That day, at that time, Izumo Kusanagi was having tea with his sister at their home in Kyoto. Kusanagi was thirteen years old.
“Izumo, make tea.”
His sister was a third-year high school student, but she was relaxed without being desperate even in the summer called Tennozan. Like all of Kusanagi’s siblings, she was smart and credited with being able to achieve results without despair.
However, because she was an examined, she behaved as if her younger brother should take care of her, preferring to treat Kusanagi to tea and dinner.
Kusanagi was the younger boy who was loved and good at it, so even at that time, he obediently brewed black tea with the tea leaves according to his sister’s order. Due to the quality of the bean and the brewing, he learned the technique of brewing a delicious black tea that was unlikely to come from a high school boy.
“What about sugar and milk?”
“Leave it. When I use my head I don’t want sugar.”
“Don’t study for a long time.”
As he said that, he took out the box of cookies and served it with the tea. He sat at the dining room table across from his sister, drinking tea and biscuits while having a friendly conversation. He didn’t turn on the television. So at that time, Kusanagi, who was having a quiet time in the Kusanagi family’s living room, did not know what had happened to the world.
The house phone rang. His sister looked at Kusanagi. Feeling the pressure to “get out” of that line of sight, Kusanagi silently stood up.
“Yes, I am Kusanagi.”
When he answered on the other end of the receiver, the impatient voice of his older brother, who should be away from the sea, hit his ear.
“Izumo?! Is Japan alright?!”
“Eh?”
His older brother, ten years older than Kusanagi, was studying abroad in the United States. Kusanagi had rarely seen his older brother, who was smart and unfriendly, he was confused by the voice that seemed to be impatient as if it was a joke.
“What are you talking about? It’s midnight. Are you drunk?”
“Nothing happened in Kyoto? There was news that a huge explosion occurred in the Tokyo metropolitan area, but no detailed information came through.”
“Hey, sister, turn on the TV.”
Kusanagi told his sister as he held the phone to his ear. Although his sister looked suspicious, she immediately grabbed the TV remote no matter if she sensed anything unusual about Kusanagi’s appearance.
The channel that was supposed to be doing another show at the time was broadcasting urgent news. As the older brother said, there was a large still screen of “a large-scale explosion in the southern Kanto region”.
It seems that the news landscape was also confused, behind the scenes, there was a voice reporting something as if the staff were yelling at each other, and the commentators seemed to be upset and talked while rubbing the paper on their hands. They called for people not to approach the scene, they were urging the neighbors to quickly evacuate and to remain calm and save their lives, as they would be informed of the detailed situation as soon as information was available.
“What…?”
His sister muttered in a confused voice.
Kusanagi was confused, but he wondered if a large factory had blown up.
It was a video of the disaster site. As far as he could see, debris rising in the dust was spreading, and it was hard to believe that this was a modern view of the country. It seemed that a war had occurred.
It wasn’t a mistake in the sense that a war had occurred, but Kusanagi at the time naturally didn’t know that.
“The scale of the explosion appears to extend throughout Kanagawa Prefecture, and strong seawater inflow appears to be occurring in coastal areas.”
As Kusanagi was watching television in a daze, his sister approached him and leaned in. Kusanagi seemed to have dropped the receiver before he knew it, and his sister picked up the receiver that was dangling from the cord and told her older brother that he was worried.
Nothing bad had happened in Kyoto so far, it seemed that the southern region of Kanto was swallowed by the explosion centered on Kanagawa, but the Japanese news had not given details yet, and the safety of the second brother in Tokyo had to be confirmed urgently. She hit the hook switch with her finger and immediately called back.
The second brother of the Kusanagi family was attending university in Tokyo. There was no denying the possibility that he was involved in the huge explosion in South Kanto.
It seemed that his second brother’s cell phone was not connected. His sister bit her tongue and hung up the phone.
“This is not good. The phone line is out of service.”
His sister couldn’t seem to sit still, so she took the key to her bike.
“I’ll run to see how the main family is doing. I’ll get your phone, Izumo.”
“Yes, I understand.”
Kusanagi stared at the TV screen, holding his heart that was making a pounding noise.
He had no idea what happened. It could be an incident, an accident or a natural disaster.
Kusanagi wondered if there was a “criminal” who caused this ridiculous situation.
If there was “someone” who caused that, what kind of person was he and what was he thinking?
As he was thinking about it, the phone rang.
Kusanagi jumped a bit and immediately picked up the phone.
“Hello?!”
“That voice is Izumo’s. I’m Mizuomi.”
The person that called was Kusanagi Mizuomi, Kusanagi’s uncle who had a bar in Tokyo. Although he was an odd uncle among his relatives, Kusanagi loved him ever since he was a child.
“Uncle, are you alright!? Just watch the news…”
“Oh, Tokyo is in a panic. But your brother is safe.”
He heard that his second brother was at the bar “HOMRA” run by Mizuomi. When he was outside, an explosion happened in the southern area of Kanto and he tried to send a safe report to his family who might be worried, but he couldn’t use his cell phone, so he went to borrow a phone from the Mizuomi store that was relatively close.
The phone was taken by his second brother, and he heard that there was no direct damage in Tokyo and that he was safe, and if the Shinkansen worked, he would return to Kyoto.
The phone was returned to Mizuomi, and Kusanagi spilled his thoughts of him from his mouth, nodding vaguely asking him to say hello to everyone.
“Man, I wonder if someone caused this explosion?”
“I dont know.”
Mizuomi replied as if he couldn’t say anything else.
“Recently, I’ve heard some horrible incidents from time to time. I had a feeling that a tumultuous time had come, but… I didn’t think this would happen…”
Kusanagi looked vaguely at the calendar hanging on the wall. July 11, 1999. He thought it would be an unforgettable day for many people.
++++++++++
That day, at that time, Kuroh Yatogami was playing in his garden in Saitama. Kuro was five years old.
“Kuro, look!”
