Arrival

I often think that this society has gone soft.

Well, I'm not necessarily the right person to speak on that. After all, I too, am part of society.

But it's also not a bad thing, though. People feel safe. They can live their lives how they want. We are free. I've always thought freedom was the greatest thing that someone can be given.

If you give someone freedom, they can give themselves whatever they need.

And maybe, just maybe, they'd be kind enough to use their freedom to give others their freedom as well.

So I prayed some sort of freedom-granter would appear in front of me, as my boss stood screaming in front of me.

"You need to start working harder! I'm going to cut your pay if you don't step it up. Hey! Are you even listening?"

"Yeah, yeah. I'll do better."

Excusing myself, I left his office and exited the store all together.

Society is safe. That's a good thing.

But I'm bored. Really bored.

I entered the lobby of the apartments, waving to the receptionist on my way to the elevator. I wonder if that girl sitting there alone at that desk enjoyed what she was doing. My guess was no. So why doesn't she just up and leave? Why don't I?

I couldn't find an answer.

Oh well. I shouldn't think too deeply about these things.

I'm happy, after all. I have a family, I have a job, and I have freedom.

The metallic doors squeaked and scraped open, and I stepped out, walking briskly towards my home.

Opening the door, I smelled food.

"Hey, Mom! I'm home!"

Well really, she's not my birth mom. My real parents died a few years back.

Something about arson.

That was many years ago. I was 10 at the time, but I'm 18 now.

It's not as though it didn't hurt to lose them. At the time, it hurt like hell. But time passed, just like always. And now, I'm happy.

"What's for dinner?" I asked as I stepped into the kitchen.

"Udon!" Mom said excitedly, with a smile on her face.

I made a sarcastic frown. "That's the fifth time this week!"

"I know, I know. We don't have much else right now though."

I really couldn't care less what I had to eat as long as I got to eat. I'm thankful we even have food in the first place.

"I'll be in my room," I said, then walked down the hall.

I opened the door to my bedroom, and proceeded to collapse onto my bed.

Reaching over onto my desk, I picked up the TV remote and switched it on.

Scrolling through the channels, there was really nothing of interest.

I decided to just leave it running on whatever channel I stopped on, and read a manga.

I read for maybe 30 minutes, until the channel abruptly switched, and the Breaking News theme started playing.

"We interrupt your programming to bring emergency coverage of a series of murders, occurring early this morning."

"Eh?" I looked up from my manga to see footage of a crime scene.

"Strangely enough, all 3 murders victims are middle aged women, mothers of 2 or more children."

...Some people don't deserve freedom. It's the freedom of society that leads to events like these.

I said a silent prayer for the victims' families, and began to read my manga once again.

Another 5 minutes passed and nothing was catching my interest, so I went to switch the channels.

"...A strange mark was left on the wall. If anyone knows anything about this mark, please call the number on screen."

It was less of a mark than it was a logo. An eye-like shape with the letters "P" and "L" in the center.

But most of all, I felt an unshakeable amount of nostalgia looking at it. I'd seen this mark many, many times. I hurried to pause the TV so as to not miss the phone number, and quickly dialed it. The phone buzzed and rang as I waited for someone to answer.

"This is the Tokyo Investigation Unit. Please state the purpose of your call."

"Hi, yeah, I have some info on the recent murders. That mark, specifically."

"Please continue."

…

It took me a few seconds to realize it, but I had no clue what that logo was. Or where I've seen it. I didn't even have a single memory of it.

In fact, I found myself wanting to hang up, forget about this all, and go to bed.

"Are you there, sir?"

I should have answered him, if it could have helped get justice for those families.

But I couldn't.

It was like the more I searched for answers, the more I rejected them.

I hung up. I hadn't realized, but my hands were shaking.

How strange.

After last night's events, I couldn't bring myself to do anything besides go to bed.

I woke up with a headache.

And the bright LED lights that hung above my head certainly weren't helping.

School. The bane of my existence.

The bane of every restless teenagers' existence.

It's quite inhuman, really. They sit us down in uncomfortable stone-esque chairs and make us stare at a whiteboard all day. This so-called "knowledge" they shove down our throat? We'll never use it. It's all just to groom us into becoming the working-class slave. I could find more useful information online. Hell, we can't even eat or relieve ourselves without asking for permission.

Sounds like how you'd treat a prisoner.

Well, that may be a bit of an exaggeration, but in a society that seems to value freedom so much, this is about as far from free I could be.

If there was a way to burn down this school without destroying anything or hurting anyone, I'm sure I would.

But there's not, and that's that.

