It is almost Jack's birthday again. It's been about two years since Jack was kidnapped. Ever since that day, Jack thought he would be put through horrible experiences. However, Jack never left the compound. For two years, he slept in his little bedroom. He was allowed to leave and roam the compound. He was even allowed to return to school. The compound's administration made it very clear, though; Jack wasn't allowed to speak about his captivity. They let him return to 'the public's eye' to keep suspicion off of them. Jack tried to question further, but there was no point: no one on the compound ever discussed in detail about the true intentions of the compound.
Jack spent most of his time at school and at his friend Yūdai's place. As per his captivity rules, Jack couldn't tell Yūdai about the kidnapping. Yūdai had asked multiple times if they could hang out at Jack's house, but Jack had to deny him each time. It was an annoyance to Yūdai, as it seems the two of them were a lot closer than they had originally thought.
Was it the kidnapping? Maybe. Most likely, actually. Was it the hard truth of reality setting in? Perhaps. Whatever the cause, Jack's mood continually got worse and worse. He was desperate to escape. No matter if fantasy existed or not, Jack wasn't going to fulfill any dreams in a cell. He became horribly depressed. He stopped caring about school, about friends, about life. He contemplated on multiple occasions to escape or die trying, but he kept his head high. After two years, Jack had let go of any chance that the Assistant nonsense was actually real, but he still held onto that word. Assistant. The mark never returned, but the burning feeling of hope had continued to beat in his chest long afterwards.
Jack's changing mood had garnered the interest of Yūdai. Yūdai had found a lot of similarities between Jack and himself. Cynical views of the world. Depressed about their futures. Eventually, the two made a pact that, one day, the world would feel the wrath of their sorrows, their hopelessness, their desperation.
When Jack's mood had begun to plummet, he noticed that Yūdai started talking to him more often. Jack accepted it with open arms, even if they did talk about dreary subjects most of the time. Over time, after listening to Yūdai ramble about his bleak dreams to end the world and his own misery along with it, Jack came around to the idea, and now he was following the same path Yūdai was committed to.
Jack tried his best to keep his altruistic, fantasy-like morals and values, but now he is heading towards a grim future. With each passing day, Jack grows ever grimmer in attitude and his feeling of hope is quickly fading.
7 days left.
After another long, boring day at school, Jack had plans to meet up with Yūdai to discuss their world-ending plans again. Jack had gotten bored of the meeting, mostly because their plans would stay fantasies and go nowhere. However, recently, Yūdai said he had a way to change that; to turn their fantasies into realities. The two get off of the bus together in front of a park. Greenleaf Park Centre. They had met there time and time again when Yūdai's place became dull and repetitive.
"Okay, Jack. Wait here, I'm going to go set it up." Jack, confused about what his friend has planned, waits in the parking lot, gazing up at the sky. It is still early in the year, so daytime doesn't last very long. In fact, a sunset orange washes across the west side of the sky.
Jack continues to wait. The sun is nearly set now, with dark accents and bright stars lighting up the east side of the sky, battling the raging orange still present in the west. Jack notes a slight humidity in the air. Jack had seen, on television, the presence of thunderstorms collecting and making their way east and sweeping across his state in a couple days or so. On television…
Over Jack's nearly two years of captivity, the administration had slowly improved the quality of Jack's living quarters. A real toilet was installed, although it was painted and designed to look dirty, with fake rust and brown paint all over the toilet's surface. A sink was also installed into the bathroom, also designed to seem filthy. A different building opened up on the compound, one with a functional shower that Jack could use. He was given quality soaps and shampoos, 4-ply toilet paper, and high-quality meals. They even went as far as to install an old CRT television.
He had no idea why his stay is so high maintenance. Maybe he's… valuable? And what's with the dirty act? Why go through such a charade?
As Jack thought, the sunset had developed into complete nighttime. In the distance, Jack hears a loud shout, one filled with anger and irritation. Jack snaps out of his thoughts and swiftly moves into the heartland of the park. He spots someone behind a tree, moving haphazardly and speaking loudly, but incoherently. He jogs over to their location. He unexpectedly finds Yūdai behind the tree with a book in his hand. Yūdai, hearing Jack's footsteps and fast breathing, turns to face Jack.