Kuro caught the ball thrown by his brother. This time he threw the ball at his sister. The ball flew straight and landed in his sister’s hand.
“Kuro, you are better than the boys in your class.”
His sister in the second grade of elementary school laughed. His third grade brother also proudly said, “Kuro has fine motor skills.”.
It seems that the reason why he is called Kuro by his family is that when he was born, his younger brother and sister couldn’t call him “Kuroh” but instead said “Kuro, Kuro”.
The mother was sitting on the porch looking at the fan while she watched the three brothers play in the garden. The suspended wind chimes made a chilling sound every time the wind blew.
Because it was a house where the air conditioner could not be turned on unless it was a very hot day, the sweeping window was open, and the sound of the television in the house could be heard as far as the garden.
“Oh, this is good. Would you like to take your children with you when you go into summer vacation?”
His father, who seemed to be watching a travel show on TV with his grandfather, said that.
His grandfather murmured.
“It’s nice to play in the mountain stream, but it seems to be a place famous for autumn leaves.”
“Hmm, it’s hard to pull off the fall leaf hunt.”
It was a quiet vacation.
The ball thrown by his brother flew towards Kuro again, and Kuro reached out to catch it.
At that moment, there was a low noise and the ground shook. Kuro lost his balance and threw the ball with his hand to get a mochi.
“An earthquake?”
His mother raised her hips and said that, but unlike a normal earthquake, the tremor was just a big tremor that seemed to push upwards at first.
Kuro stood up, picked up the ball and said, “Keep throwing the ball.”
Kuro and his brothers started playing with the ball again, but his mother was uneasy, probably because the earthquake was suspicious.
“Oh.”
His father who was watching TV made a weird voice.
“Earthquake bulletin?”
The mother on the porch leaned into the room.
“No, I switched to the news channel, but it’s a bit hectic. Why isn’t the news on right now?”
“Isn’t it strange? It’s really confusing…”
Even if the adults started running, the children continued to play without worrying about it. It was common for adults to make serious voices while watching the news, and that was usually followed by stories that children didn’t really understand.
When he got tired of throwing the ball and his sister taught him to play with the ball under her feet while she sang a song, his mother made a little screaming voice.
Amazed, the children watched television and saw their parents and grandfather with astonished expressions. In particular, his mother seemed to be in severe shock, covering her mouth with both hands and trembling a little.
“Mom?”
When Kuro got worried and came closer, his mother jumped back onto the porch and hugged Kuro tightly.
“You guys go into the house too.”
His father also came out on the porch and called Kuro’s brother and sister. The two of them were confused and entered the living room through the sweeping window, and the father hugged his shoulders with both arms. Even though he wasn’t old enough to be hugged, his mother picked him up and brought him home. Her feet were walking around with her shoes on.
“Was it an attack by a new weapon from a foreign country…?”
“Suddenly…”
“But if not, why would this happen?”
Grandfather and father were talking tensely. Kuro squirmed in his mother’s arms and looked at the television.
A super large explosion in the southern Kanto region. It seemed that there were many dead and missing. They were asked to please be calm and save their life.
The discomfort in the room that could be heard was transmitted to the young Kuro.
The mother held his head and pressed his face against her shoulder to take his gaze away from the television screen.
“Okay. I will definitely protect you. I will be with you forever.”
Kuro didn’t really understand what was going on.
However, he wanted to cheer up his mother who was still trembling a bit, so he patted her mother’s shoulder with his small hand.
++++++++++
At that time that day, Seri Awashima was eating a rice cake in the back of a Japanese sweet shop run by her parents in Tokyo. Awashima was eight years old.
The store where she was “Sweet maker Awashima”, it was a long established Japanese confectionery that existed since the Edo period. In particular, the bean paste was reputed to be exquisite, and the simple botamochi remained the most popular product.
Awashima loved red bean paste for as long as she could remember, and would go after any sweet that had it, she also liked to eat anko just with a big spoon.
For such Awashima, the botamochi of her parents’ house was the starting point and the pinnacle.
“How is it?”
The older brother presented the black letter rice cake and she put it in her mouth. After carefully chewing and swallowing, Awashima smiled.
“Delicious.”
“Yes!”
“But the bean paste is a bit tough and astringent. I think it was a bit early to throw out the broth.”
“Uh…”
The mother who was listening to the exchanges of the brothers laughed.
“Perhaps the tongue for bean paste is more than my father.”
That day, she was tasting a rice cake made by her older brother, a high school student. Her father’s policy was that “the sooner you start training, the better”, and her brother was forced to make sweets on his days off. He may have wanted to play, but it seemed that he already intended to take over the store as his eldest son, and he was seriously working on making sweets.
Although it didn’t work out, the impression that it was delicious was no lie, and Awashima loved any bean paste. She brought the rest of the rice cake to her mouth. “Damn. Even though it looks delicious.”
“There is no such thing as anko that is not delicious.”
“Damn.”
“Fufu, even if you make a mistake, it’s fine because she will eat everything.”
When her mother told that mocking her, the earth suddenly trembled.
Awashima was surprised and swallowed the last bite of Ohagi without chewing. “What? An earthquake?”
Her mother frowned and walked out of the tatami room in the back towards the store. She was talking to a customer who was choosing candy at the store and was saying, “Are you okay? It surprised me.”
“Isn’t that strange for an earthquake?”
It was a creepy and big tremor. Her brother nodded, “Oh…” to Awashima who was confused.
Awashima also went out to the store and noticed that the main street was noisy. She thought was suspicious and went outside. Looking in the direction the people on the street were looking, Awashima saw something like a red pillar of fire standing in the southern sky across the heavens and the earth.
“What’s that?”
Awashima muttered in astonishment.
Her chest made noise. She was sure something unusual was going on.
Awashima continued to stare at the southern sky with a strong expression until the ominous red light disappeared.
From there, spent some time before the situation was understood.
When it was reported on television that a huge explosion had occurred in the southern Kanto region and the city around the site turned into a heap of rubble, a woman who worked in the shop suddenly screamed.