Might as well make the best of it. As I've said before, it's best not to think too deeply about these things.

Right on cue, the teacher walked in.

Ms. Fujimura.

She was like a militant soldier. Never showing any emotion, never talking more than necessary, and most of all, she doesn't take a single step out of the imaginary box called the rules. Ever.

This makes her extremely tough to reason with.

I try to be sympathetic, though. I'm sure there's a reason for her robotic persona. I bet if she were to let herself go for even just a second, she'd fall apart, and I'm sure that wouldn't be good for anyone.

A small burst of murmuring broke me out of my thoughts.

My eyes opened with intrigue.

There was nothing abnormal about Miss Fujimura's entrance. The strange part was the unfamiliar girl who entered behind her.

"This is Koyomi Owari. She'll be your classmate from now on."

Brown hair. Brown eyes. Nice body. Great posture.

She was certainly pretty. But more than pretty, she creeped me out.

I have a fairly good handle on how to read people. And usually, people who stand out are really easily read.

But not her. There was nothing behind her eyes.

She seemed...inexplicably pure.

Ok, now I'm just sounding weird.

We made eye contact, and she began walking toward me.

I felt a sense of dread. Was this a rare case of someone reading my mind?

If so, then I might as well kiss my social standing goodbye.

But thankfully, she walked past me and took the seat behind me. It was a bit awkward, though.

If I didn't turn around, I would feel like her eyes would burn a hole through the back of my head. But if I didn't, I would fumble my words trying to make conversation and end up looking like a fool.

So I decided to completely ignore her existence all together.

Class went on, and we didn't hear much from our new classmate.

Just when I managed to get used to her, I felt a light tap on the shoulder.

"Do you have a pencil?"

I shuddered.

It was her.

"Er...Yeah, hold on."

I reached down towards my bag, searching through it for a pencil.

I was tempted to say I didn't have one, but that would just be wrong. It was my policy to do something nice each day.

I felt a pencil and pulled it out.

Bracing myself to gaze into the abyss, I turned and handed it to her.

But my fear was in vain. I turned to see one of the most genuinely kind smiles I've ever seen.

"Uh, here."

"Thank you."

I turned quickly to end the conversation.

What the hell.

People don't just change in a matter of minutes.

That girl I saw earlier had the most empty eyes that I've seen.

Now she has the warmth of the sun?

Something is wrong.

It was lunch time now. The majority of students eat in the cafeteria with their friends.

I don't really like crowded spaces, so I opted to stay in the library, passing my time quietly while reading a book.

You know, humanity started on its downfall when it became an insult to be smart. People will actively avoid stuff like reading and researching to avoid being called a "nerd" or seem uncool. I don't understand. Why would you be hurt by an idiot calling you smart?

That said, I almost never fully get into books. The majority of them are very predictable, and I guess the outcome. Most of the time, I skip to the ending to confirm my theory.

But this time, I was really interested.

It wasn't any super exciting action thriller, or a corny romance. It was simply a study on how humans affect each other. It's really quite amazing if you think about it.

Say you want to go to the convenience store to buy snacks. It would take about 30 minutes on foot, so you decide to get a taxi. You pay that taxi driver, who has a girlfriend who has a sister in the hospital. That sister later on becomes a CEO of a multi-billion dollar company. When you get to the store, you buy three cup ramens. That money goes to the boss of the store, who in turn pays the employee who has a mother with alsimers at home. The same money also goes to the corporation who owns cup ramen, and the owner of that corporation. The owner of that corporation buys other corporations, and those corporations affect more people, who in turn affect others.

You may be thinking, "So?"

Well, I think this proves that no one is without importance in this world.

No matter how useless you feel, you always affect someone else, no matter how small.

Feeling satisfied with what I gained from this book, I went to put it back.

When I got to the isle, I was aware that someone else was there.

I didn't check to see who it was, for the sake of minding my own business.

But when I say their hand reach towards a book I like, I couldn't help but say something.

"Hey, that's a really good book."

She jumped a bit and looked up at me.

I must have scared her.

Apparently, it was my turn to be shocked, because it had just registered that this girl was Koyomi Owari.

"I've read it many, many times."

Pulling myself together, I answered her.

"It's amazing, right? The way it deals with questioning the meaning of yourself and those around you is phenomenal."

"I beg to differ, actually."

"Huh?" I tilted my head slightly.

"Questioning worth are the thoughts of an insecure individual."

Feeling a slight bit disappointed, I looked away.

I guess she has a point, though. Someone who searches for their meaning becomes closer to finding the possibility that there is none.

For the first time during this interaction, I looked her in the eyes.

