As Kichirou stepped out of the apartment complex, he noted the lack of people walking around outside. Only then did Kichirou recognize just how much the cratering had truly affected society. If a city with the entirety of humanity packed into it was this empty, just how many people could have died? Did the emergency bunkers not do their job? Perhaps only those bunkers in the outer parts of the blast radii held up against the explosions.
'Maybe that's why we're trying so hard to join the fight.'
Kichirou thought this to himself as he realized it made sense for many of those who survived to attempt to enlist. After the bombs were dropped, many people lost family members, whether it was to the initial blast or the lack of food and supplies, most of the people who inhabited Charon were those with no family, and many orphaned children just like Kichirou was himself. Perhaps if he were to enroll in some way, he'd find others who were like himself, at least in that regard.
'I'll ask Jane about it when I get back to the apartment.'
Just as he thought this, Kichirou had finally reached the main city that was at Charon's center. The huge buildings and bright lights that Kichirou had found himself in made him wonder just how there was so much space to build this place in what reasonably should have been a relatively small space due to it's nature of being an underground city.
'I don't remember having gone down this far on the funicular, there's no way the buildings could be this large from the amount of time we spent going down, right? Woah, what's that?'
Kichirou Suzuki, A boy from a relatively small town out in the countryside, had never been faced with something as expansive as this up close before. Kichirou lowered his sunglasses slightly to get a good look at the building's name as it was lit up in bright white neon.
'Chen Department Store…'
Most of the signs and such seemed to have appeared in English, and even those that had spoken to him so far had all done so using English, though this wasn't oo
of an issue, considering Kichirou had moved to The United States when he was around 8 years old.
Kichirou soon stepped into what could only be called a labyrinth of different lights and sounds
'W-what is this place'
The overhead lights almost blinded him as he entered the jungle of different lights and products. The layout of the department store could only be described as a spiral. The building was in the shape of a giant hexagon, with different stores being partitioned by thick walls that held placards indicating which store was located to the left of the sign. The signs on the wall were better described as crests, though, as they did nothing to assist the reader ascertain what they could find in that store, but rather were exaggerated insignia exhibiting the general vibes of the store they were designated to. There were multiple floors, around 5 if Kichirou had counted correctly, all connected through a system of escalators that were at different sides of the giant escalator for each floor.
Kichirou walked further into Chen's Department store, and came across what appeared to be a map of the general areas of the mall, and Kichirou began to mutter under his breath.
"So the first floor has restaurants. The second floor has grocery stores. The third, clothing. The fourth, furniture, appliances, and electronics. And the fifth, miscellaneous items. Huh, everything seems a lot simpler than I thought it'd be…"
As Kichirou stood there, studying the floor plan, he felt something of a bump on his shoulder. Actually, he felt quite the bump on his shoulder! As the girl walked by and only slightly grazed him on his shoulder, but she'd left quite the sting, because of which Kichirou couldn't help but caress in an attempt to alleviate the pain.
"Sorry!"
Kichirou turned around to see a the girl turned around with her hand extended in an apologetic gesture as she walked away. She seemed to be some sort of South American, with an olive skin tone that seemed to reflect the extreme lighting of the department store, making her seem almost angelic due to the aura of luminosity that shrouded her. She had dark brown eyes that suggested a hint of mystery. Though there was no way for him to be sure, Kichirou had a feeling that there was more to her than what was presented on the outside.
'Well, whatever. I better go get everything I'll need and get back quickly, Jane will probably be waiting for me.'
A quick shopping trip ensued, which was mostly comprised of Kichirou buying new clothing, but was also dotted with the occasional amenities Kichirou would purchase, such as a new smartphone.
'All right, everything seems to be in order.'
Kichirou soon stepped out of the building and placed the address of Jane's apartment into the holographic GPS.
'Might as well pick the quickest route. I don't wanna get back to the apartment any later than I have to.'
As Kichirou turned down an alleyway for a walkable short cut, he was caught off guard by what seemed to be a formless voice
"Give me the band!"
"What the he-"
Kichirou was soon blindsided by a gloved fist, making his sunglasses fly off of his face before he fell to the ground in pain. After opening his eyes, he was faced with what was clearly some sort of thief, clad in all black. His face was obscured by a ski mask, and his hands were covered by gloves. He'd even left his own band at home, making it nigh impossible to identify anything about him save for his voice, which was what let Kichirou identify him as male in the first place.
"Come on now, I don't have all day! Make this easier for both of us and just drop the band."
Kichirou felt a panging in his ears, as if someone were ringing a bell in his head. He began to mutter under his breath.
"What the hell is even happening… I can't just let him steal this from me but…"
The untrained Kichirou had never been in a fight before, and the blow to his temple alone had proven to be far too much for him to handle. As his vision grew blurry, Kichirou eventually felt it go dark.
'Not like this…"
Thud
Kichirou hit his head on the ground after falling, and became unconscious.
"W-what's up with the kids eyes?"
The normally loose and flowing purplish-blue glow emanating from his eyes had suddenly started to retract back into Kichirou's eyes, condensing within his pupils and settling into his pupils, turning them a glowing purple. Oddly enough, though, the normally clear emissions from Kichirou's eyes had started to take on a hint of distortion, keeping the thief from seeing what Kichirou truly looked like.
Suddenly, Kichirou's seemingly unconscious body propped itself up on one knee, though all traces of "humanity" had left the inhuman eyes in his sockets.
In this moment, Kichirou felt himself wake up, though after looking around it was clear he wasn't in that same alleyway he passed out in. The area around him was almost completely empty, even the ground around him didn't exist, as though he was standing on nothing at all. There were two exceptions. The first thing Kichirou could see around him was what appeared to be a sort of window, through which he could see what his body's eyes were seeing. It looked like he was somehow putting up a fight against the thief!
"What the hell? How am I even moving like that? I'm not even doing anything, and I've never even been in a fight before!"
"That's because you're not the one 'moving around like that' at all."
Kichirou looked around, trying to find the source of the voice, but failed to find anything. The formless voice sounded like that of an older man, and spoke with a condescending tone, as if Kichirou was of no importance to him. Suddenly, with a flash of light that felt out of place for an area so devoid of luminosity, a man appeared floating in the air. He seemed to be wearing formal clothing, dressed in black slacks and a white dress shirt that looked like they had just been bought. The dress shoes he was wearing clicked as he landed. At the same time, the medium-length tie he was adorned with found it's place laid on the man's chest, and his short hair flowed down to meet his forehead.
'What the hell?! He just appeared out of thin air! And how come he sounded so old earlier when he looks like a young adult at most?'
"I'm the reason you're body can move around right now."
The voice suddenly changed, almost as if what Kichirou heard before wasn't the same being.
"Neither you nor I know why you're here right now, or why you can even see through that, but if you can it means there musst be something tying you to this plane. Hopefully so, at least. Which is why I'm going to do this."
Even before Kichirou could fully register what was said by the mysterious man, the man appeared a few feet away from his face with a single hand reaching towards him. Kichirou, through pure instinct, attempted to move out of the way, but found himself unable to move at all, almost like the world itself was holding him still. In a flash, the man's hand glowed with a bright purplish-blue hue, and Kichirou's vision went black.