It hurt. It hurt like hell. Why did it hurt so much? He had no idea, and on top of that, he was exhausted. Weren't people supposed to feel nothing when they died? At least he was sure he'd crossed that threshold—all he could see was absolute darkness, and he couldn't even feel the weight of his own body. But was this really what came after death? An eternal damnation, floating through the void?
He almost preferred seeing that thing again—the one that had brought him here in the first place. He expected it to show up any moment now. But of course, it'd probably be 'more entertaining' to make him wait, just to mess with him.
The waiting wouldn't have been so bad if his body weren't curled up in some horrible position, completely unable to move, like something was holding him down.
Suddenly, that void didn't feel so empty anymore. It felt claustrophobic.
***
He woke with a sigh, still half-asleep after hitting snooze four times. After some sluggish tossing and turning, he dragged himself out of his tangle of sheets and sat on the edge of the bed, staring at the floor with his mind empty. Same as every other day.
The fog didn't last long—he started thinking about... whatever it was he'd been dreaming. Fortunately—or unfortunately—he didn't remember.
As his senses slowly returned, he recalled that he was meeting up with his friends that afternoon. Somehow, inexplicably, he'd been the one to choose what they were doing this time.
Not without resistance, of course. There was definitely resistance. After all, he was the only one among his friends who got so bored with daily life that he'd do anything to make one day feel different from the rest.
Inspired by some shows and internet videos, he'd decided they'd explore an abandoned building.
The hardest part had been finding one—but that was already done. It had actually been easier than expected, thanks to 'new technology' or whatever. Really, he'd just spent half an afternoon staring at a satellite map on his computer. Now all that was left was to actually go there that same evening.
He stood and stretched. Just that movement alone made him feel tired, and the ache in his back didn't help. Years of terrible posture wouldn't disappear overnight. He'd tried, but apparently muscle memory was more powerful than he'd expected.
He didn't have to move far to reach the closet—his room was small, but functional.
The bed took up most of the space, along with a closet across from it, a dresser beside that, and a desk that was theoretically meant for homework but had, in practice, become his gaming sanctuary. On top of it, next to the monitor, sat a stack of manga and light novels. He usually read them on his phone, but every now and then he'd buy a physical copy—to 'support the industry' or something like that.
Miraculously, the furniture was arranged in such a way that there was still enough room to move around without tripping over everything.
Taking his time, he shuffled to the bathroom. He washed up carelessly, failed in his attempt to straighten out his uniform properly, and did his best to comb his hair... He used to have short hair. Life had been easier then—he'd barely had to do anything.
One day, for some reason, he'd decided to try a different style and let his hair grow out a bit so he could get it cut differently. In the end, he got it into his head that nothing would look good on him anyway, so he just... didn't cut it. He'd been putting off going to the barber ever since.
He headed to the living room to see if his sister was awake yet. He found her eating breakfast, staring blankly at a wall. She didn't look like she'd slept well.
She gave him a drowsy look and, mouth full of toast, mumbled:
"Morning. Your breakfast is in the kitchen."
He gave a thumbs-up and headed toward the kitchen.
"Morning."
He grabbed a plate with a couple pieces of toast and opened the microwave. Inside was a mug of hot chocolate. He liked coffee—didn't have a problem with it—but for breakfast, he still preferred the sweetness of cocoa.
He ate for a while, staring blankly at the table. Not at the wall, like his sister. Obviously, staring at the table was superior. What was there to look at on a wall, anyway?
After brushing his teeth, he left the house. As usual—or so he'd like to say—he was running late for school. He walked at his own pace, not bothering to hurry. What was the point? Even if he started sprinting right now, he'd still be late anyway.
The only daily variation was the music he listened to. He didn't have a favorite genre, didn't follow any artists with devotion—though there were exceptions. Usually, he just didn't listen to anything he didn't like.
After a ten-minute walk, he spotted the familiar, weathered wall of his school.
As he slowly approached, he saw a girl in a hoodie coming from the opposite direction. She was running like her life depended on it, moving with the speed of an athlete. Just before crossing through the gate, she turned her head toward him. But he didn't catch her face.
'Why the hoodie? Trying to go unnoticed or something?' he thought as he entered the school grounds.
He entertained himself with the thought, even though it didn't really make much sense.
What bothered him most was not seeing who it was—though, whatever. He probably wouldn't have recognized her anyway.
Once inside the building, walking through the hallways, he thought about his friends, Matt and Shun. They went to the same school but, by some twist of fate—and his misfortune—they were in a different class. Worse, they were together. He was the only unlucky one. Obviously, the universe hated him. Though to be fair, Gon was at a different school entirely...
Removing one earbud, he paused his music before knocking on the classroom door. He waited patiently, listening as the teacher's explanation came to a halt, followed by what sounded like a comment directed off to the side.
Knowing her, it was probably aimed at him. She'd already know exactly who was waiting outside.
A moment later, the door opened slowly. Through the gap, the familiar figure of a woman in her thirties appeared. A few seconds later, she spoke:
"Late again, Kai? I don't even know if I should be mad anymore... Is there even a point in punishing you?"