“Are you okay?!”
The mother quickly knelt down, sat on the floor and held the shoulders of the crying employee.
“Wow, I… my parents’ house…”
She squeezed her voice out from under her painfully tear-wet breath.
It seems that her parents’ house was in the south direction of Kanto. Farther south than the debris-laden area in the news, a location that seemed closer to the center of the blast.
Cold, heavy, muddy air fell into the tent.
No one had a word for the crying employee. Her mother was still rubbing her back in silence.
Her brother bit his lip and quietly headed to the store to close up shop. Awashima also silently follows him and turned the sign around “open” with his brother who lowered the curtain.
Awashima, while listening to the clerk’s crying voice, looked at the “Sweet maker Awashima” curtain, looked at the older brother who lowered it, and looked at her parents in the store.
If that store, her home or her family were lost.
Imagination made Awashima shiver, and then anger began to rise.
It was stronger than the feeling of pity for the clerk’s crying, instead of the fear, the irrational childish anger aroused why she had to cry like that.
++++++++++
That day, at that time, Misaki Yata (who didn’t have that last name yet because his mother wasn’t married yet) was playing with his friend Rikio Kamamoto in the Shizume shopping district in Tokyo. Yata was five years old.
Since it was Sunday, the nursery was closed, but his mother was not working.
Yata was five years old, but because his mother was busy as a single mother, he went out to play alone before breakfast. That day too, he headed to the nearby Shizume shopping district with a familiar step.
There was a friend of Yata’s at “Kamamoto liquor store” in the Shizume shopping district.
He attended the same kindergarten, graduated slightly earlier than Yata and went to elementary school, but he was weaker and less trustworthy than Yata. Yata, who was small, but was stronger than anyone in a fight, took control and turned him into a boy.
“Kamamoto. Ah, come here!”
When Yata yelled at the Kamamoto liquor store window, Kamamoto’s mother laughed, “Oh!”.
“Rikio! Misaki-chan came to see you.”
“Don’t call me by my first name!”
Yata insisted that he was tired of that name. It looked like a woman’s name. After being teased, Yata hated his name. When they called him by his name, he felt like a fool. That’s why he told Kamamoto to call him by his last name.
However, Kamamoto’s mom smiled, “Because Misaki-chan is Misaki-chan.”. He wasn’t satisfied with the fact that he looked like a woman when he was called that.
Kamamoto came out of the shelter at the back of the store, shaking his round body and laughing happily when he saw Yata. He was a cute boy who would become attached to Yata without any selection, even when he became an elementary student.
“What are you going to play today?”
When asked by Kamamoto, Yata took out a white stone from his pocket. It was a stone that he had picked up on the path that he traveled before arriving there.
Yata and Kamamoto crouched down on the street surface and wrote graffiti and collected stones on the asphalt surface. People in the shopping district were quiet, and although Yata and his friends were doodling in the street, they laughed and looked at them.
He got tired of drawing from the beginning, and when he was playing with many circles on the street surface, suddenly there was a terrible noise and the ground shook.
It was more like a big monster jumping and landing, rather than an earthquake.
Kamamoto, who had been making a sickle with one foot, suddenly screamed and rolled on the ground like a ball, and Yata also jumped a bit and looked around hurriedly.
“Oh!”
In the distant sky, he saw a red light that connected the sky and the ground like a great pillar. The sky there was dyed red like burning.
“What’s that?! It’s great!”
Involuntarily, Yata said so and pointed at the red light.
He didn’t know what it was at all, but the pillar of light like a bright red fire felt flashy and powerful and looked cool.
Of course, Yata didn’t know what was going on under that, and what he imagines was an alien invasion, the gate to the demon world opening, the superhuman hero’s super special move, etc.
Let’s go under that red light! Yata tried to say that. Running home and picking up his bike… and so on, all around Yata’s head.
At that moment, Kamamoto screamed. Yata looked at Kamamoto in a hurry. Kamamoto, who was still in a fallen position, burst into tears.
“What’s wrong? Did you scrape your knees?”
“I’m scared…”
Kamamoto said in a thin voice.
Yata didn’t say he was a queer.
When he was facing Kamamoto, who was crying because he was scared, he somehow got irritated and hurriedly hardened his expression and extended his hand towards Kamamoto.
“Okay! I’m here!”
Kamamoto looked at Yata with teary eyes. He takes Yata’s hand, intimidatingly. Yata made a great effort to help Kamamoto, keeping his hands on his chest.
“Kamamoto, when you’re in trouble, I’ll always help you! So it’s alright! I’ll help if something happens!”
Kamamoto looked at Yata and obediently nodded, “Yes.”, he pressed his hand back tightly.
Yata, that time, saw a pillar of red light in the distant sky with a somewhat mysterious feeling.
Still, the red light reflected in Yata’s eyes in a cold way.
++++++++++
That day, at that time, Fushimi Saruhiko was walking alone through the gate of camellias in Tokyo. Fushimi was five years old.
As usual, his parents were not at home. He wasn’t happy with them at all, so he was quite happy that they were absent, but it was annoying having a housekeeper.
Being a housekeeper and not a babysitter, if Fushimi had an attitude that she would ignore, she wouldn’t have to take care of him more than necessary, but she said it would be bad if something happened to her employer’s son when she was there. That’s why she told Fushimi to tell her when he wanted to go out and play.
But of course he didn’t want to hang out and go out with a housekeeper.
Fortunately, the Fushimi family was uselessly large, so it wasn’t easy for the housekeeper to leave the house while she cleaned another room.
Fushimi walked out of the red brick Western-style house and headed for the camellia door. “Tsubakimon” was the name of that place, but it was also a common name for a building with a magnificent gate.
During the past few days, a large number of armored vehicles came out of “Tsubakimon” and passed in front of Fushimi’s house, and people in blue uniforms like “Tsubakimon” staff were running. Fushimi was curious about what was happening and turned his foot towards “Tsubakimon”.
