𝐂𝐇𝐎𝐊𝐄 • Chishiya Shuntarō

XXIII: MOVING DAY

Hana hated how Tokyo was always so crowded. It was strange to her. There were so many people. Everywhere she went, she was surrounded by different people. People who she'd never know. People with such complex stories she'd never learn about. That, to her, was strangely beautiful.

She was moving into her new house that day. Everything was already there, she hoped. She began to doubt herself, so decided to call her landlord to make sure today was definitely her moving day. She pulled her phone out of her pocket. Just her luck, it was dead.

She rolled her eyes. Maybe she'd see a pay phone on her way. If not, she'd just have to hope she was right. She probably was, but she had a habit of doubting herself.

She felt someone nudging her back, seeing three guys running past her and onto the road. One was wearing a green shirt, and was sat on his friends shoulders, and starting apologising as his friend continued to run away. Hana laughed. Everyone around her seemed annoyed, but they seemed to be having fun. She wished she had friends like that.

Hana sat down for a minute. She'd been walking for a while. Her next investment after her new house was definitely going to be a car. She looked at the guy on the bench opposite her. He had a zebra print shirt, and an eyebrow piercing. He was hot, but kind of scary.

She looked up towards the subway and saw a woman coming out. She looked smart. Hana liked to look at the people around them, reading them, guessing what type of person they were. There was another girl in the crowd, wearing flare jeans. Hana liked her outfit.

She looked up at a big van, with someone inside it. He seemed sweet, the type of person Hana would be friends with. She also saw two guys, one with long hair and one with a buzz cut. They didn't look like brother. Maybe best friends, maybe a couple.

She looked across the road, seeing a girl in a white shirt and blue jeans. She was holding a brown bag. Hana liked her hair. It was similar to hers, except Hana's was a longer.

The final person her eyes landed on was a man wearing a white nike tech jacket, his hair was dyed grey and down to his shoulders. He looked at Hana, and she averted her eyes, finally deciding to find a pay phone.

She saw one across the road. She crossed the road, followed by the three guys from earlier. They seemed to be chasing a fuss, which Hana didn't pay much attention to as she went inside the telephone box. The phone wouldn't work. She slammed it back down, causing the glass to crack. She really needed to stop being so heavy handed.

Hana came out of the phone box to see a crashed car, and fireworks. She decided focus on the positive, and the cars were already being tended to by police officers.

She looked up to where everyone else was looking, seeing one big firework. Was it a firework? It wasn't going up, more like sideways. She watched as it flew towards a building.

Everyone seemed excited, like it was gonna be some huge firework, but it was the middle of the day, they'd hardly be able to see it. She felt someone next to her, looking up to see the guy in the white jacket. He smiled at her, and she smiled back, turning back around.

"That's no firework," someone said. She looked at where the voice came from, and it was the guy in zebra print.

"I know," white jacket said, "But there's no point in running now."

She scoffed. Some people were so pessimistic. Why could they not just enjoy the show? Hana pulled out her phone to record, then remembered it was dead.

"Dead phone?" Zebra print asked, "Shame. I was gonna ask for your number."

"You wouldn't have gotten it, anyway."

"And why's that?"

"I don't date guys who wear animal print."

The guy seemed disappointed, but looked back up at the sky. This firework was taking a while to explode. Was it a firework? Maybe just a weird ball of light.

The 'ball of light' ended up going behind a building, and everyone's faces dropped. Suddenly, there was a loud bang, followed by the buildings falling. Hana didn't have a chance to scream, she was unconscious straight away.

For a second, she woke up, looking around her at everyone else. Some were obviously dead, others she wasn't so sure about. She looked at white jacket, who lay next to her. He was awake, too. They looked into each other's eyes, and Hana felt paramedics behind her, dragging her onto a stretcher.

"She's going into cardiac arrest!" One yelled.

"Shit! For real?" Was all she managed to get out, before her senses faded away again.

she's so funny for that