Chapter 1

Events set in Motion

Haru abruptly shot up in a cold sweat just seconds before his alarm set off. The morning sun peered in from his window and onto his face.

That dream. It felt surreal. Red frightful eyes, excruciating pain in the arm, and a foul odor infesting the nose. That was all Haru remembered from his dream. Besides that, everything was blank.

Despite the sudden morning shock, Haru was still drowsy. In fact, he was incredibly exhausted.

He rummaged through last night's memories of what could’ve caused such heavy fatigue, but he came up empty. All he remembered was spending the evening in the city with his best friend, Taiki.

He still felt murky, but he forced himself from his bed and dragged his feet across his clothes-ridden room to shut off his alarm clock. Next to it was a neat pile of his comics. He always preferred comics that feature supernatural monsters like Vampires and Werewolves. To Haru, there was something exciting about co-existing with such terrifying creatures, but he had always wished that his stories remained fiction. From what he read, the monsters all sounded so frightful.

He began digging through the piles of clothes in his room for his school uniform. Luckily, he always kept more than one pair, so finding one was easy.

But something struck him as odd. His window blinds. Haru always hated keeping them open. In fact, he was quite fastidious about it. He hated the morning sun on his face. Did he open them last night?

He resumed his day. He began packing his school bag, which lay dormant on his tidy study desk, perfect for those long nights of studying.

After packing his bag, he hoisted it over his right shoulder.

“ARGHH!”

A sudden sharp pain in his arm caused him to drop the bag. This ache had an unusual warmth to it. It felt almost moist. Haru rapidly gripped his hurt arm to observe it more closely, but there was nothing.

No wound, no blood, nothing.

The ache only lasted a few seconds before fading away. There was some familiarity to it. It reminded him of his nightmare last night. He remembered suffering an injury in his dream, but for him to still feel it when he was awake, he knew it would be absurd.

Haru was still shaken but continued with his morning routine. A quick trip to the bathroom to comb his black hair and brush his teeth before heading downstairs for breakfast.

The house was quiet. Family pictures hung all around the walls. Most of them have photos of him, his sister, and their mother. There wasn’t much in the home to remind Haru of his father.

As for his mother, she was always out of the house working. The last time Haru saw her was around two years ago. The siblings had no idea what their mother did, but the house they lived in was large and lovely, and the Tokyo neighborhood they resided in was peaceful, so whatever she did, it paid her well.

The sound of the microwaved beamed out from the kitchen as Haru entered to see his sister preparing herself breakfast. Eggs and rice leftovers. After she finished heating her food, she walked out of the kitchen past Haru, shunning him in the process.

Haru frowned as he walked to the fridge to prepare his portions and eggs and rice to eat. There were plenty of leftovers remaining for the two, enough for maybe the next couple of weeks. After grabbing and preparing his own portion, he headed to the dining room where his sister was eating and quietly sat across from her.

Kana reminded Haru of his mother, well, at least her long black hair did. Haru never spent a lot of time with his father, so it would be impossible to point out any resemblances they have in their dad.

Birds outside their windows chirped as their utensils clanged their bowls. Haru frequently looked up, hoping for some acknowledgment from his younger sister, to no avail. He knew this was wishful thinking.

Haru watched closely as Kana played with her food, not seeming to be interested in eating.

But the silence became unbearable, so he tried to start a conversation.

“Kana ….. Good morning,” He quietly muttered. There was no way that his sister would ignore a greeting like that. There was no way she was that cold. A few awkward seconds passed by as he awaited a response.

Kana responded with a greeting under her breath. It wasn’t loud enough for Haru to understand what she said, but he would still consider this a tiny victory nonetheless.

Haru took in the moment and glanced at the room and the numerous photos around the house. One photo showed them when they were very young. It was the only photo with their dad in it. He was holding a cat while Kana was letting out a huge smile, which Haru missed seeing on his sister's face.

Haru attempted to keep the conversation going.