“Tsubakimon” seemed calm. The door was closed and the building over there was also thin.
Fushimi grabbed the grille on the door, stretched, and looked inside.
It seems there were no cars parked at the time. Maybe they hadn’t been back since they were dispatched.
When he thought that, there was a shock and tremor that pushed up from the bottom of the earth.
Fushimi was a child with little emotional fluctuation, but he was really upset and clung to the door grate he was holding.
However, the shaking did not continue and ended with a big pitch.
Fushimi looked up and saw a red pillar of fire in the southern sky.
“That’s…”
Unintentionally, his voice leaked out.
Fushimi looked at the southern sky as if he was going to bite into it. He didn’t know if the red pillar of fire originated from the sky and burned the ground, or if it originated from the ground and went up into the sky, but the unrealistic sight caught Fushimi’s attention.
“Like the destruction of the world.”
When he tried to express his impressions of it, his heart fluttered a little.
There was a change in the building that was quiet up to that point. The door was flung open and several people in blue uniforms jumped out from inside as if rolling.
They directed their eyes straight to the southern sky, and when they looked at the pillar of fire, their expressions were tinted with despair. It seemed like they were talking about something, but he couldn’t hear the story because there was a big front yard between the gate and the building.
One of the blue uniforms suddenly knelt on the spot and groaned.
The roar, which was a mixture of pain and anger, reached the place where Fushimi was.
Fushimi was shocked at the appearance of a large man screaming and thought that the world would really be destroyed.
There was no particular fear in Fushimi. There was no one Fushimi wanted not to die, and he had no child-specific attachment to his own life.
Rather, he even felt that the event of the world’s destruction was better than his daily life.
However, he got tired of seeing adults moaning from the start, and Fushimi turned his back on “Tsubakimon” as he walked out the door.
Fushimi went home alone, imagining what it would be like to destroy the world.
++++++++++
That day, at that time, Miyabi Ameno came to a picnic with her parents in a park near her home in Kanagawa. Miyabi was two years old.
The picnic was fun both to go and to prepare.
While her mother was preparing a side dish for lunch, her father was preparing rice balls. Miyabi’s parents were a close couple who hung out in the kitchen during the holidays.
“Miyabi, it’s a fish!”
Miyabi insisted on that, standing next to her father, who was lining up rice balls on the table.
“Yes. There are salmon and tuna mayonnaise as fish ingredients.”
Her father held out a small ball of rice so that it would be easy for even Miyabi to eat.
He found it amusing to make a round shape out of rice, and on the way, Miyabi insisted that she do it, and even let her squeeze the paper-wrapped rice with her small hand.
They left home with a full lunch box. With Miyabi in the middle, the three of them walked hand in hand. It was a nice sunny day.
Miyabi sang a song in a good mood. A song about a lost kitten and a guard dog.
“Miyabi is good at singing.”
Her mother praised Miyabi’s singing.
“Miyabi may become a singer in the future.”
Her father also said that with a happy voice.
Miyabi continued to sing proudly. Both of her hands were firmly connected to her parents. Unlike Koneko-chan, Miyabi wouldn’t get lost.
The destination park had a promenade where you could enjoy seasonal flowers and a large grassy square, and it was a place where many families gathered during the holidays. As soon as Miyabi arrived, she rolled around on the grass and played, and when she was a little tired, her lunch box was open.
Her father grabbed the salmon rice ball, chewed on the sweet omelette her mother made, and Miyabi said that the distorted rice ball was delicious and ate it.
The lunch box was empty, when Miyabi was filled, she lay on her back on the grass.
“There, shine!”
Miyabi pointed to the distant sky and said that.
It shone in the distance and was as small as a bean, but the shape of the sword was clearly visible in Miyabi’s eyes. However, Miyabi didn’t know the word sword, so she used the word shine.
Her parents always praised her when Miyabi pointed to the sky and she said “Ohoshi-sama” or “Otsuki-sama”, so she hoped they would praise her again this time.
However, unlike the stars and the moon, it was an object that her parents didn’t even know about.
“Hmm? What is that…?”
“No, an unidentified flying object?”
Her parents looked at each other and fell silent.
At the point where Miyabi was looking, the red glow fell.
The red glow fell to the ground.
As soon as it hit the ground, there was a roar that seemed to tear at the back of her ears, and there was a shock as Miyabi’s body who was lying down rose up a bit.
Her father raised Miyabi’s body like a reflex.
Miyabi saw a column of red light rise up into the sky from where the red glow fell on her father’s shoulder, and a tsunami of light rush from there.
Her mother got up like a fight, pushed her father’s back and they started running together.
The people around her were running to escape the tsunami of light.
Miyabi opened her eyes and looked at the light that was chasing them.
The light swallowed the city.
A person running behind her hit her father’s back hard. Her father, who had Miyabi, lost his balance and fell, but he protected her so she wouldn’t be crushed.
The mother who was running with them also stopped and knelt beside her father.
The great wave of light was right behind.
The mother, realizing that she couldn’t escape, covered Miyabi with her father, using him as shield.
For Miyabi, who was only two years old, the world was full of surprises every day, so the light that she swallowed them was taken as a surprise.
However, she thought that the light was the most dazzling and beautiful she had ever seen.
++++++++++
That day, that hour, everywhere, every person acknowledged the incident with every emotion.
The children who would eventually carry the same sword above their heads received the incident where a huge sword floating in the heavens fell and scattered the ruins, with their own emotions.
Or they just looked at the light of destruction as they were without having a specific feeling.
Or, thinking of who he must be to prevent such ruin.
Or, as he was impaled on debris, he swallowed the fact and thought about the future.
On that day, even the fate of those who were not within that time, the only sword that had fallen to the ground moved silently.
California, United States. Death Valley National Park.
