Chapter 1: Prologue – A Daily Routine

A calm morning breeze of wind struck me as I ran. My breath fell short as I viewed the familiar neighborhood while running. The sun began to rise as I ran out of energy to run anymore. The sidewalk felt empty as I checked my watch; it indicated 5:30 AM.

Slowly, I regained my breath as I walked home. The scent of spring welcomed me with fresh air. I took a deep breath while observing my surroundings with a lonely gaze. It's an ordinary suburban neighborhood that you could find anywhere in Japan, no one was outside. I walked towards my house without hesitation. I opened the door with a tiring expression. 

I quickly took a morning shower to rinse off my sweat from the running exercise I just took. A pleasing aroma from the shampoo imbued my whole body as I let the water rinse it off. Without wasting much time, I immediately left the shower as I wore my high school uniform and prepared to cook breakfast. I made a simple egg fried rice with random vegetables as ingredients. I gracefully ate my breakfast in silence. 

I finished breakfast while a noisy sound came from the living room, "It's breakfast time! It's breakfast time!" I simply ignored the robotic voice of an automatic mechanical alarm robot that could clean up the house resulting from a cutting edge technology revolution from the 2030s with annoyed expression as I reached the front door. It had a weird shape and size resembling a kitten, however it could do tasks like cooking and cleaning. Its codename was 'CHLOE'.

"I'll get going now." I said with a weak voice, as I locked the door. There was no point to it since I live alone, however, it had become a habit of mine to say it whenever I left the house for school. I walked without much energy towards Haru High School, the school I was attending. 

The road I took felt lonely. I checked the time on my watch with impatient eyes; It indicated exactly 6 AM. I sighed as I walked with tired legs from the morning run I just did. It had been my routine to always run in the morning for 10km after I woke up. It helped me clear my mind and reasoning.

I walked towards the school entrance without any motivation. No one greeted me nor did anyone even look at me. I simply continued to walk towards the hallway into my class. 

"Kaede, good morning!"

"Good morning, Aya. You're early today."

"Morning to you two." 

I simply ignored the random noises from the hallway as I walked towards my class. There was no reason for me coming to this school, however, I simply did it to keep my insanity in check. The amount of 'good mornings' being thrown casually at school was simply too much for me. It's always the same words, phrases and sentences. To me, all the noises I heard in this school was nothing more than a self-satisfaction. 

I sat down at my seat with a tired look. I looked at the classroom clock with an annoyed expression. Time moves slowly, too slowly in fact. I was at my limit, I simply took a small case from my bag towards the rooftop. No one stopped me, rather, no one even cared that I exist. I felt like I was truly the loneliest human in existence.

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I sat down on the bench at the school rooftop. It wasn't my first time coming here before lunchtime. Every time I felt dissonant, I simply came here. After all, no one would stop me. 

I opened the small case with an exhausted look. It revealed a beautiful looking handgun. I couldn't care less about the exact model, however, looking at it always made me relieved. As I tried to grab it, a flash of memories suddenly burst into my mind. An innocent looking girl gave me a smile. I tried to reach out to her, yet, no matter what I did, I couldn't find her. No matter where I go, her smile is stuck in my memory. 

I stared at the handgun with an exhausted mind. It took me quite an effort to finally manage to steal one. I was able to bypass the police headquarters lock and took different types of firearms with some ammunition boxes. No one could stop me from stealing anything. 

I grabbed the handgun as I stared towards the sky. I found some random pigeons that soared in the sky. I took aim, slowly focused my breathing, and took a shot. It was a direct hit. I felt satisfied as I continued to shoot more. The sound of the handgun vibrated through the entire school, however, I couldn't care less. If someone were to find me and scold me, I'd happily accept that. 

"What am I doing…" I said, while dropping my handgun as I laid myself down towards the bench. The passing cloud gave me a pleasant shade to slowly let myself close my eyes. 

Before long, I noticed a tear coming out from my eyes. Perhaps, a human wasn't supposed to feel like this. If only someone were able to fill the gap in my loneliness. If only I could talk to someone once more… If only you were still here… 

Those days were gone. No one would ever say 'good morning' to me ever again. Perhaps this was a punishment, or maybe a nightmare. Maybe after I took one more nap, everything would be normal again, she would still be there holding my hand, playing games as we had fun around back at my house. Then perhaps, I wouldn't have the loneliness to create a make-pretend school with voice recorders to tell everyone good morning. After all, no one existed anymore. 

This studentless school was nothing more than a distraction for me to keep myself busy. Even then, I couldn't help but to stay here. I've made a promise to her, to study together at Haru High School. In the end, it's nothing but a naught promise. It's not my fault, yet it felt suffocating. It was too sudden; she left this world first, and I couldn't follow her. 

"Just where did everyone go?" I muttered. I took a deep sigh as I stared at the empty city with no sign of human life from the school rooftop. Not just human life, but animal wildlife that couldn't enter this city's barrier created to fend off any hostile animals. 

I closed my eyes. The pleasant wind relaxed my body as I went to sleep. I could vividly dream of her. I tried to grasp onto her. In the end, nothing else mattered. I woke up with a headache as the sun soared high as the light struck me. 

I tried to go back to sleep before suddenly I noticed an adorable naked girl staring at me.