Chapter 2: CH1 – Was everything just a dream?

[Lyon's POV]

 

After pinching myself multiple times and even resorting to punching myself in the gut just to double-check. I have finally confirmed that whatever's happening to me right now is no dream 'But now that begs the question.. were all the memories I had of the future that I still know just a dream as well?' I start to ponder while staring at the stand mirror as what stared back at me was a younger and scrawnier version of myself with the same black hair and emerald-green eyes I still remember only this time my hair was much shorter than what I had grown used to. I decided to punch myself in the gut just to triple-check if this was really a dream or not only to get interrupted by a ringtone coming from a phone right beside my pillow.

 

I walked over to my phone and see a phone number with no name to indicate whoever might be calling me. While I indeed don't remember whose phone number this is I decided to answer the phone call as it might be important but if all the memories I have really aren't a dream then I don't know what could possibly be more important than finding Ren and Alyssa, figuring out whether or not they have the same memories I do and prepare gear, provisions and a possible safe house we can use to weather this whole thing out alongside not only Ren and Alyssa but maybe even our families as well.

 

After answering the call I place it right beside my ear, I begin hearing a voice I never really thought I'd ever hear again "Hey son, how have you been doing, have you been eating well while me and your father are overseas, did you make any friends during your school orientation, Lyon? Why aren't you answering... oh my God!! are you ok son?! is there a problem??" As soon as the call connected a barrage of questions came through the phone and carrying such questions was the voice of my mother who if my memories from the future are correct, was a voice I was never able to hear again after the first days of the infection because for some reason the calls never really connected or at least were never answered...

 

"Yeah Mom I'm doing fine and of course I'm eating well, after all, I wouldn't want to worry you guys while your all busy. As for my friends in school well... there's a guy in my class called Ren Chiaki though I just call him Ren and he's quite a cool guy" I answer back with a lowered voice trying to hold back any emotion that could threaten to ruin the mask of usual clarity I have when it came to speaking. A few seconds passed with no reply only for me to hear a sigh coming from my mother on the other side of the phone

 

"I get that boys like to act tough and hide how they feel but Lyon just remember... I'll always be here when you need me, ok son? Anyways, the board meeting will start soon I'll be back in Japan in a few days, as for your father well... he's probably off tinkering with his inventions and you know how he reacts to interesting things, he'll be back when he's done with whatever project he has going on, anyways goodbye son and good luck with your first day"

 

I start to calm my breathing as it had unknowingly started to get strained because of anxiety from hearing her voice again before suddenly remembering mom's last words in the call. I began my preparations for today by showering which became quite a luxury as rationing water became the norm which caused everyone to just rely on wiping down our bodies with a slightly wet rag and calling it a "shower". After getting out of the shower I started putting into a bag I found inside my closet the usual stuff you'd need for college like a laptop, a spiral notebook and a pen. While I understand that preparations for the future apocalypse are important. If I were to go do any weird actions like say... buying some uninhabited Caribbean island to wait out the infection would be too expensive and comically funny but expensive nonetheless.

 

As for why I haven't decided to warn the public of the possible cause of the deaths of millions if not billions of people, well the reason is quite simple really 'Who would believe such nonsense coming from some 20-year-old first-year college student'. It is June 6, 2022 (Monday) today and Z-day occurred around August 12 of the same year which means that I have at least two months to get into shape and do whatever preparations I need to do to ensure the lives of the people I care about. I will not lose you a second time Alyssa... even if it were to come at the cost of my own life.

 

I stray my thoughts away and return my focus to the present, I have already met Ren back at our school orientation but as for Alyssa, I remember her being introduced to our class when our regular schedule already began instead of the school orientation which means that today will be our first time interacting with each other, that is if you consider listening to her introduce herself to our class as interacting with each other but that counts... right?