This place, called “Death Valley”, however, despite its name, has many lives. Coyotes that roam the wild in search of food and water, bats that avoid sunlight deep in caves, kangaroo rats that need little water to live, of course all creatures can adapt to this harsh desert that has evolved over thousands of years. For creatures that are not prepared for anything, like Homo sapiens who came from Japan, a country full of forests and water, this is literally a “valley of death.”
And now, there are five figures walking down State Highway 190, swaying in the heat.
They are all dressed as stubborn. One took off his knit cap, a sweaty giant trembles, the sunglasses have a broken lens, the brown hair sticks to the skin, and the hoodie has several holes. They walk under the scorching sun, like a beggar or someone who came out of a crazy party.
The main members of “Homura”, Misaki Yata, Rikio Kamamoto, Saburota Bando, Yo Chitose and Eric Surt are in a sorry state.
“Yata-san… Las Vegas… Is there still a long way to go…?”
Bando asked, as if out of breath.
“You’re stupid… a little more… we should be able to get there in a while…”
Yata responded the same way.
“Water… anything… even muddy water… water…”
Chitose lost his vacant gaze in the dry desert.
“Oh!”
Kamamoto suddenly yelled.
“Yata-san, please look! There’s a watermelon!”
They all had no energy to react, and only vaguely saw Kamamoto’s back running towards the “watermelon” as if he were rolling. Kamamoto jumped on the “watermelon”, but the next moment it hit him with intense pain.
“What?! What kind of watermelon is this?! The thorns grew densely?!”
“Kamamoto… it’s not a watermelon, it’s a cactus…”
Yata pointed out with a pitiful voice. Kamamoto returned their gaze as if he had woken up from his dream, he looked back at the cactus and turned his gaze towards Yata and his friends.
There was a limit to Eric.
He collapsed to his knees and fell to the ground. As expected, everyone responded dramatically to that. Chitose picked Eric up and Bando quickly punched him in the cheek.
“Hey! Eric! Be firm!”
“Don’t sleep! You will die if you sleep!”
“No… that’s… water…”
Eric’s face, moving his dry lips and burying his face firmly in the ground, showed a clear phase of death. Chitose and Bando looked at Yata as if the same thing was happening to them.
“No, Yata-san! What are we going to do?!”
“At this rate, Eric will be…!”
“Well…!”
Yata clenched his fist and looked up at the sky.
Until now, he had passed through many dead zones. He thought that he could defeat any enemy with that power and the red bond.
But now, they weren’t fighting something they could swing their fists at and beat them to death. Dry land and bright sunlight, the environment itself, are his enemies. No matter what kind of talent they use, they won’t be able to escape from this dead land.
Yata could only crouch down next to Eric and scream desperately.
“Remember, Eric! Didn’t you show it to Kusanagi-san and Totsuka-san, who betrayed us?”
Chitose and Bando took a breath. Eric also rolled his dry eye and stared at Yata. Kamamoto kept looking at the cactus and wondering if he could separate it somehow.
“That’s right…! If those people hadn’t done that, we wouldn’t be about to…!”
Yata remembered what had happened and hit the ground with a clenched fist.
Yes. The whole betrayal started a month ago. It was an event at “Bar HOMRA”.
++++++++++
“I’m back.”
“Oh, Anna. Welcome back.”
It was a white-haired girl and a red-haired young man who rang the doorbell and entered.
Anna Kushina and Mikoto Suoh. Kusanagi sometimes asks them to buy the daily necessities of those who live in “Bar HOMRA”. It is up to Anna to choose the items exclusively, and Suoh’s role is to accompany Anna and carry the luggage. Suoh was still holding a cigarette and hanging a grocery bag with green onions in one hand.
Suoh put a grocery bag on the table and sat on the couch. Anna carried the bag to the counter. Kusanagi, who smiled “big”, suddenly noticed that Anna’s appearance was different from usual.
Totsuka, who was helping with the preparation, came out from behind the counter and pointed at that.
“That? Anna, is your face red?”
As Totsuka said, usually the white-wrinkled expressionless expression seemed to blush a bit. Anna shook her head to anticipate Kusanagi’s concerns that she had caught a cold.
“I understand.”
“Eh?”
“Ticket. Tour.”
The shredded words seemed to indicate Anna’s emotion. She looked cool and calm, but she was just a teenager. Whenever something happy happened, the tension rose, and Kusanagi and Totsuka had spent too much time with her to understand.
The two looked at each other, turning their necks at the same time.
“What kind of tour?”
“Anna, do you have a favorite place?”
“No. It’s this!”
It was frustrating to talk; Anna took her hand out of her pocket in front of them. The wrinkled envelope, which had been held for a long time, had the following letters on it.
“"Invitational ticket for a 10-day trip to Las Vegas, USA”?!“
"What?! What’s wrong with this?!”
“That’s why! I understand!”
Anna shook her hands and appealed with a look as to why he didn’t understand. When Kusanagi and Totsuka were about to be confused, Suoh, who was smoking a cigarette on the couch, spoke up.
“Fukubiki. Anna figured it out.”
Finally, understanding had caught up.
It is a regional promotion event held by a nearby business district. If you collect 10 stamps that you can get for every 100 yen you buy, you can try it once. Since it’s a shopping street, the prizes are just tissue boxes, salad oil, and daily necessities, but for some reason the special prize was the Las Vegas tour.
Anna picked it up, the moment she realized that, Totsuka smiled at her and praised her.
“That’s amazing! You’re lucky to have a special prize! Anna, you can be a great player in the future!”
“Hahaha.”
“No, it’s strange how a praise… Anna, can I open this?”
Anna nodded in response, Kusanagi opened the envelope with a letter opener and began examining the contents.
At that moment, the doorbell rang and several members entered. Yata, who was at the beginning, bowed to Suoh, who was lying on the couch.
“Oh, Mikoto-san! Good afternoon!”
“Good afternoon!” said the others.
The people behind him, Kamamoto, Bando, Chitose, and Dewa, also greeted him. Suoh abruptly waved his hand to respond, then smoked again.
