Time Gate: Reaper

Time Gate: Reaper is the first book in the Time Gate book/pseudo-manga series. Originally serving as a "prequel" story for The Child Chapters in the original novel adaptions, Reaper delves into the origin stories of Uzuki Kasahara, Mitsuhiro Minamimoto, Yashiro Takahashi, Shuto Kaniji, and several other characters whose stories would help lay the groundwork for the next nine books. Since the 2010 novel adaptions, Time Gate: Reaper has gone on to become a much more crucial part of the series than its original origin story purpose, serving as one of the most important books in the series. It has since been published in its entirety in a novel format, available for online purchase. The manga version is currently still in development.

Plot
Reaper introduces many of the most crucial characters to the entire series, including Uzuki Kasahara, who serves as the main protagonist of the story. Due to the complexity of the series and its intertwining plotlines, the plot explanation below has been divided into subsections, which can be found in the Content Table at the top of the page.

Uzuki's Introduction // Mitsuhiro's Timers
Uzuki is quick to introduce herself and outline in great detail one particular day at the Adythiel Academy, spent with her friends, Saichi Durami, Yashiro Takahashi, and Mikumi Jishiru. While the narrative is sprinkled with her personal flair, most of her quips focus on Mitsuhiro Minamimoto, whom she criticizes in ever greater detail, for no particular reason (that's evident to the reader, at the very least). Despite her distaste and attempts to avoid him, she finds it particularly difficult, and reaches her breaking point when he manages to pull her aside and speak to her directly, claiming that she has to be wary of another student. Uzuki brushes off his warnings.

As her day continues normally, Uzuki is once again forced to interact with Mitsuhiro, this time in a way she can't avoid - she and Mitsuhiro are made partners in Strategics & Defense. Uzuki twists this to her advantage, however, by interrogating Mitsuhiro about his earlier warnings. He tells her about a woman named Clavinova, who he claims is an Angel and has gone rogue, which could prove to be dangerous for the students at the school. Still, Uzuki doesn't take his warnings seriously.

At the end of the school day, during her walk home - exactly as Mitsuhiro had feared - Uzuki is attacked by Clavinova, who claims she'll be heralded as a hero for taking Uzuki's life, which, according to her, will be coming to an end soon anyway. Though she's unappreciative of it, Mitsuhiro intercepts and not only stops Clavinova from taking Uzuki's life, but takes Clavinova's as well, in an act of beheading. It's after this gruesome confrontation that Mitsuhiro reveals to Uzuki she's going to die.

The next day, Uzuki goes on the hunt for Mitsuhiro, eager to hear him out regarding the night before. During this search, she's told that Saichi has been looking for her, so she dismisses her search for a short time to pay him a visit. After sneaking into his home - their usual way of hanging out outside of school hours - Saichi reveals to Uzuki that he's working on his own bestiary compilation book, and wants her to assist him in the illustrating process. She ultimately refuses.

Despite all her searching, it's not until she returns home that she finds Mitsuhiro waiting for her. She immediately jumps to interrogating him, forcing him to reveal that while he may have saved her from the likes of Clavinova, he hasn't saved her from death entirely - her lifespan has been marked on his body, alongside the many timers that have and continue to mark his body when those around him near their final moments. Upon questioning of his abilities, Mitsuhiro tells Uzuki that he will not reveal her lifespan to her, so as not to ruin whatever time she has left with fear of death - but promises that he will protect her to the best of his ability, with the hopes of postponing, and perhaps destroying completely, Uzuki's draining lifespan. Even still, Uzuki assures him that she doesn't need protecting.

Saichi's Bestiary Book
The next few days, Uzuki notices Mitsuhiro's absence from classes. Try as she might to ignore them, her own curiosity mixed with anxiety becomes too much for her to deal with. Though it's uncertain in Uzuki's entries as to why Mitsuhiro was absent for a total of three school days, Springlock would later reveal in a sidenote that Mitsuhiro had traveled all the way to Kalasia to dig into Clavinova's past in an attempt to figure out why she was out for Uzuki's life.

