Chapter 6
Glimmer Of Hope
Am I going to sit here and do nothing? And the girl I just met—will I seriously let her fight this by herself?
I just don’t get what’s happening. I mean, why are so many people dying? I thought I understood this world... but I was wrong.
Kyo weeps on the ground as he thinks about his current situation.
Right, what should I do? Should I help people around me? Or do I chase after her? I just don’t know what to do?!
“Help!..HELP! Anyone!” A person screams.
Huh, someone is asking for help.
Kyo lifts his head and sees a guy standing on the sidewalk to his right.
Kyo notices the man wearing a nice black suit, a white shirt underneath, and a black tie. The man also has a comb-over with his black hair.
Kyo thinks about what to do but doesn’t take long to decide.
I Want to help people! Kyo thinks as he pulls himself off the ground.
“Sir!” Kyo screams over to the man.
The man looks over at the kid, screaming over to him.
“Hey…Kid, can you help me?” the man asks, tears running down his face.
“Sure, I’ll do whatever I can!”
“Finally, someone wants to help me!” The man says as he grabs Kyo and cries on Kyo’s shoulder.
“Okay, sir, I’m going to need you to tell me what you need help with,” Kyo says as he gently pushes the guy back.
This guy doesn’t seem to have any injuries, so what could he ask for help with?
“I need help with finding my missing daughter—” The man says as he falls to the ground crying.
This guy needs help finding a missing kid, huh…then Kyo suddenly thinks about how he just saw a kid die, someone he could’ve saved.
That’s right, I just saw a kid die. I failed, and I’m now being asked to help with helping another kid. Kyo grabs his shirt and twists it in disgust.
“So…kid, can you help me?” The man says, practically begging at this point.
Ho—how can I say no?
“Yeah, I’ll help you,” Kyo says with a fake smile.
God, I can’t get wrapped up in my feelings right now. This guy really needs help, so that’s what I will do.
“Hey, I’m going to need you to give me a description of your lost child.”
“Right, um, the kid you will be looking for is a girl roughly 40 inches or 100 cm tall. She has pink pajamas on with like a monster hoodie.”
“Okay, and do you have any idea which direction she might have gone?”
“Uhh no, actually I was taking a work call, then suddenly a building exploded, and then she’s gone.”
“Okay, I guess you and I are just going to have to split up. I will run towards where the explosion came from. You run the other way, okay!”
“Yeah, sure.” The man says, agreeing.
“Okay, let’s go!” Kyo says.
Okay, she is about 100cm tall or 40 inches tall and wearing pink pajamas. Kyo thinks while running towards the explosion, looking.
Kyo runs down the road, the smoke burning his lungs, and the smell of blood surrounds him with every step he takes; the distant sirens wail.
He notices up ahead that there is a wreckage and observes even more closely and notices a young woman trapped under a car.
Kyo was going to just run by her but saw that there was movement from under the car.
Huh, is she still alive? Kyo stops himself and runs over to her to check her out.
“Hey…girl, are you still alive?” Kyo looks closely at the car and realizes it’s a heavy-duty pickup truck that’s all white except for its black tires with steel rims.
Oh, the truck has a brand on it. Let’s see, it’s called…
‘The failed experiments.’
What the—what a strange name for a company, Kyo thought.
“Hey…someone there?” The girl asks, just barely able to say the words as the heavy truck is crushing her chest.
Oh, she can speak, perfect. Kyo thought.
“Yes, I’m here,” says Kyo.
“I know this might be a huge ask, but can you help me get out from under this truck? I highly doubt you can, though.”
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“What do you mean highly doubt?” Kyo asks.
“For one, the truck is hefty, so I don’t think you will be able to flip it, and second, I think if you managed to pull me out, I would die within minutes because of the amount of pressure my chest is under right now.”
“What, seriously! No, there has to be something I can do!” Kyo says desperately.
There’s no way I’m letting someone else die on my watch! Not again!