“Hey, Yata, listen. Anna is amazing!”
“Well, what did you do?”
As he listened to Totsuka’s explanation that had a smiling face, Yata and his colleagues were also excited. Yata gave Anna a thumbs up.
“That’s amazing, Anna! I wonder if there’s a once-in-a-lifetime tour of Las Vegas!”
“Yes, thanks.”
Anna smiled and answered that, suddenly shaking her head.
“By the way, where is Las Vegas?”
“No, I was happy without knowing it!”
“Las Vegas is a tourist city in Nevada, USA. There are casinos everywhere in the city, and anyone can play at any time. If you look at it, it seems that you can enjoy not only gambling, but also various shows and attractions.”
Dewa got the information about Las Vegas from his PDA and showed it to Anna. Anna was engrossed in the PDA, looking at her innocent expectations.
Adults, on the other hand…
“Big money in the casino, overflowing money… It’s spreading, the American dream!”
“This is a tourist town, so there is likely to be a lot of good food. How nice!”
“America… Girls Show… One night stands with a beautiful blonde…!”
“They should calm down a bit…”
Dewa muttered to the three people, Bando, Kamamoto, and Chitose, who talked about their naked desires without shame. Yata hit his back happily.
“Well, it’s a little better! After all, it’s ‘Homura’s’ overseas debut, right? Let’s decide here!”
“Hmm, that’s impossible, Yata-chan.”
Kusanagi, who was reading the brochure on the counter, unfortunately muttered that. Yata looked at Kusanagi with a question mark.
“Why, Kusanagi-san? It’s impossible…”
“This tour seems to be for families. Only 4 people can go.”
At that moment, something similar to an electric current ran through everyone.
“Four people?”
“That means…”
A suspicious look went back and forth between Bando, Chitose, Kamamoto and Yata. It was only natural that Anna, who won the award at the Fukubiki, would fall into that frame. There were only three spots left available, and there were seven adults there. With the addition of other key members, the opportunity will be even tighter.
Now, they had to confirm it. Who would outsmart his friends and kick them out, using any dirty hand to get the remaining three tickets to Las Vegas!
“Well, thinking normally, King and Kusanagi-san will come in, right?”
Totsuka had a delicate tone, and the remaining two seats filled up quickly.
“No, please wait a moment, Totsuka-san! Why is it like this?!”
“Huh? You can’t let Anna go alone, right? Anna’s guardians are those two, so it’s a natural choice, right?”
“Uh… no, yes, that might be the case…”
Yata glanced sideways to see Kusanagi and Suoh. Kusanagi examined the brochure, and Suoh curiously lit a second cigarette.
“Hey! Kusanagi-san runs a bar, right? Can’t you rest for 10 days?!”
“Then I’ll leave the interpreter to you, Yata-chan.”
“Eh?”
Yata rolled his eyes and looked at Kusanagi, and Kusanagi smiled and shook the brochure.
“If you go there, you’ll need an interpreter. Well, Mikoto can speak a single word and Totsuka isn’t enough to communicate.”
“But there are various troublesome things, like passports and exit procedures, right? Including such things, I think it’s better to be accompanied by a bean, Kusanagi-san.”
“Well, that’s right. It would be like burnt miso, but I think it’s fine.”
“Gah…!”
Yata was startled by the too honest opinion and backed down. And from behind, a trio of desires pushed at his back.
“No, Yata-san! Don’t lose!”
“That’s right! Our frame will shrink!”
“Please do your best, Vanguard Captain!”
A bond was a bond, even if it was lugubrious interest. Yata then nodded slightly and encouraged his voice.
“So what about Mikoto-san? I don’t think he’s interested in abroad.”
“Mikoto.”
Anna tugged on Suoh’s sleeve and asked an innocent question.
“Mikoto, aren’t you interested in Las Vegas?”
“……”
The cigarette in Suoh’s mouth turned red, exhaled smoke, and he responded.
“What happened, Las Vegas?”
Anna blinked several times as if suddenly caught. It just preceded the exotic sound of “Las Vegas,” and she probably had no expectation of what would happen. Still, she looked at Bando, Kamamoto, and Chitose in turn, and then back at Suoh.
“Money, food and the blonde beauty?”
Kusanagi looked at the three with slight annoyance, and they shrugged. But surprisingly, Suoh suddenly laughed.
“Do you want to go?”
“Yes.”
After nodding her head, Anna added as she remembered.
“I want to go with Mikoto.”
“……”
Suoh inhaled purple smoke again, then muttered.
“If so, shall we go?”
That way, the remaining two boxes were completely filled.
Yata bit his back teeth. He couldn’t help but admit defeat. He was ashamed that he backed down when he lost, and he couldn’t give up. Yata also wanted to go to Las Vegas. Or rather, he wanted to go abroad. Anna wasn’t the only one with a childish longing abroad.
Of the four places, three slots were filled. There was only one place left. Everything slipped into it. Yata hardened his fist with that determination.
“So, there’s only one more! Let’s decide! Because we’re not convinced at this rate!”
“Oh, it’s true!”
“It’s just like Yata-san says!”
“You guys…”
Kusanagi said as he weakened, but Totsuka still had a smile on his face.
“That’s right. We have to decide fairly, right?”
“That’s right! We’re friends! It must be the same between friends!”
“If so, then rock-paper-scissors is fine, right?”
“Huh?! No, that’s…”
“Come on. If it doesn’t come out, you’ll lose, Rock, Paper…”
“Uoooooooooooooh!”
Scissors.
++++++++++
And Yata, Kamamoto, Bando and Chitose were walking along the path to get home.
The sunset illuminated their faces. His facial expressions, full of sadness and regret, were like those of a lost dog. Some looked up to the sky, and some looked down, and no one tried to look at each other. If they looked at each other’s faces, they couldn’t help but feel their own defeat.
Eventually, Bando muttered.