Kai shrugged.
"I swear it's a curse. Or like... a chronic condition?" he said with a completely straight face. "No known cure."
The teacher sighed, resigned. She didn't seem annoyed. In another context, she might've laughed.
"At least show me some respect while we're at school... Come on, get in."
With a weary gesture, she opened the door fully and made room for him to enter.
"Thanks," Kai replied with a calm nod.
He walked slowly to his usual spot by the window, front row. Nervous—though he didn't show it—he felt two dozen pairs of eyes on him.
Finally, he slumped into his chair like he'd already finished the hardest task of the day. A moment later, he put his earbuds back in and went back to staring out the window.
***
The endless classes finally ended. Kai could at last head home and get ready for the expedition. Matt and Shun were leaving later because they had stuff to do in their class, so there was nothing keeping him there anymore.
Leaving the classroom, he walked away without speaking to a soul. After all, he didn't know anyone else at that school besides Shun and Matt. Not that he needed to.
The three of them had arranged to meet Gon at a plaza before heading to the abandoned building together. First, each of them would stop by their house to change and grab their 'gear'.
The usual: clothing that covered them well, preferably dark. Maybe gloves. They'd also bought—almost exclusively at Kai's insistence—black masks that covered from their chest up to their nose.
When he got home, Kai ate, spent some time with his family, drank tea, and even watched a movie. Then he went straight to his room. He'd already let them know he was meeting up with his friends.
He stepped into his room and grabbed the gray backpack hanging from the back of the door. Originally intended for camping trips, Kai had never actually gone, so it had been gathering dust for a while. When he opened it, he was surprised—the first-aid kit his father had made him pack was still inside.
He left the first-aid kit where it was, just in case. The same caution led him to discreetly slip a pocket knife into the backpack's side pocket. He'd bought it a while ago on a whim. Good purchase.
Before he started packing, he decided to change first.
He pulled off his uniform shirt as he walked toward the closet, tossing it onto the bed with a careless flick of his wrist.
He dressed in dark clothes, as they'd agreed: dark gray cargo pants with six pockets—comfortable and totally his style. Definitely the best purchase he'd ever made. He threw on an oversized white T-shirt and a baggy black hoodie.
He found his rings on a small table near his bed and slipped them on while tucking a hair tie into his pocket—three on his left hand, two on his right. Maybe that was too many rings.
Turning back to the backpack, he started packing: he grabbed a portable charger and tucked it in next to the first-aid kit—unlike him, his friends usually left the house with their batteries almost dead. He also packed a liter-and-a-half water bottle and some snacks: a couple of sweet buns and a bag of chips. He stashed a handful of loose, fizzy candies into that one specific pocket in his pants he always used for snacks. He had a wonderful habit of snacking at all hours, mostly out of boredom, and yet somehow he was still a beanpole—tall and thinner than was probably healthy.
On top of all that, he also tucked a travel journal he'd never opened into his backpack, along with a couple of pencils and erasers. He planned to write about the expedition, or maybe even sketch the building... even though he sucked at drawing.
"Isn't this a bit much?" he said to himself.
He still had to pack the flashlight, gloves, the mask, and another mask he'd bought by mistake. He heard his sister out in the hallway asking for a charger.
When she stepped into his room, Kai kept packing without looking up, hoping she'd leave quickly.
Unfortunately, his sister didn't seem to have any intention of going anywhere. She stood there, watching him with a curious look.
"Are you going on a mission or something? Do you really need all that just to hang out with your friends?"
Kai didn't answer. He just kept at it, waiting for her to get bored.
"Also, those are some... unusual things for a hangout. Why would you need a flashlight, gloves, and... masks?"
Suddenly, a look of realization flashed across her face, followed by a hint of alarm.
"You're not planning to rob someone, are you? It's not worth it, bro. You know you'd get caught and end up in juvie..."
Kai let out a sigh, venting some of his irritation, and unplugged his charger from the power strip on his desk. He handed it to his sister.
"Didn't you come for a charger? You've got it. You can leave if you want."
She glanced at him briefly before turning her attention back to the backpack.
"You know what? Actually, now I'm way more interested in knowing where you're going with all that."
Kai sighed again, stuffed the rest of his gear into the pack, and zipped it shut firmly, as if he could end the conversation right then and there.
"And Mom and Dad would probably be pretty interested in knowing your math test grade." Kai said pointedly.
His sister stood there speechless for a couple of seconds.
"How did you...? You wouldn't dare..."
Kai smirked, looking away.
"Is that a challenge I hear?"
His sister grumbled, charger in hand.
"Do it and you're never leaving this house."
Kai walked out of his room with a calm stride.
"You saw nothing, I said nothing. We're good. Anyway, have fun while I'm out."
He headed downstairs in silence, briefly crossing paths with his mother in the living room. She gave him a simple "Take care", barely looking up from what she was doing. His father was taking a post-lunch nap. Kai responded with a slight nod and, without wasting any more time, stepped out the front door.
A cool afternoon breeze hit him. He adjusted the backpack on his shoulders, wrapped the mask around his neck like a scarf to avoid drawing attention, and got on his bike, heading toward the plaza where he'd arranged to meet Matt, Shun, and Gon.