“Okay, listen, I will try to lift the truck.”
Kyo crouches puts his hands underneath the truck, and tries to lift it.
“AaAahhAhHA!” Kyo struggles to get the truck even to budge.
God, it’s so heavy! Just after one attempt, my arms feel like noodles right now. My back is also starting to hurt.
I couldn’t get it that time, but I swear I will this time! Kyo thinks
“Hey, kid, it’s pointless. I don’t think you're going to be able to move it. So, instead, how about we introduce ourselves.” The girl says.
“I’ll start my name is Hana.”
Hana's voice slowly starts to get weaker.
“What! We don’t have time for introductions, so what we need to do is get you out from under the truck!” Kyo says.
“Kid—just tell me your name already,” Hana says with a weak voice.
Kyo sighs
“Fine…my name is Kyo Ito.” He says with a sad look on his face.
“Kyo, that’s a nice name,” Hana says with a smile, her voice is faint.
“Tell me something about yourself, Kyo,” Hana says.
“I’m sorry, but we don’t have time right now for a stupid chat,” Kyo says as he attempts to lift the truck again.
“AaAaAhHhH!” Kyo failed to lift the truck again.
Kyo huffs hard as he tries to catch his breath.
“Listen, Kyo! This truck isn’t moving, so can we please just chat?”
Hana’s voice grows even weaker.
“But…But I have to help you. I won’t let somebody die again on my watch—!” Kyo starts to cry as he struggles to lift the truck.
“Kyo, just sit, please.”
“But…”
“Please, Kyo.”
“Fin—fine,” Kyo says as he sits down, ready to talk finally.
“ I guess you had a similar scenario already tonight, huh?” Hana says.
“Yeah, I did,” Kyo says.
“I saw a kid die in front of my eyes. But what’s worse is that just before he died, I could've helped him, but no, I decided not to. I mean, the kid was asking for help! And I decided not to!”
Kyo breaks down.
“Hey, it’s alright, kid shit happens. Don’t put all the blame on you, though.”
“No, I deserve all the blame. I mean, I essentially left the kid to die.” Kyo says as he cries.
Kyo realizes something…
Shit, I've been focused on myself and my emotions that I completely forgot about the fact that a person is dying in front of me.
“Hey, if you don’t mind me asking, aren't you scared to die?”
“Oh…well, of course, I'm super scared right now.”
“I mean, who wants to die, right?”
“Why aren’t you crying? Don’t tell me you're holding back, for my sake. Please cry.” Kyo says with a gloomy expression.
“You're right. I’m sorry—” Hana starts crying.
“You're right, I’m super scared.”
“I DON'T WANT TO DIE!” Hanas's face turns to a complete mess of tears.
“I know…I know.”
“Would you like to keep talking?”
Kyo stutters as he says this.
“Yes, I would like to keep talking if you don’t mind.”
Okay, what should we talk about? Maybe I’ll ask her about her life. Considering she is the one on death's doorstep right now.
“So I have a question then. What do you major in college?”
“Oh, college, huh? Well, to be honest, I majored in law.”
“Law, that’s really cool!”
“Yeah, I thought the same thing…”
“What do you mean?”
“Well, Kyo, you probably thought to yourself by now that you haven’t seen what the world is truly like, right?”
Dam, It's like she read my mind.
“Yeah”
Kyo puts on a small smile even though he’s in a ton of pain.
“Listen, then. There will come a time when you will see the world for what it truly is, and when it comes, I don’t want you to lose hope. For example, like tonight, I can tell there is no hope in you. Your eyes are dark and gloomy. It feels like you're just dragging yourself around, hoping things will improve.”
“Trust me, you will have your ups and downs. It will feel like the world is against you, and hell, it probably is, but don’t drop your head because as soon as you do, you have lost.”
“So, in short, raise your head, Kyo.”
Kyo starts to cry.
