This chapter was written by doesdekusparkjoy.

can't tell the false from the real

Shinsou hadn't expected this pandemic to come on so fast. He remembered things most clearly the week before it got to him, he and his friends would be at lunch and make jokes about the vague stories they had heard on the news. They didn't think much of them. Sure, it may have been insensitive, but it didn't feel real. He was nowhere near the epicenter of the event. This outbreak didn't feel like something he had to worry about.

It was a Friday evening, and he was alone at home when he got the notification on his phone: a press conference from the President, in which he was declaring a state of national emergency and outlining the changes being made. Shinsou rushed to the living room to search for the remote. Once it was on, he sat on the couch, staring incredulously at the television. Very little was actually registering to him, all the words sounded fuzzy and he just sort of found himself sitting in a stunned sort of disbelief.

The last thing he heard from the broadcast was a medical professional urging people to do what they could, stay home, and let these proactive measures limit the strain society would be put under. Proactive measures . Shinsou was fairly ignorant of the situation, but that felt like bullshit. His mind was reeling, his eyes glazing over as the light from the TV illuminated his face on that cloudy afternoon.

He didn't hear his name being screamed until maybe the fifth time when the door into the kitchen slammed open. His mother rushed in, arms full of plastic bags.

"Groceries, we got groceries. Help!" She barely had time to slide the straps from her arms before she was turning on her heels to run outside. His father only had time to stop Shinsou because he was still snapping out of a haze. The voice of the president still filled the room, a droning background noise of nonsense. He handed Shinsou something bulky, wrapped in a cloth.

"It's mine. Put it on, they think it can survive in the air for up to an hour." As the cloth fell, Shinsou was able to examine the firefighter's gas mask for just a moment before his father urged him to put it on.

Shinsou was grateful that it was the weekend. People had been advised to stay home, and his parents were both rushing like it was the end of the world. It wasn't like he was going to do anything anyway, it just meant he didn't have to argue with his mother about staying home from school. She had already made it clear that he was officially on house arrest. This was the most frustrating, as he was sure he would want to hang out with friends soon, and he would want to go to school.

They had brought home a surprising amount of food. This all seemed really unnecessary to him, but his mother worked for the government, so he had to assume she knew more than he did. He couldn't imagine whatever this mysterious illness was could be bad enough for all this. Every snippet of news he had heard hadn't been anything of substance, it all just felt like hearsay. He was frustrated with the lack of information, but he supposed there was nothing he could do about it but listen to professionals, though that didn't exactly sit well with him.

As they finished stocking their pantry, fridge, and freezer, Shinsou gave a casual wave to his parents before returning to his room. Proactive measures. What could they be so scared of? He found himself lost in thought as he slipped his mask off, his hands fiddling with it for just a moment before he set it down.

The weekend was fairly uneventful. It was actually kind of nice. Both of his parents had agreed to get out of all their commitments except for work, so they were home the whole time. They had home-cooked meals and a board game night Saturday evening. Shinsou won, of course, as he always did. They were all quickly reminded why they didn't play these games too often as Monopoly money was being violently thrown across a table and property cards were strewn everywhere as they were frantically being mortgaged. Regardless, they found themselves laughing more and more, happy to spend time with one another.

Sunday evening, everything was a little tenser. Shinsou couldn't understand why his mother was making such a big deal about him staying home from school. Some schools in the area were shutting down to prevent the spread of infection, but UA hadn't yet. Still, his mother demanded that he stay home Monday. That evening, he got in an argument with her and it ended in a screaming match. Shinsou noticed that she was running around all of his questions. She managed to avoid truly answering any of them, and they both got tired of this after a while. Shinsou stopped talking to her after she couldn't avoid answering his big question.

"If it's such a big deal, why aren't you staying home from work?" She clammed up at that, and she had to bite her tongue and end the discussion.

"Because I have work to do." He got no final word, just silence in the household for the rest of the evening. There were things she wasn't telling him. He knew that, and there wasn't anything he could do to change it. As much of this was based in his frustration at the situation, an equal amount was worry for his parents. He wanted them to be alright, and right now, he couldn't quite grasp the situation. He didn't know how serious it was, how dangerous it might be. But, his mother had been acting strange. His parents weren't the type to keep things from him, either, so all he could do was hope for the best.

The next morning, he woke up to a note.

"It's my last day, alright? I love you."

THE END