She had a unique warmth to her. A warmth that needed to be kindled in order to become a blaze.

Much different from the warmth I felt from her earlier.

She seemed almost somber.

"You know, you're the first person that I really can't figure out. I can't tell if your emotions change on a dime, or if they're even there at all."

Oh god.

Why the hell did I say that?

"I take that as a compliment, then. I don't like the idea of some boy I don't know figuring me out."

She looked at me and prepared to leave.

What I did next was out of character.

"Wait, would you maybe, um, like to hang out sometime? Like after school?"

She looked at me strangely, as though I had some underlying intentions that she was trying to figure out.

"Why not? I'll meet you at the front gate after school."

Woah.

Stifling my shock at how quickly she said yes, I mustered up some sort of sentence

"A-all right! That's fine with me....If it is with you of course!"

While I ignored the urge to just run around, jumping with joy, we walked back to our respective classes quietly.

I guess I got out of class earlier than her, as I had been waiting for a good five minutes or so. Just when I thought I had been shown up, I saw a girl walking towards me.

It was certainly Koyomi, but it seems as though she had another personality change.

She seemed to have become extremely feminine.

It's not as though she wasn't before, but this is like idol-level.

Seriously, what is this?

What am I saying? I'm the weird one, always analyzing others. I should really stop.

We met eyes, and began walking side by side.

It took a while, but I decided to break the silence.

"I have this thing I normally ask people I recently meet. Is that okay?"

"Yes. What is it?"

"Is there anything I can help you with?"

She paused for a few seconds.

"What do you mean?"

"It can be anything really. Homework, cleaning, relationship advice."

She really looked as though she was thinking deeply about this. I wouldn't have said anything if she was going to rack her brain like this.

"...Can you help me be the last person alive?"

She looked up at me.

Koyomi was staring right at me, but it was as though she was looking through me.

She was completely serious.

"If that's what you want," I said back, equally serious.

I noticed a slight twitch in her demeanor, and she looked away.

"Just kidding. I don't need anything, right now at least."

"Oh...a-alright."

We continued to walk in silence after that.

I reached forward and grabbed the doorknob, twisting it open.

Breathing deeply, I braced myself.

I wonder how my parents will react to me just bringing a random girl they've never met home.

"Mom...I'm home," I said quieter than usual.

A saw a head peak around the wall of the kitchen. And with an "Ok!", it moved out of view.

"HUHHHH?!"

Damn it.

We had almost made it to my room.

My mom practically appeared behind us.

She had the look of a cat staring out the window at something interesting.

Her eyes searched her up and down.

I looked over at Koyomi and she had a look of annoyance mixed with confusion.

The seconds seemed to pass like hours, until my mom slowly began to slink back into the kitchen. I made sure we didn't stay around long enough for her to come back.

I led Koyomi to my room, and promptly collapsed onto my bed.

My room is kind of a place that is simply me.

It's just me and the things I'm interested in and enjoy, the things that make me who I am.

So it was kind of weird to have another presence here.

I looked up, and Koyomi was gazing around my room, looking disinterested.

"Hey, I'm sorry if my mom made you uncomfortable. She can be a bit...pushy."

"It's fine," She replied, "She seems like a good mom."

"Y-yeah, of course."

"What about your dad?"

I hesitated a bit, and she noticed.

"Is he not here anymore?" She asked.

"No, he's definitely alive and well. I just don't really know much about him. He's kinda like the opposite of my mom."

I looked down a bit.

"Why don't you try talking to him? You'll never know him without actually trying to."

"I would if I could. He's just always away for work."

"What does he do?"

Her eyes were very attentive, which annoyed me a bit. What is she, my therapist?

Nonetheless, I still felt pushed to respond.

"He's a police officer, so he often ends up staying in other towns, working on cases for sometimes up to a month."

Why am I telling her such personal stuff?

"That's quite the situation. Not my problem," She said, as if she were shrugging with her words.

I smiled and let out a small chuckle.

"I don't want it to be your problem."

We both went silent for a minute after that.

"You know, it's not as though I hate him or anything. In fact, I'm proud of him. He can take as long as he needs, as long as he's doing good."

I looked over at her, and she had an intrigued look. I turned my head a bit in confusion.

"I don't consider anyone interesting. We're all just the same, we live and then die. But you, you're different. I...don't understand you."

"You're quite the person to be talking about who's confusing."

My joke didn't seem to resonate with her.

She returned to her same old disinterested look.

We didn't do much during our time. I read manga and she scrolled through the TV.

Suddenly, she turned to me.

"I never asked, but what's your name?"

"Shirou Tanoshi."

"That's a good name."