 

The school all three of us were attending was called the University of Yoime which was a school well known for its quality in education and services offered to their students, an example of this is the grandiose amounts of available extracurricular clubs which includes but are not limited to debate clubs, the usual basketball and volleyball clubs and even a kendo and fencing club. In the past, I decided to join the prestigious and hard-working go-home club but possibly knowing what's gonna happen at around two months from now was more than enough to dissuade me from choosing the same route.

 

'Joining the track and field club would certainly be beneficial for developing my speed and stamina through cardio but I can just train my stamina by using some of the gym equipment around the house that my mom doesn't use anymore' I think to myself without even noticing just how much time had already passed. After quite a bit more contemplation and reasoning with well... myself, I ended up narrowing down my choices to just the kendo club and the fencing club to choose from.

 

Post-Z-day, most of the guns owned by the people who chose to live permanently in settlements like the Nexus had their guns taken away in exchange for supplies and redistributed to the people who were enlisted into the militias responsible for safeguarding the city, a slight exception to this rule was made however for people like me who made a living out of running scavenging expeditions into what were once bustling cities that became lifeless relics of the past. Neither I nor Ren had a gun in the first place so Nexus' gun law didn't affect us as much which was why we mostly just stuck to whatever weapon we had at the time.

 

Ren kept using his old bat while keeping a screwdriver in case anything unexpected were to happen while I just kept on using the machete I found with Alyssa inside the school's maintenance shed during the early hours of the virus and just stuck with it up to the moment we died at the Nexus breach incident. Alyssa on the other hand used only a larger than usual knife she pocketed when we went past the school's food court but changed her arsenal to a sword and the M911 pistol she had after we decided to visit our homes before getting out of the city to get to the evacuation center outside of the city which grew to become a bustling trade hub that was named Nexus.

 

'Well, since most of my experience lies with slashing heads off using the machete, I don't think the fencing club would be fit for me as its movement and combat style leans more into thrusting rather than slashing and since I only ever used a machete most of the time joining the kendo club would be the extracurricular club most beneficial to me' I ponder to myself, only to then sneak a glance towards the clock that hung above the door to my room. I squint my eyes and notice that it was already 6:50 am which meant that I only had ten minutes to rush to school before getting reprimanded for being late on the very first day of classes.

 

'The school isn't actually too far, it should take me just thirty minutes if I were to walk to school, around ten minutes if I rush my pace without resting for a second. Umu running it is then' I think to myself, though I was already doing that before I even came to the conclusion of what had to be done just to get to a class that might not even matter to me let alone the whole world in just two months, after all, just knowing how to swing some blunt or sharp object around was already enough to get you a job in the post-Z-day world.

 

[3rd Person POV]

 

It was already 7:02 AM by the time Lyon reached the door outside of his first class and as he looked through the small glass pane, there stood on a small stage a girl with long, smooth, black flowing hair and purple eyes that lacked the glint of a person piqued with interest standing in front of the class getting introduced was the same person he grew close to and fell in love with during the early days of the infection up to the last days of what could possibly have either been a REALLY long dream of his or one of the many instances of a future that could come to pass. A person that he could lean and rely on as she did so on him as well, Alyssa Kaede.

 

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Unknowingly, his palm began to sweat as he opened the door to their classroom causing the teacher, Alyssa and the students who were already sitting on their unofficially claimed seats to glance at the door to learn who could possibly have chosen to be late on the very first day of class.

 

The sudden entrance caused the teacher to pause his short welcome for Alyssa for a while as Lyon walked to the third row as that is where Ren was able to keep one of the seats at his side empty. Lyon sits down on the chair to Ren's left and puts down the bag he brought with him beside one of the chair's legs as the teacher finally continued what he was originally doing before the sudden interruption.

 

"What's up, nice job by the way with being late on our first day in college" Ren snickered beside him which remained ignored as Lyon's attention was preoccupied to even notice Ren's greeting as his attention was kept on Alyssa as she introduced herself to their class with that same cold and seemingly uncaring tone that Lyon remembered.