Uzuki takes a trip to the Crimson Moon bookshop, run by Flint Mansell, where she hears from Flint himself that she'll be working on a bestiary book from Saichi. Though she's initially angered by Saichi's sneaky attempt to get her to work on the book with him, she's quickly distracted by the surprise arrival of Mitsuhiro, whom she redirects her anger to. She leaves the bookshop with him in tow, against her wishes. Knowing he'll follow her until she goes home, she drags him to Saichi's house, where she hounds Saichi for his obvious set-up in getting her to work with him - and yet, for some reason, he legitimately doesn't know what she's talking about. Saichi reveals that he wants to write a bestiary book for the purpose of, eventually, tracking down the Fairy Tree Man, a mythical creature that they used to read stories about as children. Uzuki, knowing that doing such a thing is foolish if the demon is just a myth and dangerous if it's real, regrettably agrees to work with Saichi on the book.

After leaving Saichi's home, Mitsuhiro questions Uzuki about the Fairy Tree Man. Though she feels it's none of his business, she tells him that the Fairy Tree Man is a demon who became known for dismembering its victims, most notably children, though the demon itself is believed to be nothing more than a scary story told around campfires. Despite its status, Uzuki still seems enamored by it, believing that if she were truly going to die, if Mitsuhiro's warnings were true, it would be a wonder to die by the Fairy Tree Man's doing.

As he tails her home, Uzuki is greeted by her brother at the door, and is roped into inviting MItsuhiro inside for dinner. While they talk about the Fairy Tree Man some more, the conversation inevitably steers back to Mitsuhiro's warning, that Uzuki's fated to die. During this conversation, Mitsuhiro explains the nature of his powers a little more. Eventually, Uzuki questions him as to why he would go the extra mile to help her and none of the other people who he had marked on his body. Mitsuhiro claims that he's merely willing to learn to break the rules of his powers, and she just so happened to be the trigger to do so. Uzuki's initially flattered by this, but confirms with Mitsuhiro that she's still not overly fond of him.

In Springlock's sidenotes, it's revealed that after leaving the Kasahara household that night, Mitsuhiro runs into a street thief trying to mug a woman. Mitsuhiro steps in to help her, and uses his powers to suck the life out of the thief, killing him instantly. He tells the woman to leave, and then turns to return to his own home. During the walk home, he finds himself marked with the timer belonging to the woman from earlier - further cementing the fact that no matter how hard Mitsuhiro tries, fate always has the final say in who lives and dies, regardless of whether or not he tries to change the tide.

During the following weekend, Uzuki finds her boredom interrupted by Saichi, armed with notebooks and pencils. Remembering that she promised to do the bestiary book with him - and more shocked that he was serious - Uzuki's strong-armed out into the fields where she spends the afternoon and early evening hunting for monsters with Saichi. During this hunt, as the sun begins to set, Saichi looks out to the forest line, knowing full well that forested areas are where the Fairy Tree Man resides; Uzuki manages to talk him down from this temptation, and they return home. They both return to their own homes, and in the wee hours of the night, they both find themselves enamored by the Fairy Tree Man's mysteries.

Cyra's Introduction
During an S&D class, Uzuki and her friends are tested by Coach Ruin and his daughter, Sabria Ruin - an appointed summoner to the Royal Guard. During this test, all the students are tasked with hunting down wolves with scarf colors matching the tags given to each designated team of four.

Uzuki's team, made up of herself, Mitsuhiro, Saichi, and Mikumi, quickly end up in a forested area outside the training grounds. Mikumi uses his knowledge of traps to create a rope trap meant for their wolf. What they don't predict is the trap capturing a person - a girl who neither Uzuki nor her teammates recognize. Uzuki questions the girl, until she eventually cuts her down. The girl introduces herself as Cyra, but manages to dodge Uzuki's further questions as to who she is when a wolf lunges out at the group from the bushes. Cyra's the quickest to act, severing the wolf in two with a scythe. Uzuki's quick to recognize this weapon; she's also suspicious of the bandage worn over Cyra's face, crossing over the bridge of her nose but leaving her eyes and mouth exposed.

Cyra quickly excuses herself from the scene; shortly after, Mitsuhiro finds his right hand - the same hand marked with Uzuki's timer - scarred with a new timer, this one impossible to read due to it showing up as only zeroes. Though it confuses Mitsuhiro, it only feeds Uzuki's underlying suspicions. She gently brings it up with Saichi, who's also been affected by the sight of Cyra's unique weapon; but Saichi only reacts with anger, claiming that it's not possible for that weapon to belong to the same person who they're both thinking of.

