Chapter 1: The loser departs

It all started with a slap. A raw, deafening slap that rocked his whole being to its foundations, its force enough to push him back one or two feet from the person who had issued it.

Well, to be frank, the slap itself wasn't actually all that strong. But in the overall mental state Haruto Maekawa was in, that was, at the very least, how it had felt to him at the time.

"... What...?"

"You just heard me! Now stop following me, you creep!"

"But you told me--"

"That's not what I meant, and you know it!"

In front of him, at that very moment, had stood a girl wearing the typical uniform of a certain high school in the middle of Saitama. They belonged to the exact same class, and where both second-year students, in fact. Her name was [Redacted] [Redacted].

He could recall having known her from before he could even form words. The two had been together all through daycare, elementary and middle school, and, at the end of the day, even wound up going to the same highschool. And ever since he could remember, he'd had a crush on her all the same. 

[Redacted] was the most beautiful girl he had ever seen, both inside and out. Kind to a fault, some might even call her naïve, she was always ready to help out anyone in need, be it simply at school, as part of their years' general morals commitee or otherwise.

Her features were as delicate as the petals of a rose, her arms as slender as the stalk of a bean tree.

Before he'd even realized it, she had become the one person he could never live without.

However, all that time, they had been only friends, and not even close ones at that. For all that time, he had not even been sure on what would be the best way to close that gap. Approach slowly from a dead angle and be all subtle and charming? Or just go up to her and shoot his shot point blank?

For years, he had wanted to confess it to her. He just wanted to be with her.

And then came today. Just another Spring afternoon like any other. As the trees all throughout finally started to bloom their flowers, he had finally gathered the courage to ask her out.

It was right after class, and they had happened to end up walking home together, since they lived in the same direction.

"I don't know..." was her answer. "I don't know how to feel about you..."

It had baffled him, to hear something like that.

It should be "Yes" or "No", shouldn't it? Either you liked someone enough to date them, or you didn't.

So he asked again, and was met with the same answer.

He had stopped her before a small intersection they had arrived at along the way, since human traffic around that area seemed particularly low that time of the day, and so that was where the whole thing had taken place, along a small, homely-looking path, the two of them standing halfway close to the curb.

There was no one else around but them, and no other noise aside from the chirping birds in the distance and the happy yells and shouts of children coming from an elementary school nearby, closed off from the two by a tall concrete wall.

However, right after her second answer, the same as the first one, she then turned around, and was starting to walk away.

"Look, I'll do anything you want, alright? Really! So just give me a chance!"

He couldn't let her do that, however. He would never forget the absurd fight he had had with himself just to get himself to to this.

The lengths he had gone to just to get some time alone with her.

Before she could give another step, he grabbed hold of her hand and tried to stop her.

"Please, I'll make you happy, I promise. Just say yes, alright?"

In his eyes, the concept of 'unresolved feelings' was not a thing. You either leaned one way more, or the other.

That was why he couldn't let her get away right off the bat, not until she gave him that "Yes" or "No" and that was why, in the meantime, he was set on doing everything he could to make her lean more towards the "Yes". No matter how it might look or feel to anyone outside that argument, he would fight for the love of his life, and he would win.

That was when the slap came.

Without even realizing it, he was now standing too far away from her to reach out, his feet stepping nearly over the end of the sidewalk.

"Okay, just please be honest, then! Is... Is it a no? If it is, just say it!!"

Then, suddenly, rather than walk away, she turned back in anger, stomping back towards him.

"Of course it's a no, you damn weirdo!"

And right before he'd realized it, he'd received another slap, even harder than the previous one.

And before he could even react, she was yelling at him again.

"I have a boyfriend, you idiot! You'd know that if you didn't have your head in the clouds all the time!!"

"I... I thought..."

"You didn't think. That's just something you never do, Maekawa!"

And without delay, she showed him her smartphone's screen, almost shoving it on his face. It showcased a photo of her with another boy. It was edited all throughout with random emojis and flowers and whatnot, which made it somewhat hard to see what the photo was even about at first glance, but after a short moment, he was able to make it out. She was smiling for the camera, likely held up by someone else's hands, and was hugging it out with that guy, who was also smiling with all of his teeth, as they both leaned with their backs onto a slick, scarlet sports car behind both of them. Could be a Porsche, or a Maserati, or so, but he wasn't too sure.

The guy seemed college-aged. The car and his overall 'handsome and mature' look certainly gave him that vibe, but Haruto couldn't be sure because of all the emojis.

Just as fast as she'd brought it out, [Redacted] pulled her phone back into her skirt's pocket, glaring at him as though she was looking at a filthy bug.

"Did you really think I'd ever date a neanderthal like you? You always talk such big talk about everything, but you never have what it takes to back it up. Someone like you could never make me happy."

"I... I mean... I'm..."

He didn't even know what to do at that point. What to say? Should he apologize? Should he fire back at her and stand his ground? Should he fire back, stand his ground and apologize? Or the opposite order? Or should he just swallow his tongue and run away with his tail between his legs and never mention that event to anyone ever? But then again, couldn't [Redacted] just end up telling someone? Well, of course she wasn't that kind of person, but still...

His mind had been reduced to pure chaos by that point.

"Hey, hey, I... I didn't mean to say... I... I didn't know..."

Suddenly, Haruto felt his heart slow down, cool down. His face, which he felt to be above two hundred degrees just a minute prior, seemed now to have fallen to below subzero.

His love had been shattered to flimsy, tiny pieces. To pour salt into the wound, she was no longer even calling him by his given name, replacing it with his surname instead, and not even bothering with honorifics anymore. It felt like a petty change, if only just to him, but she had made it anyway.