“So, do you miss dad?”

Kana’s demeanor drastically changed. She stopped eating her food and glanced at Haru with a sharp stare. She looked unmistakably uncomfortable at the question, either because the answer was obvious or because she had to speak to her older brother.

A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

After staring down Haru with a cold stare, she finally responded with a voice Haru could hear clearly.

“I don’t want to talk about it,”

Haru was shocked to see such assertiveness from his sister. But this was a rare opportunity for him, so he tried desperately to get out what he wanted to say.

“Listen, Kana!” He burst out. He felt embarrassed about raising his voice, but Kana didn’t flinch with her watchful stare “With dad gone and our mom always working, it's only you and me in this house. If you need anything from me, I am here for you!”

The room fell silent. Haru was disgruntled and still remained the main focus of Kana’s cold stare for the next few awkward seconds.

“Sure,” She finally muttered as she grabbed her half-eaten meal back into the kitchen. Haru silently returned to his food, feeling defeated.

Another oddity; as Haru ate, he never felt as if his hunger was being satisfied. Yet he felt full. The food tasted fine, but there was an odd taste of iron to every bite. He ate the same meal yesterday, and there was nothing out of the ordinary last time, and Kana would have told him if something tasted peculiar.

School started soon. The siblings rushed to the front door to prepare their belongings. Kana would typically leave her bag at the front door, usually without unpacking it between days. She remained as quiet as ever as she quickly prepared her belongings and left the house, leaving Haru to stew in his thoughts.

Haru was still bothered about his missing memories and the bizarre nightmare. It annoyed him so much that he planned on resolving his botherations after class, and the first person he would speak to was the person he was with last night: Taiki, his best friend.

*****

Haru was as an exceptional student. In fact, school was so easy that it bored him. His good marks always made him proud of his accomplishments. Still, without any parents at home, he would celebrate his achievements alone. Despite being an above-average student, he never did stand out in school. Haru mostly kept to himself because his social anxiety had always made him a lonely person.

One of the easiest classes for him was English. As a child, he learned to speak the language under the guidance of his mother. For as long as he could remember, she would always declare the importance of being bilingual. If there was anything he remembered about his mother, it was the fact she spoke multiple different languages.

But the class that fascinated Haru the most was history. It was interesting to learn about the world’s past and how one event led to another. It was like falling dominos or a chain reaction.

However, there was one class he loathed. Gym. Haru was more fragile than the rest of his class and struggled to keep up with everyone.

Except for today.

During gym class, Haru was surprisingly more agile and robust. His endurance had greatly improved, and he not only matched the rest of his classmates but also exceeded most of them. Haru's classmates watched in awe as he became one of the most athletic kids in class.

“Hey, asswipe!”

Well, almost everyone.

“What’s the big deal?! You think you're a hotshot now?”

It was Shintani Raiden, the school's most prominent athlete, and Haru’s most fierce bully. He was a muscular student and overshadowed everyone as he stood taller than most of the kids at the school.

It seemed like nothing was off-limits when it came to picking on Haru. His hair. His short height. His scrawny body. They would even go after Haru’s deceased father if they had the chance. But now they went after Haru's new athleticism. Despite this new strength, Haru still didn’t stand a chance against Raiden.

Being the star athlete for the school baseball team, he was virtually invincible. Anyone who dared defy him faced scrutiny as though they were trying to hurt the school's honor. Even the teachers won't do anything about him. Some kids who did stand up to him were bullied and sometimes shunned by the rest of the class. These kids never returned to school for one reason or another.

Raiden would even skip class and not get the same punishment as the other students.

And he was never alone. He was always surrounded by several of his teammates, even during gym class. They all showed respect for Raiden because of his star status. Raiden was like a mob boss to them.

The entire class and teacher ignored the loud commotion as Raiden and his teammates dragged Haru aside to continue their hazing. This was a regular routine for Haru, but he would never be accustomed to it. He was too scared to fight back as he always suppressed his anger. He simply would just endure the abuse until Raiden got bored.