Uzuki and their group return with their dismembered wolf. As the other teams file in, Uzuki notices the team who did it the fastest, including Saru and Solomon. After switching to her aura-reading eyes, she realizes that their souls are both vastly different from a humans, but she doesn't know exactly what that entails. Still, she recalls that Clavinova had a unique soul that turned out to be dangerous. Knowing this, she warns Mitsuhiro, letting him know to be wary of them and keep his distance.

After the class comes to an end and the other students leave, Saichi decides to approach Sabria and ask her to take him under her wing, with the intention of learning how to summon monsters.

Sadik's Assassination Attempt
Back in the Dark Realm, the Reaper Society meets to discuss their next step, primarily focusing on Mitsuhiro Minamimoto. During this meeting, Iwata Hashimoto, the leader of the Society, assigns Saru to keep tabs on Mitsuhiro and his companions on his own, without his assistance. Saru rejects his orders at first, but has his arm twisted by his captain, Mikumo Sato, who claims it's the best course of action and that Saru is the best one suited to do it.

Iwata moves on to the next topic, regarding Clavinova, who he has dragged into the meeting hall by two other Reapers. Clavinova, now in a Reaper body, is chastised by Iwata for attempting to murder a Light Realm dweller without orders to do so. Clavinova claims that she was under the impression she was to kill Uzuki Kasahara, but Iwata corrects her that Uzuki initially had nothing to do with their plans, and all Clavinova did was make a fool of herself. Clavinova, knowing she's now a Reaper, begs for another chance, but Iwata cuts her life short in the same way Mitsuhiro did - by ripping her head off her shoulders, ridding the world of her for good.

With Clavinova finished off, Iwata addresses the subject of Uzuki Kasahara, knowing now that she's capable of reading auras from his interactions with her in the Light Realm, under the guise of 'Solomon'. Iwata decides that Uzuki should be disposed of - despite Clavinova's wishes to do so in the first place - as she's too big a risk if she's able to differentiate humans from Reapers, and that her death could play a crucial role in nurturing Mitsuhiro's soul for the germination of the Kyodaina Akuma demon seed, which requires a soul devoid of hope or humanity. Iwata calls for Uzuki's assassination, assigning the mission to their special mission operative, Sadik. Days later, back at school, Uzuki catches wind of Saichi spending his time elsewhere outside of school. Despite her relentless teasing, Saichi refuses to tell Uzuki what he's working on for the time being, but promises to show her at the end of the school day.

While the school day passes by, Sadik arrives in Adythiel's capital, where she quickly reunites with Yuuki and Vincent, two friends and informants who provide her with information from the Light Realm. During their reunion, Yuuki questions Sadik as to why she continues to work for the Society in the first place, knowing full well how she's treated and used as a tool for murder and nothing more. Sadik claims that for her, it's at least something to do. When asked about this particular mission, Sadik tells Yuuki that she's after a girl named Uzuki. Yuuki recognizes the name immediately, and wonders why Uzuki would be a target. Sadik name drops Mitsuhiro, claiming that the two are connected and are posing problems for the Society's plans. Once again recognizing the name, but with a different attitude, Yuuki demands that Sadik not lay a finger on Mitsuhiro, but she can do whatever she wants to Uzuki.

Meanwhile, Uzuki joins Saichi and Mikumi out in the fields outside the city walls, where Saichi attempts to display his new summoning skills. Despite his best efforts, he's only able to summon a mass of unrecognizable goop that can barely function on its own. Though Mikumi is still rather impressed by Saichi's pathetic display, Uzuki is far more suspicious, knowing that this is potentially a part of his plan to find the Fairy Tree Man - possibly taking it a step further, to somehow, learn to control Him.

Uzuki spends the rest of the day after school at Saichi's, hoping to keep a close eye on him and possibly confirm her suspicions. While working on his bestiary book notes, Mitsuhiro shows up. As he marvels at the work already done by both Saichi and Uzuki, the both of them are suddenly startled by a thunk upstairs; quickly, Uzuki pushes Mitsuhiro into a nearby closet, hiding them both while Saichi's mother checks up on him. After an awkward amount of time spent shoved in the closet together, they're soon freed when Saichi's mother leaves him alone again, none the wiser to his friends hiding nearby. Saichi and Uzuki are quick to resume their work on the bestiary book, and their planning for a night expedition. Mitsuhiro insists he come along for this expedition, and while Uzuki quickly refuses, Saichi entertains the idea, much to Uzuki's dismay.