"Screw this stupid book!" Yūdai swings the book closed and hurls it in Jack's direction. Jack manages to catch it, while Yūdai stomps away disgruntledly. Instead of running after Yūdai, Jack looks at the book in his hands. The cover has no words inscribed on it, but there is a pattern with depth covering the book. Jack brushes his hand against the cover, feeling all of the little bumps and nooks. His hand stops at the edge of the cover. He sinks his fingers into the side of a page with a marked crease about halfway through the book. He peels the book open. On the page exists a single, large phrase, with smaller lines below it. It is in a language of hieroglyphics he has never seen before, yet it does seem vaguely familiar. There is another line below it, written in marker. Jack presumes it must be a translation of the line in a language he still can't read. It looks like Japanese. Below that, the Japanese is translated into romaji.
"Ā, ten no... idaina sonzai. Watashi no... fukai negai o... hatashite... kudasai," Jack lightly whispers to himself. He's not too familiar with Japanese, so he feels like he definitely messed up the pronunciation of the line. It feels like Spanish class all over again. A line below that, also in Japanese, reads「心の中で願いを持ちなさい」. Curious, Jack closes the book and eagerly attempts to search for Yūdai, wondering what he was doing with this book and what these words mean.
Just as he attempts to head off, Jack sees a shadowy figure coming towards him. It's Yūdai.
"Oh, hey Jack." Yūdai comes closer and snatches the book out of Jack's hands.
"Don't take things that aren't yours," Yūdai says, as if he forgot that he threw it to Jack in the first place.
"Yūdai, what is in that book," Jack asks inquisitively.
"Oh nothing. Just more crushed dreams at what could have been." Although Jack is curious about the importance of the book, he doesn't like to pry; especially with Yūdai, since he can get pretty mad when confronted.
"Anyways, guess you have to go," Yūdai says, familiar with Jack's curfew.
"Oh yeah. I'll see you tomorrow, then."
"Of course." Jack and Yūdai begin to part ways, until they both notice that the ground beneath them is illuminated with a fiery orange. They both move out from under the tree and look skyward.
"What… the… hell…," Yūdai barely utters. They both spot a large meteor hurling down through the Earth's atmosphere, with layers of fire densely covering its surface and black smoke trailing closely behind. Looks of shock and disbelief spread across both of their faces. They track the meteor as it falls closer to the ground. It falls out of sight, covered by the thick brush of a nearby forest. After a while, a large shockwave ripples through the Earth's crust and sends them off of their feet and onto their backs. Trees bend and rip out of the ground and dust and dirt explosively erupt out from the forest, past the trees, and at them. Jack quickly covers his eyes as the debris hits him, cutting and bruising places all around his body.
Eventually, the soot settles, leaving a charred battlefield. Jack removes his arm from his vision. Shocked that he's still alive, he haphazardly breathes out gasps of joy. He examines his body and notices cuts and bruises all over. His shirt is in ruins and it quickly falls off and into the wind. Adrenaline causes his entire body to shake. He gets to his feet, but staggers and falls back down. He looks behind him to where Yūdai was, but the blast caused him to tumble backwards, as his body rests quite far away. Worried at the sight of his hurt friend, Jack manages to stand on his wobbling feet and walks unsteadily to Yūdai.
As he gets closer, he can see Yūdai's chest rise and fall. Jack crouches down and places his fingers on Yūdai's throat. Yūdai immediately opens his eyes and sits up, knocking Jack's hand out of the way.
"What are you trying to do, choke me?!"
"No, no, no," Jack repeats, "Are-... are you okay?"
"Don't worry about me, worry about yourself. And where's your shirt?"