“Why—why did you tell me that, Especially when you're the one dying? Kyo tries to wipe the tears off his face.
“It’s simple. I wanted to feel like I at least did one right thing in this world.”
Kyo clears up his waterworks. “Thank you for that. Honestly, I probably really needed that.”
“I’m glad.”
Hana’s voice gets even weaker to the point where you can barely hear her.
“Hey, Kyo, can I ask you a favor one last time?”
“Huh, uh yeah, what is it?’
“Could you relay a message for me?”
“Oh yeah, okay,” Kyo says hesitantly.
“I want you to go to my family house in Yamaguchi.”
“Yamaguchi?”
“Yeah, I know it’s kinda far, but it would mean a lot if you went up there.”
Kyo thinks for a second.
“Okay, I guess I can do it.”
“Thank you so much.”
“What message would you like me to deliver?”
“Here, come closer.”
Hana’s voice is so weak she can barely speak.
“Okay.”
Kyo leans closer.
“Whisper, Whisper, Whisper.”
“Okay, I got it. I will relay this message.”
“Kyo, I wanted to thank you for being here with me right now and, of course, for talking with me.”
“It really means a lot, so thank you…”
“Thank you so much, Kyo.”
Hana says that as loudly as she can, but Kyo can barely hear it.
“What? Hana?”
“Hana?”
“Hana!”
Kyo tries to tap on her and even moves her slightly, but there is no response.
“Noooooooooo! Hana, wake up—wake up!”
Nothing happens
No, she can’t be dead. Is she really dead? Kyo’s mind spins in circles. Was It really okay for me to be the last person she saw?
Kyo starts to cry hard. His face turns into a complete mess.
Am I just now realizing how bad the smell is, the scent of her blood, or is it other people's blood from the ton of dead bodies that surround me?
“Hey! Hey! Kid, where are you?” A guy shouts in the distance.
Huh, oh yeah, I forgot all about the missing kid. I really am a mess. Kyo thought.
“Yeah, over here!” Kyo stands up and waves him down.
“Oh, there you are; thank goodness I found you.” The man runs over.
Kyo notices that the man is carrying someone.
“Hey, kid, I wanted to thank you for helping, but there is no need anymore. I found my little girl!” The man has a big smile.
“Oh, okay, I’m glad,” Kyo says sadly.
“Hey, kid, could you tell me your name?”
“Huh—oh yeah, it’s Kyo Ito…”
“Hey, Kyo, get that gloomy look off you. I found her it’s okay now.”
“Yeah,” Kyo says.
“Hey! Hey! Anyone!” A person screams from the distance.
“Hmm.” The man says.
Kyo turns his head and sees a woman running from the place where the explosion happened.
“People need help! It's horrible down there!”
The woman reaches Kyo and the man.
“There is a big fight near the explosion and the people fighting it are on the losing end.”
What! There was a big fight near the explosion, that’s where the mysterious girl ran to.
Is she alright? Kyo thinks.
“Hey, tell me, how bad is it?” Kyo asks.
“Bad!” says the woman
This woman seems like she has been through a lot. Her clothes are all run-through with holes in them, and her whole body is scuffed. It also looks like she just got off work.
“One of them is seriously injured, and another is about to be, so can you help?”
“Hey, quick question: is one of them a girl?”
“Oh yes, actually, that’s the person who is seriously injured.”
Oh no, this is bad. Kyo thinks.
“If you can help, you should go now!”
Kyo thinks for a second. He thinks about what Hana said to him just before he died. He thinks about how he has to raise his head and have more hope.
Kyo also remembers the most important thing Hana said: Even if the world is against you, don’t drop your head because the moment you do, you lose.
“Okay, I’ll go! I’ll go help!” Kyo says as he dashes towards the explosion.
“Oh boy, that kid sure is raring to run to his death, huh?”
“Yeah, he sure is.” The guy responds.
I will keep my head held high! I won’t let this cruel world make me lose hope!
Chapter 6 End