“Well, isn’t that a suitable place? Anna will go with Mikoto-san, Kusanagi-san, and Totsuka-san.”
Chitose smiled to follow him.
“That’s right. Since they’re our top three, it’s natural for them to go, right?”
Kamamoto nodded.
“Oh, yes. Rather, I think it would have been awkward if we went. You can’t go abroad with Kusanagi-san and others!”
“That’s right! Hahahaha…”
A dry voice rang out on the way home, further emphasizing his misery.
However, there was only one person who did not try to blend into the conversation.
It was Yata.
The careless footsteps gradually slowed down and finally stopped completely. Kamamoto looked back and patted his shoulder sympathetically.
“Yata-san. Let’s give up and hope that Mikoto-san brings back souvenirs of Las Vegas.”
“Shut up!”
Yata squeezed his hand. Bando and Chitose jerked their bodies startlingly at the volume of his voice.
“You guys, isn’t it pitiful?! We must have been friends! And yet, why should we be forced into such injustice?!”
“No, it’s unfair, I lost at rock-paper-scissors, so it can’t be helped.”
“Don’t say that! I’m talking about feelings! I can’t forgive my feelings of waiting for them and burning in Japan!”
Bando gritted his teeth at Yata, who raised the flames.
“Then, what are you going to do?”
“It’s decided; we’re going to Las Vegas too!”
The words took a breath.
Go to Las Vegas. They assumed that it would not be possible without Anna’s ticket. The losers had to go home and “wait” until the winners came back.
But it is different. Las Vegas is certainly real. That place was not a dream land that could not be reached without a dream ticket, but in the United States on the sea. They remembered it in Yata’s words.
Flame lit up in Yata’s eyes. The flame of “Homura” was determined to burn without leaving blood, bones or ashes. Against that amount of heat, the Pacific Ocean, which is 10,000 km away, was just a puddle. He pointed to each and every one and gave precise instructions.
“Bando! You’re good at detailed calculations! It’s usually fine, so pay the travel expenses!”
“Well, oh, you, got it!”
“Chitose! Find out what we need and get it all! Send the money to Bando! We’ll split it later!”
“Oh, I get it!”
“Kamamoto! Prepare passports for everyone! I’ll find a good part-time job!”
“I was disappointed!”
As if Yata’s enthusiasm flared, the other three began showing motivation before he knew it. They could go to Las Vegas, no. The firm will to “go” brought them back to one clan: “Homura”.
“We’re going to Las Vegas too! Travel expenses aren’t a big deal, if you win a lot of money at the casino, it’s such a big flatulence! I’ll double it, no, I’ll pay it back, 100 times! Come on guys!”
“Oh, yes!”, replied the others.
“Oh! He’s putting on a good face! So, that’s the usual, finally!”
A red aura lit up from the hardened fist and Yata thrust out his right arm. Similarly, the other members put their glowing red arms over Yata’s and yelled all at once.
“No Bone! No Blood! No Ash!”
++++++++++
After that, the difficulties they experienced became a story in itself, but they took action on it.
By having a number of jobs that bridged the gap between black and illegal, they were able to earn as much travel expenses as they needed in two weeks. Much of their motivation was to “prove it to Kusanagi and his friends”, so they kept it a secret from the other members, even Dewa, who was with them. Akagi, Dewa, and Fujishima didn’t show their intention to go to Las Vegas, so they weren’t invited.
However, there was only one member they needed.
Namely…
“What? Vegas? I’m not interested.”
It was Eric Surt.
Born abroad, he was the only bilingual in “Homura”. When traveling abroad, where you don’t know right or left, you need someone who can understand the language. Eric wasn’t much interested in gambling, food, or blonde beauty, but was caught on the condition that “half of the travel expenses would be borne by the members” and he would eventually tag along.
And they successfully completed the exit procedure, and triumphantly left Japan.
Currently, they suffer from dry death in the “Valley of Death”.
++++++++++
“Damn, what is this?!”
Yata endured the tears that swelled with regret. There was no such thing as a drop of water that they could obtain. To survive, they shouldn’t even shed tears.
And, when Eric fell down, he pointed his trembling finger at Yata,
“No, it’s all your fault…! How could you confuse "Las Vegas” and “Los Cabos”?!“
"Oh.”
The cold gazes of the other members turned to Yata.
That was the case. Yata arranged the ticket, but it was not destined for Las Vegas, California, USA. It was Los Cabos, South Lower California, Mexico.
He notices it only after leaving the airport, but it was already too late.
They stepped on Mexican soil, not the United States.
Yata quickly apologized.
“Well, can’t I help it?! I can’t read English!”
“Then don’t make arrangements from the beginning! Usually, there were two immigration procedures, didn’t you find it strange?!”
“I don’t know because it’s my first time traveling abroad! If so, Bando would be responsible too!”
This time Bando shivered. His sunglasses had broken lenses, and the eyes behind them swam. Chitose murmured, looking at him.
“So is. I have found a Mexican who can enter the United States cheaply saying: "Travel expenses are wasteful”…“
"He was a smuggler, right? Thanks to that, we were chased by the border guards!”
“Well, everyone was happy to say, "Cheaper, better!” Isn’t it strange that I’m the only one to blame?!“
"We’ve become illegal immigrants because of you! If they find us, will we be deported?!”
“Now that you mention it, Yata-san, you had to fight the driver of the car that stopped after that!”
Under the brightly shining sun, “Homura’s” friends began to fight with each other. With death imminent from dryness, the time and calories they spent surviving should be limited, but they didn’t realize they had blood on their heads. Only Kamamoto, holding a cactus, directed his vague gaze across the road.
Kamamoto muttered.
“It’s a shadow.”
No one in “Homura” noticed that comment. They decided that it was not worth listening to the gossip of those who were beaten by the heat.
But, the comment had a more important meaning than any words that had flown out there.
“The shadow of a car.”
Chitose, who heard it for the first time, stopped arguing and looked at Kamamoto. The others also lowered their fists and looked at Kamamoto, then turned in the direction Kamamoto was looking.