"It got all cut up and blew off," Jack says nonchalantly. He's not really worried about his shirt or the cuts on his body. He's more eager to learn more about the meteor. Jack stands from his crouched position. Yūdai stands up as well. They both peer into the forest curiously. There's not much to see, as black smoke bellows out from all sides of the forest.
"We're gonna have to get closer to see anything," Yūdai says shrewdly.
"R-Really? G-Go in there? Why? Shouldn't we just leave?"
"But what if someone is hurt? You wouldn't want to turn your back on them, would you," Yūdai responds, trying to manipulate Jack.
"W-Well, I mean… I'm a little hurt. Shouldn't I get some help?"
"Come on, Jack! Are you scared," Yūdai says in an annoying tone.
"N-No!"
"Then let's go. Lead the way. I'll watch our backs, make sure no one is coming."
"Umm… yeah, okay. Yeah, that sounds good. O-Okay, let's go."
As they make their way into the forest, the black smoke slowly dissipates. As they get closer, the trees are markedly more slanted, and uprooted trees appear more often. During their walk, Jack brings up the book again.
"So, what was the book about," Jack asks hesitantly, his voice still shaky from the adrenaline.
"Don't worry about it," Yūdai responds coyly after a short while, as if debating whether to divulge the book's mystery to Jack.
"Just know it's the key to our plans." Jack notes to himself that, although Yūdai wanted nothing to do with the book earlier, he now has a keen fascination with it. Does it have something to do with the meteor?
They come across a clearing in the forest. The trees in the area have ceased, all of them have been uprooted and tossed aside so easily by the impact of the meteor.
"There it is," Yūdai whispers quietly. They step into the clearing, lit up by the night sky and the still scorching surface of the meteor. As they close in on the meteor, a faint hum can be heard and almost felt emanating from the meteor. They look at each other.
"You hear that," Jack asks, confused by the low buzz.
"Yeah, but do you feel that," Yūdai responds. Jack nods his head reassuringly. They turn back and continue moving closer to the meteor. The hum proceeds to increase in volume, until they're within arms-reach from the meteor. The surrounding air is hot and uncomfortable. The air is so thick and heavy, it's hard to breathe. The hum is louder now. It's nearly deafening.
Yūdai slowly turns to Jack.
"...Touch it." Jack breaks his gaze on the meteor at the crazy suggestion.
"What?!"
"Come on. Touch it." And so goes another inside joke between them. A childish game that all people have played at least once in their life. Jack is generally the one to be dared, usually at the expense of him.
"Come on, Yūdai. Now's not the time."
"I dare you," Jack sighs heavily.
"I'm not going to touch it. I'll just end up burning myself."
"I knew it. You're chicken."
"Chicken?!"
"Yeah. Chicken. You heard me," Yūdai says mockingly.
"Well… if it's so easy, why don't you do it?"
"Me?! Well, I can't." Yūdai thinks of something.
"I'm allergic to meteors," Yūdai quips.
"Liar," Jack shouts instantly, knowing Yūdai would respond with nonsense.
"I'll do it if you do it," Jack continues.
"Deal."
They both ready their hand of choice; Yūdai with his right, Jack with his left. They both watch the other's hand to keep it fair.
"Alright, ready? On the count of three, when I say three, just lay your hand on the meteor," Yūdai says.
"For how long?"
"Hmm…," Yūdai contemplates.
"For as long as you can. The person with their hand on it the longest wins."
"So, it's a competition now?"
"Yeah. Got a problem," Yūdai asks smugly.
"No. Just get ready to lose."
"Oh, you came to fight today, huh? We'll see about that." They situate themselves and prepare for the countdown.
"1…"
"2…"
"3!" Jack and Yūdai both lay their hand on the meteor's surface. They don't feel any pain. No searing heat burning into their flesh. They don't even feel the surface of the meteor. They don't feel anything. They can't feel anything…
…
Jack opens his eyes. He sees tree branches holding newly-budded leaves against the cooling night sky, swaying in the wind. His recent memories wash over him and Jack immediately sits upright. He looks around. There isn't a meteor anymore. No crater, no uprooted trees, no debris anywhere. He's still in the middle of the forest, though, so… the meteor must've moved? Jack tries to look for Yūdai, but can't find him. He stands up.