Eventually, Uzuki decides to leave, taking Mitsuhiro with her to leave Saichi alone for the night. As soon as they leave, Uzuki realizes that Mitsuhiro is once again tailing her; she patronizes him for this, but doesn't immediately reject his tailing either. As soon as they enter the alleyways, Uzuki's question she had kept to herself is answered when they're ambushed by Sadik, claiming to be looking for Uzuki - and Mitsuhiro confirms it himself, that he tails her to protect her from more assailants.

Sadik is quick to attack, heading straight for Uzuki, but Mitsuhiro is faster to jump to Uzuki's aid. It doesn't take long for Mitsuhiro to realize, however, that this girl is far more skilled - yet unpredictable - and he soon finds himself trapped underneath her. Shocking to the both of them is Uzuki's interference Uzuki's life is soon threatened again, this time by an organized group of undead creatures known as Reapers; the group itself going by the name of the Reaper Society (or "The Society" for short). After a run-in with one of the Society's assassins, a questionably insane girl going by the name of Sadik, Uzuki and Mitsuhiro find out more about the elusive members of the Society, and are told that some of them may indeed be hiding among them in the form of humans. Though humans and Reapers are indistinguishable to normal eyes, it's Uzuki's aura-reading eyes that are capable of telling the difference, and such abilities make her a threat to the Society's plans of retrieving Mitsuhiro; though even Sadik herself is unsure of why the Society wants Mitsuhiro and what their endgame is. Even with the Society's members trying to dispose of Uzuki, she continuously fights back in a manner that frightens even Mitsuhiro. This savagery is shown once again when they're forced to fight Mikumo Sato, a higher-ranked Society captain. During this fight, Uzuki reveals that she once killed a man by the name of Springlock, and that she refuses to lose to anyone lesser than him. Uzuki takes beating after beating to prove this; the fight is only brought to an end by Sadik herself, who uses her unique Reaper powers in conjunction with the Keshimasu spell to take out Mikumo.

After tending to their wounds, Uzuki is questioned by Mitsuhiro as to who Springlock is, after having heard her speak of him during her altercation with Mikumi. She dismisses his request, and instead decides to pursue the help of a doctor for Sadik's wounds, which are far more severe. Uzuki decides to seek the help of Higashizawa Takahashi, an old friend and under-the-table medical doctor. Upon leaving the house, she and Mitsuhiro both realize that Mikumo's body is gone. Dismissing the oddity of the situation, Uzuki hurries into the inner city to find Higashizawa. Though she has an unfortunate run-in with Higashizawa's older brother, Makoto Takahashi, she's able to enlist Higashizawa's help.

While they recover from the fight, Uzuki and Mitsuhiro have a heart-to-heart talk, in which Uzuki reveals that she was the one who murdered Springlock, an infamous scythe-wielding killer who used to stalk the streets of Adythiel. Though she claims she did it to protect Saichi, even Saichi and her friends who are aware of her past are wary of her and her erratic temperament. However, Uzuki soon finds out that despite her attempts, Springlock is still alive, though not as active as he once was. With that realization, Uzuki makes it her final wish to dispose of Springlock and defeat him once and for all, no matter what it takes.

Shortly after this reveal,

With the Society on their tail, and Springlock lurking in the shadows, Uzuki and Mitsuhiro repeatedly avoid the threat of death, while both their timers tick down - in sync with one another, destined for the same time.

Main Cast
Uzuki Kasahara

Mitsuhiro Minamimoto

Saichi Durami

Mikumi Jishiru

Yashiro Takahashi

Springlock

Trivia

 * Reaper is the only title in Time Gate that has a direct correlation to a species found in the Time Gate universe. Though other titles in the series reference varying species, Reaper is the only book that is solely titled after one.
 * Reaper is one of Uzuki's favorite books, next to The Adult Chapters, Cataclysm, and Chronicles (all TBA).