Even though Kai didn't want to be late, that wasn't something under his control. At this point, it wouldn't surprise him if it really were a curse. Whenever he tried to leave with time to spare, something happened—some external event, or it was just his own fault.
This time, for instance, he'd already left late. It was practically time for the meeting. There were only about five minutes left—that was why he'd taken the bike.
Either he went by bike and arrived a bit late, or he left it at home and arrived very late. A slight delay could always be justified: traffic lights being red, heavy traffic... any excuse would do.
'I hope I make it on time…'
One street after that thought, there it was: the first red light. Perfectly normal, but Kai knew it was the beginning of a chain of events that would keep him from arriving on time.
When it finally turned green, he shot off, pedaling hard. He dodged cars with reckless confidence, weaving through traffic like he was part of it. That didn't stop him from getting distracted, though—looking around at the streets.
Some kids were kicking cans around while an old man watched the world go by from a bench, letting time slip past.
Kai could never understand those people. Sometimes he also had days when he didn't want to do anything, but as soon as he tried, he'd get bored instantly. He was incapable of being completely still. And yet, in contrast, you could also say he was kind of lazy. Which, if you think about it, didn't make much sense.
But there was a difference. Doing nothing productive was one thing. Doing literally nothing? That was something else entirely.
By the time he focused again, he'd already lost his train of thought. After a somewhat clumsy maneuver to avoid a car that appeared from behind—sending his heart racing more than he'd care to admit—he stopped at the second traffic light. Also red.
Before the light turned green, Kai checked the time. He was even later than he thought.
All his effort and sprints were useless if he had to stop at every light. But it wasn't something he could fight against. And so, the third one was also red.
'Whatever. I'm already late, right? Who cares.'
Honestly, even he didn't know why he was going so fast. It didn't even match his usual approach—accepting that he was already late.
He tilted his head back and sighed, eyes closed, in a gesture of surrender.
That gesture was cut short by a deafening metallic screech that made him shudder. He thought two cars had crashed, but looking around, nothing noteworthy had happened. The light had already turned green, and the cars were starting to move forward as usual.
Kai did the same, starting to pedal again. But something stopped him. After the first stroke, he braked hard and looked up, incredulous.
"Am I having a stroke?"
High above, several kilometers up near the clouds, a thin line stretched across the vastness of the sky. Moments later, that line had expanded dozens of kilometers in width, forcing the heavens to retreat. From that distance, it barely looked like a crack a few meters thick... though colossally long. But that wasn't what mattered.
A titanic rift had torn the sky apart.
Inside it... there was something. Something indescribable. An amalgam of impossible shapes and colors, constantly shifting, as if reality itself had been ripped open to show something that didn't belong to this world.
All around it, space seemed to contract, distort, and tremble. And of course it did. Something like this wasn't supposed to happen under any circumstances. Even time itself seemed to have come to a standstill.
Still trying to process what he was seeing, a second line appeared, practically perpendicular to the first. The scene repeated itself. The second fissure expanded, causing the sky to split into four unequal parts. As they opened, the rifts curved at various points, creating irregularities along their vast expanse. It still held a cross-like shape, yes, but strangely chaotic.
Kai was breathless. He was stunned by the magnitude of it, and captivated by a singular, unsettling beauty within it. He couldn't even move.
He'd lost all control over his body, and his mind seemed suspended in some kind of trance. Leaning back to watch the sky, he was still on his bike, with only one foot on the ground. A terrible position for someone in that state.
And of course, since he couldn't control his body, he ended up losing his balance and falling backward.
Thanks to the fall, he snapped out of it moments later, just in time to hear the blaring horn of a truck getting far too close.
Fortunately, the vehicle miraculously swerved around him, but Kai wasn't about to take any chances with the cars behind it. He grabbed his bike as best he could and scrambled toward the sidewalk.
Heart racing and breath out of control, he slumped onto the ground with his bike beside him, trying to process what had just happened.
'What the hell was in my mom's tea?'
Bewildered, Kai looked around, searching—perhaps absurdly—for someone who could explain what was going on. Someone else who had seen it. But nothing could be further from the truth.
The people around him weren't looking at the sky. They were going about their business as usual, as if this were an everyday occurrence. Sure, Kai didn't leave the house as much as a normal person, but he hadn't quite become a NEET yet.
Either way, this couldn't be a normal event. Kai even considered that everyone else might be blind, but he dismissed the thought when he saw the small crowd forming around him. They weren't looking at the sky. They were looking at him. The kid who'd fallen in the middle of the road and almost got run over.
Kai felt a surge of despair. It couldn't be. He couldn't be the only one. If this were some typical novel, that would make him the protagonist... and he'd suck as a protagonist. He definitely wasn't cut out for that role. At most, he'd be a side character with some relevance—and even that was being generous with himself.
For a moment, he began to believe his mental health was failing. That he'd imagined that rift in some kind of insane hallucination.
Still, he shook his head, looking around one last desperate time, scanning the entire street.
Then, finally, he saw her in the crowd.