"Yūdai?" No response.
"Yūdai?" Jack says louder this time.
Jack recalls his recent memories as he searches for Yūdai. Him and Yūdai were simply playing a game of dares up until they touched the meteor. Then, flashing imagery hit him all at once. He couldn't really decipher any of it. From what he could understand, there was a lot of blinding light involved, like he was entering the heavens or something. There was a part that was abnormally dark, though, like gray storm clouds had rolled in, and a mysterious figure had appeared. All Jack could remember from that part was the feeling of panic and terror. It makes Jack shudder thinking of it now. He puts his weird dream aside for now and focuses on finding Yūdai.
"Yūdai?!" In his peripheral view, Jack spots a light blue glow behind a tree, barely visible enough in the nighttime. Jack runs over to it. He peers behind the tree. It's Yūdai, and he's got something in his hand that's glowing.
"Yūdai," Jack says relaxedly, glad he found his friend. As Jack moves closer to him, Yūdai doesn't make an effort to appreciate Jack's existence. He doesn't turn. He doesn't even say hi back.
"Hello?" As Jack walks around Yūdai to face him, the blue light glows brighter. Jack had assumed it was his phone, but maybe it's something else? Jack comes into full view of the light now. It's not a phone, but just an orb of light. A spherical ball of light blue… energy, suspended above Yūdai's right hand. It's not that big, only about the size of a baseball, but it's there, hoving and slowly growing larger as time goes on.
Jack, completely perplexed, looks at Yūdai's face. He appears to be hyper focused, his eyes closed, shut off from the world around him. The blue orb starts growing rapidly, to the size of a soccer ball, and then larger, to the size of a basketball. The ball of energy begins to generate wind, tugging and pulling on Jack's shirt, which is now mysteriously on his body, even though it fell off earlier. Yūdai continues focusing on the ball of energy. The outline of the orb starts morphing and stretching, as if it is becoming more unstable the bigger it gets. Eventually, the orb dissipates, with smaller balls shooting out and away, all of it ultimately snuffing out into nothingness. Silence fills the air. Yūdai brings his hand down to his side.
"What was that?" Yūdai opens his eyes. He glances over at Jack.
"I… have no idea, but it's so cool!" Yūdai brings his hands up and cups them. He points them at a tree across from him.
"Watch this!" The palms of Yūdai's hands light up with the same light blue hue. His hands cast small orbs. He shoots the right one at the tree, and then the left. Then he makes more and shoots them again, mimicking an automatic gun. He shoots a flurry of orbs at the tree. After the firing stops, there is a noticeable black scorch mark on the tree, with audible sizzling as well. Jack turns back to Yūdai.
"What the hell was that?!" Jack says, excited yet confused at how it works.
"It's like a life energy or something," Yūdai responds.
"I'm drawing it into my being right now. It builds up and then I can direct it to my hands. Then I can… shoot it out as a physical ball of energy, I guess?" Yūdai says, unsure of how it works himself.
"Everything has this energy, that's why I think it has to do with life." He points to a tree.
"This tree has life energy. I can feel it. Well, not feel it feel it, I can sense it." He bends down to touch some grass.
"This has life energy, too. Less than the tree, but it still gathers energy." He stands back up and faces Jack.
"Even you… You have life energy." Yūdai smirks.
"Not much, though." Jack flinches at his words.
"What do you mean?"
"Well, I think I gained this power from touching that rock. If I'm not mistaken, you should have gained the power, too, right?" Jack thinks about it. The mysterious mental images, the life energy. It all must connect.
"Maybe I do have the power, but there has to be some way to control it, right?"
"Hmm…" Yūdai ponders to himself.
"Maybe… then let's see. Try to use your life energy. Create an orb of energy."
"Okay." Jack closes his eyes before he realizes something.
"Uhh… how?"
"Just focus on the energy coursing through you." Yūdai closes his eyes.