Still, he held out a hand to her, to try and stop her. He wanted to say something. Even if it was just a single word. Even if it was just a simple 'Sorry', he wanted to tell it to her.

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However, before he could form a proper anything for her, a third voice entered the confrontation.

"Hey! What do you think you're doing? Stop harassing the girl!"

There was another male student walking up to them. From his uniform, Haruto could tell he was from another school nearby. Likely a third-year, but not anyone he knew.

Stopping just short of the two, he grabbed hold of Haruto's shoulder, forcefully pulling him back.

"What? W-Wait, what do you mean...?" stammered Haruto, completely at a loss. "Leave her alone, man. Don't you see you're bothering her?" the upperclassman gave him a serious look.

"I'm just trying to clear up a misun..."

"I don't care what your motives are. Get away from her!"

The grip from the older guy's hand became tighter, and startled, Haruto could almost feel his nails stabbing into his back.

"Listen, this is between me and her, alright? No one's hurting anyone, so mind your own..."

"I said, leave the girl alone!!"

The older student brought out his other hand, and, with little struggle, forcefully pushed Haruto away from both him and [Redacted], sending him stumbling over the curb and onto the path's single-lane road, where he landed on his back with an odd noise.

His mind blanked out for a single moment, he felt sharp pain spread up his back and both his hands, whose palms wound up scraping badly against the hard asphalt.

Still, he fought off the pain, and, still lying on his back, tried to get back to his feet again, pushing himself up on an elbow.

His turbid vision did not let him make out much in the following instant, but he could distinguish that beefy-looking student talking to [Redacted], still on the sidewalk, asking her if everything was okay.

Barely getting up despite the pain in his back, he managed only a few steps towards them. He wanted to say something. Anything. If they would at least hear him out, then...

However, before he could even get close to the curb, a large orange sphere came suddenly flying over the the wall which closed off the elementary school, headed straight for Haruto's face, colliding with it at just the right angle to send him a few more feet further back and crashing down onto the road again, as what was obviously an overly stuffed basketball bounced off harmlessly to the other side of the street.

That fall was harder than the first one, as he hadn't had the time to slow it down with his hands.

And right then, seeping through the chirps of the pheasants nearby, and even his own pained groans, came the low growl of a car engine closing in.

With barely enough strength to lift himself off again, his face still burning from the impact of the basketball, he was able to bring himself up to a crouch, both hands weakly supporting him from the sides, and look into the source of odd noise.

It was a red, or rather, a scarlet blur coming in fast from the distance. Despite that, everything now seemed to move in slow motion to him.

He kept looking, leaning forward, his eyes squinted as he blinked repeatedly, trying to get his vision back. Soon enough, the scarlet blur had changed, clearing up ever so slightly, and taken the form of a slick, scarlet sports car coming in his direction. It could be a Porsche or a Maserati, or so, but he wasn't too sure.

And only then did the fact dawn on him: the car was coming for him.

It was coming straight in his direction, no hesitation on its silhouette, and even though he could hear the faint screech of tires braking out, Haruto knew for sure that scarlet bullet wouldn't be slowing down anytime soon.

And naturally, before he could even attempt to move, to jump out of the way and save his dear life, the scarlet car of death was already right in front of him, striking him from the front with all of its might.

Then, there was the wind. Just the wind, fast, cold, rushing against his arms, rushing against his legs.

And then he felt his body hit the floor again. One, two, three times.

His whole life flashed before his eyes as he fell in and out of consciousness.

Actually, not his whole life. Just the embarassing parts.

At some point, it all stopped. He could feel vague aching, all throughout his body, though he could not say exactly what it was, or where exactly each bout came from. Only that they were too many to keep count of. And they were slowly becoming less and less bearable.

He could hear crying. Or was it screaming?

He recognized [Redacted]'s voice. It was far, far away. And there was another one, too, coming from nearby. It was unfamiliar to him, and he couldn't quite tell what he was saying, but it seemed to belong to the owner of the sports car, who was trying to soothe her.

He could almost swear he could see them both standing near the red sports car, far, far ahead, holding each other almost like in that picture.

There were more shouts. Loud sirens and blinding lights. Paramedics, maybe?

It no longer mattered to him. None of it did.

Haruto Maekawa could feel himself start to black out.

In the last few moments he had, all he could do was lament his life. Feel sorry for himself, and for never, ever having done anything of relevant. Never having been able to leave his mark on that world, or be remembered for any conquest.

Was this all he was ever going to be? The loser who got taken out by some sports car?

"That damned sports car..."

Ever since he was a kid, Haruto had never liked cars. They were gaudy and noisy. Their drivers were reckless and stupid, not an ounce of common sense. He had never in his life met a single car owner who was not a complete tool of a person.

A world without cars, or the stupid people who drove them, would be better than any paradise for Haruto.

"That damn sports car, driving at high speed on an urban road..."

That was why, it was funny that his life would reach its end like this.

Or at least, that was how it felt.

Was he really going to die here, like this?

Or, on the contrary, he would somehow make it out alive?

If he did die, he wondered, where would he end up? Heaven? Hell? Somewhere else?

He knew well enough he had had never been a particularly good person, so he didn't expect for much.

Still, despite his hopeless beliefs, he still prayed to God, in his final moments. He prayed quietly, but with preserverance, in the desperation that his pleas would reach someone.

"Please... No matter what happens, no matter where I end up... I beg you... Please make it so I don't have to see another car ever again..."

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