The next morning, Horu woke up with a headache from out of this world. So he called in sick at school.
It was around 8.30 am.
There was no way in hell that Horu even considered attending school with all this stuff going on. But that was just a lousy excuse as to not stumble upon Kaede or Simon.
"I just don't feel like seeing both of them right now. But lying down in bed all day ain't my style either."
Horu put on a hoodie, sweatpants, and some trainers and left the house.
Where he was going? He hadn't a clue. The sun was still rising and the birds had just shut up, so it wasn't that early. Horu headed for the train station.
Why he was heading there?
'Not a clue.'
He felt like walking all over the place for boredom's sake. His body couldn't handle resting in bed all day. Neither could his mind handle all the gossip of
Kaede suddenly being in a relationship with his best friend only a day after proposing to Horu. The entire city probably knew of the situation by now.
Sigh.
'Nothing ever goes my way, does it?'
Horu had always been a loner. He had a couple of friends like Simon. But none could cope with his loneliness. His entire life, Horu had to count on his independence because of his mother working 'overseas'.
Although it was clear that his mother was a hardworking businesswoman, he knew nothing of his other parent. To be frank, he knew nothing of both parents.
The reason how Horu was able to live on his own was because of Kaede's family. Kaede's mother, Hina Amazugawa, was his mother's friend so she insisted on raising Horu until he was old enough to live on his own.
The Amazugawa family also covered the rent of Horu's house. He could never even think of repaying their kindness, so he started working part-time jobs to aid him in his independence.
Horu basically owed Kaede's family his life, so causing them any trouble was a line he would never dare cross. This also included Kaede herself. But now that he broke that sole taboo, he was lost.
Especially now that he yelled at her, on top of breaking her heart. So a walk for fresh air to think about his next course of action would've done him nicely.
The train station was rather far away from his home. He had to use a ton of shortcuts using alleyways, private terrain, and such. But that was a huge mistake.
The biggest mistake.
One that would turn his life into a disaster. As he was walking down one of the alleys, his vision suddenly got over-lapsed by sudden darkness.
Voices.
"Is this the one..."
"...Are you sure, madam?"
"Roger."
"Tie him up."
"Yes, sir."
A female voice responded to the command immediately.
Horu's legs got lifted.
No. His entire body elevated as the strangers tied him up.
He was then thrown into what sounded like a van.
'What the actual fuck?'
Was the first thought going through Horu's mind as he was being abducted.
"Hel—!"
Right as he tried yelling for help, a fierce hand placed what felt like a napkin on his mouth, which also covered his nose.
It had a strong smell.
Suddenly, the strength of his body began failing him. It was as if all lights had gone out in an instant...
'Am I going to die?'
'Is this truly the end for me?'
'Either way, I don't care.'
There wasn't a soul on Earth that would mourn for Horu. Not even his mother, whose face he'd never truly taken a good look at. She wouldn't even know if her son were to up and die someday.
'Today might be that day, though.'
Horu reminisced about his first and only love, and how he never got to do the one thing he wanted to do most; confess to her.
She was presumably the only person who cared about him...
~~~~~
"Where am I?"
Horu's eyes shot open and his breath got out of control. What his eyes were seeing was nothing but a display of clear, blue skies. And...
"Rain? I'm in the open?"
He always thought that after getting kidnapped, one would wake up in an abandoned building with a blindfold around his eyes, strapped to a chair. But this dude woke up strapped to something much worse than a chair.
He felt them.
The two hard pieces of metal underneath his back. Considering what he was hearing and what he was strapped to...
Train rails.
"HEEEEEEEELLLP! SOMEBODY HELP ME!"
Horu cried for help as hard as he could but no hope. Nobody came to help him. As expected.
"You're quite right. Nobody is coming."
Who's that?
Horu's eyes shot wide open.
"And don't think yelling will help you. Because it won't."
No, seriously. Who the hell is that? A woman?
"Let me give you a few details on the situation here. What we're doing right now...you should see it as an experiment. Your sacrifice is nothing but a mere test. A test whereas the results are essential for the survival of humanity."
"Sacrifice? E-experiment? Are you fucking nuts, bitch?"
"Oh, my... Aren't those words a little bit... inappropriate for a young lad of your age?"
The woman stood on top of him, with one of her stiletto heels pressing against his chest. The mask on her face and her body were on clear display.
Somehow, Horu recognized this woman.
'Do I know her?'
"Who are you?"
"Giving away my identity right now would spoil the fun..."
The woman pressed her heel even harder onto his chest.
"Now, as for the main ingredient..."
At the far side of the trail was a small dot of light.
'Shit! I'm actually stuck to train rails?!'
Horu rose to panic.
He struggled as much as he could, but the unknown material that had him strapped wouldn't budge the slightest.
"You've got to be kidding me!"
"Nope! I'm not! Teehee!"
He couldn't see her face, but he knew for a fact that this woman was blowing him a goddamn kiss.
'Is she fucking serious?'
"Boss, I request you to leave the scene immediately. If the results are 'positive', then we'll only put ourselves in danger. And if the results are—"
Another voice got suspended by the woman.
"Yeah, yeah, I know."
She squatted down on Horu and took out a handgun strapped to a holster on her left thigh. Horu couldn't make out the type that she held in her hand, but it resembled a Colt Python by miles.
She had another holster strapped to her other thigh. However, the handguns were very unusual.
These looked dark, demonic, and emitted dark smoke that dispersed shortly after the woman drew one.
"Oh god, n-"
Horu agonized in distress and despair. She was definitely gonna shoot him.
"Close your eyes."
Like a tamed dog, the poor boy listened to his owner without a second of doubt.
"Don't you worry..."
The woman whispered into his ear.
"...Welcome back."
The woman grinned, then licked his cheek.
"Let's go."
"Roger that. Move out!"
It seemed that there were a couple of—what sounded like to Horu—soldiers with the woman.
'Wait. Wait. Wait. Wait. Wait. Wait. Wait. Wait. Wait. Wait. Wait!'
The boy couldn't believe what was transpiring. His thoughts consisted only of a single word that kept repeating itself.
"WAIT! Where the hell do you think you're going?! You cannot leave me here!"
"Oh, yes I can!"
Even though she yelled the last part, her voice was growing faint.
He looked over to the left. What was then a dot of light had now made its shape as the front of a train. And this time, with two bigger dots of light.
"NO! NO! NOOOO!"
Horu closed his eyes as he braced for impact. Even worse, he braced for death.
The train roared and roared as it came closer.
He was going to die.
Right there. Right then.
Except it was at this particular moment that the commoner known as Horu Sakaki altered his fate.
A voice spoke out to him.
A deep voice of someone who'd long awaited this moment to arrive.
"...So it's finally time..."
Horu's mind had completely shut down. Yet, the voice continued.
"Thou who holds the origin of existence. Thou whose might is boundless has finally awakened thou's potential. I, who has long lost the battle of existence, has been reborn as thou. Now... show me thou's worth as an entity that far exceeds the expectations of Gods!"