The hum of the train was oddly soothing, even though he was running late. Through the window, the morning sun bathed the world in gold, casting long shadows on the pavement. He adjusted his bag strap and stared at the horizon, wondering if today would be as uneventful as the rest.

People around him seemed to look like they were waiting for the same train going to the station near the school he attended. He looked off into the distance until he noticed that he would be in trouble with the school for being late.

Damn… Well, that thought didn’t occur to me when I was walking over to the station. I should’ve ran…

While relaxing his stiff arms, he looked over to his small-sized MP3 Player that he had bought a couple of months ago. He had took a look at it to see the time present on it along with the song that was playing at the moment.

[ Playing: Kanashimi < 8:30 A.M. > 4-5-2025 ]

Ever since he bought the MP3 Player he held in his right hand, music has been like a non-stop hobby for him. It’s like a part of him now, a way to cope with his problems in life. He glanced up to see the trains passing, yet the train hadn't arrived. It seemed that it was a couple of minutes too early for it to get there, he didn’t know the exact minutes left but all he knew was that it was coming soon. Then, something caught his attention after a train passed.

An odd-looking figure stood in the middle of the train tracks looking directly into his eyes. A chill ran down his spine while looking at it from his position off towards the platforms where everyone sat patiently for the trains to arrive. He focused more closely to notice that it took the appearance of a young lady. Maybe in her twenties, but she wasn’t safe standing there. His eyes widened as he heard a hint of humming and rumbles coming from the tracks, it soon knew it was bound to flatten her.

If I don’t do anything… She’s going to get hit!

The music that came out from the MP3 Player that traveled through the wires of the headphones stopped outputting music as the port and the earbuds disconnected when he got up in shock. Could no one see what he was seeing? It was obvious she was there, it wasn’t like she couldn’t be seen. He stood up getting ready to get in the way to save her from her fateful death by the train.

“Get out of the way!”

His movements were fast, he almost got to where she was but, as soon as he tried to save her he struck out his arm and suddenly froze. The humming from the trains slowed down as if it were a video being edited into slow motion. His vision gradually turned into a monochrome view, everything had been stopped in time.

The lady who was on the train tracks moved from her position to be closer to him. She looked into his light brownish eyes that had her reflection on his pupils, muttering something that he would never forget. Or to be more specific, words that would change his life forever…

“Only you can do it… Please… Save humanity.”

He was confused at what she meant by “Save humanity”, he had been just a normal human living an ordinary life. So what could she mean by saving people or doing anything of that kind? Or maybe there was something he didn’t know?

Save… Humanity?

Tears streamed down the lady's cheeks as her thick brown hair followed the wind’s path as a big breeze came by. He noticed the tears and yet it still didn’t make sense, was he a real person?

“Tokuda Hajime… We’re all depending on you to defeat that man…”

Tokuda pictured a person in his mind as she spoke. Kill that… man? Could he kill the person she spoke of? Tokuda has never been the type of person to seek violence, he’s always been a kind-hearted kid since birth even though he’s gone through a lot in the past.

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He wanted to express his confusion to the lady still standing there but like the other things around him, he still couldn’t move. Suddenly the area around him started turning into a normal color scheme as the lady walked away while simultaneously opening a door that was formed within thin air. Everything that was happening felt like a dream to Tokuda, he’s never heard of anything like this happening to anyone so there wasn’t any other conclusion other than to conclude that this occurrence was his imagination.

Before she entered fully into the door that Tokuda saw form, she had muttered her last words to him as she closed the door behind her. “Don’t forget us… H-…”, Tokuda couldn’t put his finger on what she had said before entering the door. It sounded like a weird distortion sound straight out of a video game. Like it was trying to hide what she was saying…

While he was still stuck in thought trying to figure out what she had said, the world slowly started going at the right pace and things started moving again. Instead of the previous inverted colors it used to be, now it had turned back to the usual view he would see before.

Tokuda grasped the center of his shirt, gasping for air as the whole situation had spooked him.

“W-What… the hell just happened!”

The humming of the trains continued as Tokuda looked around to see people looking at him as if he was drunk or going crazy.

“Kid! Get off the train tracks!”

He looked at his surroundings… I’m on the train tracks! He needed to get out of his position if he wanted to live longer since trains were already on their way towards where he was standing.

I need to get out of here as soon as possible! I must’ve been cursed!

Ding! Ding!

Tokuda jumped onto the platform and rushed towards his previously sat spot he was at before this odd incident happened. He grabbed his MP3 Player that had dropped while in the midst of running before towards the lady on the tracks as well as his baggage, he brought while heading to school since that was his main objective for the day.

He ran out of the train station with the most speed he’d ever run. Running out of breath, he didn’t care. He just didn’t want any part of whatever that lady said before. The words “Save Humanity” and whatever she tried saying before were running through his mind the entire time.

“Huff! Huff! Huff!”

Where do I even go? If I even try telling my family… they wouldn’t care one bit. Hell, they don’t care one bit about my well-being…

***

Tokuda Hajime was indeed an ordinary student but, somehow he’s gotten this extraordinary request to be the savior of humanity. Still, he hadn’t the slightest idea of what he should do. If he were to go explain this to his family, he would most definitely get made fun of or even yelled at. He didn’t have a good relationship with his mother or his sister at all. Then an idea popped into his head amidst running into a narrow street gasping for air while struggling to withstand the amount of running he had done.

What if I tell the police? Will they believe me?

“Huff! Huff! Huff!”

He was worn out since he wasn’t athletic at all. To be specific he couldn’t run even a mile if told so without breaking multiple sweats. He got up from his tired position and checked his MP3 Player to see what time it had been since it felt like the incident with the lady was a while ago.

[ Stopped < 8:59 A.M. > 4-5-2025 ]

“Oh… It’s almost nine in the morning…”

Should I head to school—

His stomach growls loudly as it interrupts his thoughts

Grumpp!

His hunger grew after every minute that passed, it had seemed like he forgot to eat before going to school. Then, various food choices popped into my head. I could get Hamburgers… Or maybe Ramen… After thinking hard about what he wanted he gradually walked towards a quick burger restaurant down the road, since he was pretty close to Shibuya he decided to spend his time there.

Alright… I should start heading out.

As soon as Tokuda took a step forward, his eyesight went dark. Every thought in his mind disappeared and he couldn’t move at all. This had happened previously with the lady in the train station but this was different, instead, he couldn’t think at all or even process anything that was happening to him.

Suddenly, he was able to think after being in the dark for multiple minutes. Am… I alive? He slowly learned that his ability to move was back after trying to open his eyelids. He slowly looked around the area he was in. The thought that came first was that the area looked like a dark void, the floor, or more like everything was black.

“Where the hell am I?”

He felt the floor but it had no sound. It was very quiet in the place he was in other than the droplets of water heard from a distance. Tokuda was confused and didn’t know what to do or even how to escape this place. It could be a dream though…

Then, after a couple of moments of Tokuda trying to figure out what plan of action he would go with, a dark unsettling voice spoke up.

“You’re finally awake… Kid.”

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