"Focus on the energy. Focus on your hands." Yūdai raises his hand, palm open and facing the sky.
"Focus on bringing the energy to your hand." A small orb appears then grows quickly to a determined size, around the size of a baseball.
"And make a ball." Yūdai opens his eyes.
"Easy!" The ball dissipates into nothing. Jack, confused at how easy Yūdai makes it seem, closes his eyes. Energy? What energy? The only thing I feel coursing through my body is hunger. Jack opens his eyes. He begins to get upset at his inability to channel energy.
"Wh… Why isn't it working?!" Yūdai smirks.
"Maybe you're just too weak-minded, Jack." Yūdai moves closer to Jack.
"Here, let me try something." Yūdai grabs onto Jack's arm.
"Maybe I can give you some." Yūdai focuses intently for a moment.
"Hmm… Nope. Any energy I give you just leaves your body. I guess you didn't get the power," Yūdai says in an obnoxious tone before letting out a grunted sigh.
"This power does hurt, though. If you try to hold onto more and more energy than you naturally would, it hurts your body more and more." Yūdai looks up at the night sky.
"Hmm… maybe we should get going. You still have a curfew and I have to learn how to use my new power!" Yūdai turns around and heads back toward the park. Jack follows closely behind.
6 days left.
How come I didn't get any power? A question that continues to pester Jack well into the next day. Last night, someone from the administration had asked him where he was and why he was so late. Jack said he was with a friend and got a little carried away. It was the first time it had happened. He was let off with a warning.
After school that day, Yūdai and Jack went to the park again.
"So? Do you have any powers yet?" Jack sadly shook his head no. He tried all day to feel the magic or whatever and nothing happened. He even embarrassed himself by pushing a little too hard and farting during silent reading time.
"Hmm. Well, Jack, I was thinking. Remember how we were fantasizing about taking over the world? This is how we'll do it!" Yūdai excitedly stands up from the park bench.
"Well… This is how I'll do it." Yūdai then explains his plan of using his life energy powers to kill everyone on Earth. It is brutal, yes, but it is what needs to be done. Jack pretends to listen to his spiel, but an overwhelming sense of self-hatred washes over him. He can't help but feel like he's the most useless person on the planet. A numb feeling that spreads across his entire body.
5 days left.
Yūdai uses the park as his training grounds. He trains himself physically, as he realizes that the capacity and power of the energy relies on the physical state of the user, as well as with the energy, trying to morph the ball into different shapes. Jack comes to watch him do his training. The most Jack can do is try to keep his dangerous thoughts at bay.
4 days left.
Yūdai discovers a way to use the energy to fly. He projects the energy outside of his being, like a metaphysical wind beneath him, lifting him up into the air. Yūdai reassures Jack by telling him he'll be useful by his side. Great, he thinks. I'm the world's worst superhero sidekick.
3 days left.
...It's the weekend… ...and my birthday is coming soon… ...not much to celebrate… ...Oh, and Yūdai found out a way to charge his energy into a beam… ...And I still have no powers…
2 days left.
That night, after heading home from Yūdai's training session, Jack was feeling down. More than usual. He enters his bathroom. He looks at himself in the mirror. He lets out a long, depressed sigh. I… I can't do this… He falls to the floor, silently weeping to himself. He hasn't cried like this since he was very young. Why hasn't anyone found me? Where are my parents? I'm so useless. I have no hope left. That night, Jack cries himself to sleep.
1 day left.
It is the day before Jack's birthday. He has been in captivity for two years. Jack wakes to someone knocking on his door. It's how he always wakes up. Except today, he has no motivation to do anything. He doesn't even want to get out of bed. He almost falls back asleep, but after a second knock, and a third knock, and a lot of cold water on his head, he gets out of bed.
He turns on the TV and watches some of the weather forecast for the day.