However, an unusual rage began to build up inside Haru. It screamed to get out, and Haru struggled to keep it in.

“C’mon, c’mon!” The bullies poked and prodded the boy. “Tell us your secret! Do you have drugs on you or something?”

“Please stop,” Haru mumbled from under his breath.

“What was that pipsqueak?” Haru dared not to repeat himself.

One boy grabbed Haru and shoved him into the wall as the others gathered closely to prevent him from escaping.

The humiliation, the pain, the laughing, and the fear. Haru tolerated this constant harassment at school for as long as he could remember. But today was different. He was getting the urge to fight back. He knew it would be a mistake, but that anger he hid inside was about to explode.

“Stop,” Haru said, slightly louder than before.

“Oh?” Raiden said as he stood above Haru, showing off the few extra feet he had on him. “You want us to stop? Then do something about it!”

Haru snapped. The anger he had held in for such a long time was finally released in all its fury. Without thinking about the potential ramifications, he curled his fist and raised it to deliver a blow to Raiden's stomach.

“I. Said. Stop!”

Haru swung his fist at Raiden’s gut but yelped in pain as the same sharp ache in his arm returned. His retaliation was so weak that Raiden caught Haru's fist midswing, causing the boys to laugh at Haru’s humiliation.

“Ha! Did you really try to punch him? You know what that means!?”

All the boys began to snicker, but only Raiden wasn’t laughing. His attention seemed to have been diverted to Haru’s arm. He noticed something peculiar but kept his mouth shut. Just as the boy resumed the bullying, Raiden began to walk away.

“Leave him be,” He said as he walked away. “He spoke his mind.”

This was a surprise to everyone. Raiden was known to be ruthless. However, almost on a dime, his teammates obeyed orders and immediately returned to class.

Before leaving himself, Raiden let out a soft chuckle and stared back at Haru.

“I can’t wait until we next meet, Haru!”

Raiden said it so menacingly, but that would be the first time he called Haru by his name.

*****

School was over, and Haru wanted nothing more than to go home and relax after a stressful day, but he didn’t forget why he wished to speak with Taiki. His forgotten memories. He was sure that Taiki knew something about it.

He waited in the schoolyard as Taiki, being the energetic boy he was, stampeded across the yard after exiting the school building.

“Again?” Taiki exclaimed, examining the bruises on Haru’s arm. “He just won’t leave you alone!”

“Maybe one day,” Haru said with a distraught chuckle.

“But forget that! I’ve got a bone to pick with you!” Taiki said exuberantly, quickly changing the topic. “Where were you last night!”

Strange. Haru meant to get some answers from Taiki. He could have sworn he was with him last night, or at least that was what his memories led him to believe. From what he recalled, he and Taiki had planned on having dinner at a restaurant at a Yokocho, which was a tight alleyway in the busy parts of the city where people go shopping and eat.

“What happened?” Haru asked.

“I went to the restaurant you texted me about, only to see the whole alleyway blocked off by the cops! When I texted you back, you never responded. I thought something might have happened to you!”

The cops? Haru thought. I don’t remember any cops from last night. Did something happen when I was there? Why can’t I remember anything?

Haru was fortunate enough not to need to ask any follow-up questions. Taiki was always looking for an excuse to ramble up a storm.

“It was so weird! There were so many cops at the scene, and they wouldn’t tell me what had happened! I checked the news when I went home, and there was nothing about it on TV. I think they were hiding something.”

Now Haru was in a predicament. He knew that his missing memories would continue to bother him. Taiki ended up being a dead-end. But there was one more option. Haru decided to go to the place where he last remembered. The Yokocho.

“Shit! I gotta get home!” Taiki shouted as he scrambled away. “I need to study for my finals! And by the way, answer your damn text messages next time!”

Haru did not remember receiving any texts last night, so he reached into his bag and yanked out his phone to check his inbox.

It was empty.