Chapter Text
She shouldn’t have let Miyuki convince her to come.
That wistful thought passed through Shiyori’s head as she let out a sigh.
She stared at the occupied changing stall in front of her forlornly, wishing her friend would hurry up so that they could finally check out that new dessert shop across the street. The one that they had been wanting to go to for a while now but only now had the time to.
It had been around fifteen minutes since her friend had stepped inside the changing room with a basket full of clothing and a skip in her steps.
And so far, other than a few rustlings and some mutterings coming from the stall, there has been no sign of her friend coming out anytime soon.
Shiyori shook her head fondly at her friend’s antics as she crossed her arms in front of her chest, leaning her body against the wall behind her. This way, anyone walking in or out of the changing room would not be hindered by her as she continued waiting for however long it took for her friend to come out of the room.
Even after all the years she had been dragged shopping by her mother and Miyuki, she still couldn’t really understand the love they have for shopping and certain clothes.
In her opinion, it was tiring having to walk around the place looking for anything that caught your eye among the many variety of selections and then having to change your clothes every time you try on an outfit to check if they fit you or not.
Not to mention, all the customers and employees wandering around the place and crowding the store.
Sometimes she wondered if her mother was fonder of her best friend than of her.
She still remembered the look on her mother’s face when they found out that Shiyori preferred puzzles and action movies more compared to things like make-up and romance.
Her mother’s lips had curled inward into a tight smile, and the corners of her mouth had been pulled slightly downward.
Her expression had screamed to her, why couldn’t you be more like me?
The look chilled her at her young age, and even now, it still haunted her. It had made her indulge her mother despite how out of place she felt, all because she couldn’t handle the longing look that her mother would sometimes have when they hung out together.
A sudden vibration coming from her pants’ pocket startled her out of her thoughts. As she took out her phone from her pocket, she took a glance at the screen, noticing the unread message on it.
A soft smile came to her lips at seeing that it was from her little brother.
Sis! Can you please help me with my homework? Please? You’re better in biology.
Sure. She texted back with a smile. You’ll have to wait until I get back, though. That okay?
That’s okay! I can wait. Thanks so much! Love you~
Before she could text her reply, the sound of metal sliding against metal coming from the changing room distracted her from her phone and caused her to look up.
A moment later, her friend finally emerged from behind the curtain with a satisfied smile on her face, her twin braids smacking softly against her shoulders as she stepped out of the stall.
Two pieces of clothing consisting of what seemed to be a denim shorts and a pastel pink t-shirt were hanging onto her left arm, while the rest had been put away inside the medium-sized basket that her friend had been given by the employee of the store earlier.
“I take it you’ve decided on which one you want to buy, Miyuki?” Shiyori questioned with a wry smile.
“Yeah. Sorry for making you wait so long. I just couldn’t decide if I should buy them now or next time instead.” Miyuki smiled sheepishly as she raised her left arm upwards a bit in a pointed gesture before asking, “Do you mind waiting by the entrance while I check them out at the counter? We can go to that dessert shop right after.”
“Alright.” Shiyori agreed with a nod, then her lips twitched into a playful smile as she added teasingly, “Don’t take too long though. Or else, we might have to drop our plan and check out that shop next month instead, you know?”
“I know, I know.” Miyuki burst into giggles. “I’ll try to be quick, but no promises. It depends on how many people are at the counter.”
“Of course.” Shiyori stated, a smile still on her face.
After that, they split up from each other to go to their own destinations.
Once she had stepped out of the store, she stopped to stand by the side of the exit gate. Tucking her hands inside the pockets of her black pants, she decided to wait for her friend there before turning her gaze to observe the crowds of people walking around the crossing.
Insistent honking and shouts coming from the other side of the street to her left caught her attention, and she frowned as she watched three young men, who looked just a bit older than her, run across the street and almost get hit by a few of the cars that were passing through. Fortunately, to her relief and obviously to theirs as well, they were able to cross the street safely before disappearing within one of the buildings to hide from the police that were chasing them.
In the sky, right above the crowds, fireworks shot straight up through the sky before exploding and scattering into thousands of sparks. Many within the crowd, including herself, stopped to watch the impressive display of color explosions.
Hearing rapid footsteps coming from within the store, accompanied by audible panting and rustles of plastic, she turned to look back into the store to see her friend jogging in her direction. Within her friend’s right hand was the plastic that held the clothes that she had just paid for.
“Sorry to keep you waiting, Shiyori! We can go now.”
Shiyori opened her mouth to answer, but before she could say anything to her friend, a blinding light obscured her view of her friend out of the blue, and the world went dark for a brief moment as she quickly went to close her eyes to avoid being blinded by it.
When she deemed it safe to open her eyes again, Miyuki was still standing beside her with her plastic bag grasped within her hand, but her friend’s gaze had turned towards the streets behind her. A bewildered look was on her friend’s face as she frowned at whatever it was that she was staring at.