"Thanks, Bill. As you can see here, a large thunderstorm system is making its way east toward the cities…" Jack walks into his bathroom and uses the toilet. He then grabs a towel and a change of clothes and leaves his living quarters. He walks over to the showers. He lathers up, shampoos his hair, dries off, puts his clothing on, and leaves. Back in his bedroom, he quickly brushes his teeth. He didn't eat his breakfast meal. He's been sick to his stomach and hasn't felt like eating anything lately.
"Yeah, so watch out for pouring rains and lightning. Don't be outside tonight. If you find yourself outside, be sure to make haste for a building immediately." Jack closes the door and leaves for school.
The walk to school isn't very interesting. Just a bunch of walking. Step. Step. Step. Step. More of the same. Begging for something interesting, he looks around. Some forest to his right. He looks to his left. A road. A nearly consistent stream of cars fly by at highway speeds. An idea strikes him. It's a terrible idea. He wishes he hadn't thought of it, but a part of him is glad that he did. Jack stops in his tracks and contemplates if, for a just a moment, what would happen if he ran into traffic. His mother and father clearly aren't looking for him. They don't care. He hauntingly thinks of them standing in the doorway, crying and comforting each other, not him. He thinks about Yūdai. His death wouldn't affect him either. He would just continue with his plans of ending the world, just without Jack.
There's no one else. Jack recollects his classmates, maybe he's friends with one of them. However, after a few minutes, Jack can't think of anyone else that would be affected by his death. Jack stops thinking. Time to start doing. He has used his brain for everything, daydreaming, fantasizing, thinking, it was always running, at every single moment of the day. He considers it disrespectful to use it during this. He shuts his brain off. No more thinking. He moves his right foot forward. Then his left. Then his right. Then his left. Then his right. Left. Right. Left. Right.
His feet are now on the edge of the shoulder. He feels tears coming to his eyes so he closes them. They shouldn't have to see this. Left. Right. Left. He can hear the sound of a car honking its horn in the distance. Right. Lef—
Suddenly, something grabs Jack and pulls him backwards. He stumbles over for a little bit, but grabs the mysterious arm to help him balance. Once he has his balance, he looks up from the ground.
"Be careful there! You almost got hit!" It's a girl. She's got long, pure diamond blonde hair tied up into… something wild and all over the place. Her eyes are an iridescent sky blue. She's wearing a black box pleat skirt and a black, short-sleeved tunic tied at the waist with a bow. She's got the biggest smile on her face.
He's never seen her before. She definitely doesn't go to his school. Who is she?
"...Uh—" Jack clears his throat.
"Sorry, I uh… I was a little tired. Haven't, uh… been getting much sleep. Lately."
"I know that feeling. I hate studying for class." She lets out a stifled laugh, almost like a giggle. She catches herself and covers her mouth.
"So, are you heading for school?"
"Y-Yeah. I uh… am. Doing. That." Jack clears his throat again, trying to cover up the fact that he is stuttering horribly.
"Oh, what school do you go to?"
"...Well, I—"
"No! Wait, lemme guess!" Her voice can get very high-pitched and shrill. She puts her hands on her hips and leans back, while squinting her eyes analytically at Jack.
"Shō Middle School?"
"Ye—"
"Yes! I knew I was right!"
"That's incredible. How could you tell?"
"It says it on your backpack. I saw it when I grabbed you."
"Oh."
"Well, it was nice meeting you…"
"...Oh! Jack. Hi, I'm… I'm Jack."
"Hello, Jack. I'm Aikō! Hope you have a nice day! Have a nice da-a-a-a-ay. May our paths cross again one daa-aa-a-a-aay!" She continues singing while walking away, down the right turn from the street.
"G-Goodbye… Aikō…" Jack stands still for a moment before walking down the left turn. Wow. What a person. She's just… so happy. So vibrant. So optimistic. And so friendly. Jack can't stop thinking about her attitude. Her personality. Her character. And above all… she saved his life. By the end of the day, he had second thoughts about Yūdai's big plan. Maybe… maybe it's not all bad. If there are people out there, just like her… then I don't want this world to end, Jack thought urgently... especially since Yūdai is capable of doing it. And his heart began beating again. But not of blood. Of Hope.