 

"My name is Alyssa Kaede, it is nice to meet you all"  Alyssa states before looking toward their teacher as if she was silently asking for permission to just let her get this over with and find a chair to sit on so that their classes could proceed with their discussion. The teacher nods to her silent request but as Alyssa starts walking toward one of the chairs in front of the class their teacher suddenly speaks up.

 

"Originally I was going to show Ms. Kaede around the school myself but Mr. Lyon Kagami as you are the only student in our class who is late for today, I think that guiding Ms. Kaede around the school after class should be an acceptable punishment as because of personal reasons she was unable to attend our school orientation thus she is mostly clueless with the landmarks of our school" The teacher inquired in a tone that left a refusal for the "request" no room.

 

Lyon's and Alyssa's eyes meet as they glance at one another with Lyon reminiscing about the memories only he alone remembers and Alyssa looking at the face of the person deemed by their teacher to be her guide, what may have seemed just a few mere seconds to Lyon's classmates seemed like an eternity for Lyon whose eyes seemed to carry despair that did not remain unnoticed to Alyssa, only for their attention to return to their teacher as he introduces himself as Mr. Yasuda, a professor of inorganic and organic chemistry as well as their class advisor.

 

The time they just sat around their class went by in a blur as it was spent being introduced to their teachers before being presented with what the topics of their lecture will be for the foreseeable future at least until their first semester ends which if finished without delay should end a few days before Christmas.

 

Lyon chose to refrain from socializing too much as he spent much of the day just talking with Ren and getting to know him better while sometimes glancing in the direction of Alyssa who chose to remain quiet all throughout the day and just listened to their teacher while writing down notes whenever needed.

 

"So, what's your reason for choosing the University of Yoime? Well, I mean aside from their wide range of food to choose from that they serve at the canteen." Lyon asks while waiting for the next teacher to come into their class to introduce themselves.

 

"Well, aside from the food, this university has a lot of extracurricular clubs to choose from plus this school has quite the reputation for the quality of the school's graduates regardless of what kind of degree they graduated with so when I was offered the scholarship I just thought to myself why not, you know?" Ren replies with a casual tone while mindlessly staring through the windows at the corner of their row.

 

Lyon, of course, already knew his reason as he had already asked this before but he knew that if he were to accidentally spout some personal reason or info only a close friend of Ren knew then he would grow suspicious of how could a guy he just met a few days ago know the information he never told to the other party.

 

Lyon just kept asking questions with answers he had already known while sometimes answering whatever question Ren could come up with for him as he himself wished to grow closer with Lyon as well as he was unfamiliar with the rest of his classmates since just a year before he was still living in their farm up north in the Iwate prefecture.

 

It was already 1 pm by the time all of their teachers had introduced themselves alongside whatever topics they were going to discuss. 'Well, time to introduce myself to Alyssa I guess...' Lyon thinks to himself before saying his farewells to Ren who seemed like he would rather jump out of the same window he was staring at earlier than bore himself any further with introductions from teachers.

 

[Lyon's POV]

 

I pack up the things on my table which was admittedly, not a lot as it was still just the first day. I look in the direction of where my fellow classmates who were already free to go home were headed before seeing Alyssa who was just standing beside the door with her own bag staring at me as she waited for me to be done with putting away my stuff so that I can finally tour her around the school. I walk towards the same door with my own bag hanging behind me while thinking of ways to strike up a conversation with her.

 

"It should only take us less than 20 minutes for the tour, 30 if you want me to show you a few places to take note of outside the school as well, since we're in the middle of the city there is bound to be quite a few restaurants and bakeries known for their sweets around here." I match her pace as I ask her while we were walking down the hallways towards the canteen.

 

She nods her head to my question while just staring ahead as if she was walking aimlessly only for her eyes to seemingly glint after hearing the latter half of my question. 'That nod of yours doesn't really answer the question I gave you though...' I think to myself while just enjoying the slightly awkward yet comfortable silence I had grown used to between us.

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