Out of curiosity, Shiyori also turned to look at the crossing, fully expecting to see the same view that she had been watching while waiting for her friend to step out of the store.
Only to see... nothing.
No people. No fireworks. There wasn’t anyone inside the cars either.
And all the buildings around them had their lights off, as if their electricity had simultaneously turned off all of a sudden.
The sudden silence that permeated the place sent a chill down her spine. It felt eerie—an eerie kind of silence, the type that felt like it was the calm before the storm. It starkly contrasted the previously bustling streets that only a few seconds ago were filled with chatters.
Beside her, Miyuki’s eyes were wide with panic as her eyes flickered around the place. "What's going on? Where did everyone go?”
"I don’t know.” Shiyori gulped, her gut churning with anxiety and her heart racing within her chest at the unknown situation that they were in.
She really didn’t like this at all.
There was no way for such a large group of people to disappear all of a sudden when the crowd was just there in front of them just a moment ago. The only strange thing that happened to them earlier was that blinding light that came after the fireworks appeared in the sky. Was that it? Was whatever that light was the cause of this? But what exactly happened?
"I guess we should try and see if we can find anyone around?" Shiyori offered tentatively. A thought then passed through her mind that caused her stomach to twist with dread, but she spat out the question anyway just to be sure, “Should we split up or..."
“No!” Miyuki immediately answered, her eyes wide with horror. Her friend shifted herself closer towards her before reaching out to grasp her hand with the free hand that wasn’t clutching on her plastic bag. A desperate look was on her face as she looked back at her. “Let’s stay together, please.”
“Yeah, okay.” Shiyori nodded her head, internally relieved that her friend felt the same way she did and that they didn’t have to be separated from each other at all.
Having reached an agreement, the two of them then spent their time walking around the empty streets and cautiously entering different buildings to see if they could find anything or anyone to help them.
Hours of walking around revealed that although no one seemed to be around, some of the tables within the restaurants still had warm foods and drinks on top of them, and many of the non-perishable foods hadn’t expired yet either.
The insides of the buildings around them were also dusty, as if no one had been there for years.
Their phones didn’t seem to work either as there wasn’t any signal, and even though they could turn it on and play around with the basic features, it was only a matter of time before the battery ran low and they wouldn’t be able to use it anymore.
It was probably around six in the evening by the time they finally decided to take a break and sit down on one of the nearby benches.
The sun had already gone down, and the city was gradually plunged into darkness, making the eerie atmosphere even more scary as there wasn’t any light at all around them other than from the flashlights on their phones that they had turned on earlier.
“What if we’re really the only ones here?” Miyuki muttered next to her, “Would it really be so bad?”
When Shiyori turned her head to look at her friend in confusion, she seemed to have a thoughtful look on her face as she tilted her head to look at the dark sky above. She had a feeling she knew what her friend was implying, but she didn’t want to assume, so she asked, “What do you mean?”
“Well, if we’re the only ones here, we would be able to do anything we want, right?” Miyuki began slowly, her tone gradually turning wistful. “We would be free from our parents’ expectations. I wouldn’t have to face my dad anymore, either, because he isn’t here. It would be like having a vacation, don’t you think?”
A vacation for just the two of us, huh. That doesn’t sound too bad…
An ominous glow coming from the tall building in front of them caused them both to freeze in their seats as their surroundings were suddenly bathed in lights.
There were still no people around them, and the rest of the buildings were still dark, but the monitor in front of them had suddenly turned on. It had a few writings in it, with ‘GAME’ being written in bold lettering in the middle of the screen.
Welcome, Players. The game will commence in a moment.
“Game…?” Miyuki mumbled under her breath, sounding confused, “What’s that supposed to mean?”
A moment later, the screen changed. The writing on the screen turned into an arrow pointing towards their left, indicating that they should follow the direction that it was pointing in.
A billboard on their left lit up with the same arrow drawing, but this time it pointed in another direction that was away from where they were currently sitting. When she squinted to look in that direction, she noticed a few more screens had lit up as well.
The two of them exchanged looks.
“Should we follow it?" Miyuki offered first.
“I don’t know. What if it’s some kind of trap? What if we’re not supposed to follow it?” Shiyori bit her lip and said, “We still don’t know what happened after all.”
“But maybe there are people there who can help us.” Miyuki insisted, despite looking unsure about the idea herself, “There must be a reason why the arrows are all pointing in a certain direction and why only the screens have electricity while the rest of the building is still dark.”
“… I guess you’re right."
Having come to an agreement, they both turned off the flashlights on their phones since they didn’t need them anymore with all the lights coming from the screens.
Shiyori shoved her phone inside her pocket and patiently waited for Miyuki to retake the bag that she had dropped onto the ground beside their bench.
Then, they finally headed in the direction that the arrows were pointing.