There was a car approaching from beyond the horizon, beyond the bright haze of heat.
“It’s a car.”
“It’s a car!”
“Help has arrived!”
Shit fights vanished in an instant and returned to a fateful community to sustain life. Everyone took off their jackets and shook them to appeal to their existence. Yata and Bando stood in the path with their arms outstretched to stop it.
“Hey! Hey! Help me!”
“Please help!”
“Water, water! Help!”
They were desperate. Literally, if they missed this opportunity, it was only death that would be waiting for them. The boxy white vehicle slowly slowed down and stopped in front of them, perhaps because of the heat, or because they had no intention of running until they met a fool.
They all took a breath. Bando and others were crying. They could finally get out of that hell, that thought relaxed their hearts.
Between them, Yata stepped forward and looked at the driver’s seat with a tired smile.
“No, I was saved. Well, I’m sorry, but we’re headed to… Las Vegas…”
The voice suddenly became smaller.
The face in the driver’s seat was a familiar face.
The blue uniform that was worn. Black framed glasses. Beyond that, the dull eyes were stagnant, but now there was a light of joy. After taking a closer look at Yata’s awkward appearance, shirtless and even without his knitted hat, he said with a teasing tone.
“Are you asking me? If so, is there a certain way to say it, Misaki?”
You are the tinder, kindling and fuel of Homura’s ever consuming flame. Your embers keep the fire alive.
Izumo, you gave the most out of everyone. You quietly accepted the fact that your wanted successor decided to follow another mentor. You lost your best friend to a bullet and your other best friend to a sword. You brought your best friends to their resting places.
Yet and your loving heart never paused for a break.
Your red is so warm, honest, and full of understanding and love. It is warm enough to still adore Fushimi and take care of your rowdy found family. It is honest enough to fulfill your promise to be there for Tatara. It’s understanding and loving enough to step back and allow Mikoto to follow his desires.
The world took away a lot from you yet you continue to give and give and give. You always had so much to offer within you… The friendly advices, the strategies, the knowledge, a drink, a commentary. You are so full of warmth that I often wonder if after everything, have you ever felt cold in losing the ones you love most?
You stayed strong for the ones left under your care. But Izumo, when Tatara took his final breath, he took a part of you with him too. When Mikoto’s heart stopped beating, a part of yours did too. And despite everything, you continued to smile, to stand firm, to make sure that the same sad events won’t happen again.
You pour drinks for the dead. You smile for the living.
Thank you for everything you had offered. Thank you for keeping your red warm and your flame bright. May the world now offer you something and not take anything from you. You deserve the universe and more, dear Izumo.
But, Izumo, did you really ask for a King? Did you really ask for a clan? Did you really ask for a kingdom for Mikoto to oversee? Did you really ask for all these… The power, the fame, the responsibility? Did you really want Mikoto to bear the burden of being a king?
Forgive me for assuming but I bet you DID NOT ASK NOR WANT ANY OF THESE. You must have asked for an adventure, a period of peace with a sprinkle of chaos. But you never asked for any of these. You never wanted your best friend to carry the weight that comes with power.
So you did what you do best. You held his hand, with the faith that he’ll never burn you. Mikoto will NEVER hurt you, you must have whispered quietly as you held his flaming hand for the first time. He must have let you and Tatara hold him that time, a silent assurance that his current state of possible explosion will not always destroy since he wasn’t able to burn you. He was able to HOLD you without scalding you.
You did what you do best. You supported him with his clan. You became Homura’s wisest pillar. You became his second-in-command and the ONLY ADULT in his kingdom.
You did what you do best. You became the tinder, the kindling, the fuel of Homura’s ever consuming fire. And how you - your heart, your soul, your limited patience, your very being, is continually consumed just so Homura’s flame can consistently be set ablazed.
You did what you do best. You step aside, as always, and watched with sincere understanding as your best friend held hands with strangers. You witnessed countless inductions, welcomed new members to your continually expanding kingdom. You let them hold your best friend’s hands, hands that were once held only by you and Tatara (although we can all see that you and Mikoto were not the holding-hands type of bff’s)
You did what you do best. You spoke words of wisdom (BECAUSE YOU OWNED THE BRAINCELLS especially when Fushimi left) so that the found family you now have will not totally be misguided. You were the wisest among you yet you never questioned nor contradicted Mikoto’s decisions. Maybe because despite the circumstances, you two do share the same brain cells. You are known to be Homura’s strategist yet Mikoto is still the law.
You did what you do best. You polished the bar, wiped the glasses, served the best food and poured the luxurious wine. You made sure that Homra is befitting to be the castle for your rowdy best friend. You never asked him to leave the couch he must have embedded himself in since that may be his now throne.
You did what you do best. You basked in shades of red, of crimson-colored warmth that come along with the new world your best friend has found himself in. You enjoyed the beautiful red Mikoto had to offer and you offered the same raging scarlet when you followed his steps.
You did what you do best. You kept your promise. You went to Tatara when he called for you. You made him feel safe, safe from the cruel world he grew up in, safe from the villains who want to take away the little things he had, safe from the bullet that was tearing him apart. You made him feel loved, because Tatara had so much love to give that it’s about time he received some.
You did what you do best. You nodded in solemn love, one that is open to accept Mikoto’s rage and quest for vengeance. Everyone was raving about Reisi’s “burden of killing a king” (yes. I know it was a ton of burden and I don’t want to take it lightly) but no one has raved about the burden of watching your best friend, your brother, plunge himself to his death. You are so strong, Izumo.
You did what you do best. You smiled your loveliest smile and let the clan consume you once more, so that Homura and it’s flames will not die. You gave what is left of you, because your best friends left you with loads of responsibilities and I know you never had the time to mourn.
You did what you do best. You served. You served your best friend, your now king. You served your clan, your found family, your kingdom.
Izumo, you are the best person any clan could have asked for. Remember that.
