Kobayashi Ryunosuke, a man of the modern world, now stands wide eyed behind the corpse of a soldier, their steel sword buried to the hilt inside their back. The area is lit by crackling torches stuck into the dirt.
He pans around the unfamiliar room, sparse circles of robed bodies surround the wide rocky platform he'd leapt from, there appears something akin to Egyptian hieroglyphs entirely engraved upon its surface.
The faint back curling smell of iron intermingles with a strange minty aroma. As the adrenaline wears off, the mixture floods his nose, causing him to reel backwards whilst pinching his nose. Ryunosuke's back touches the platform, a viscous cold crimson sticks to his bare skin, "Is that...?"
An hour earlier...
Ryunosuke's alarm clock rings soon followed by a voice calling out from downstairs, "RYUNOSUKE YOU'RE LATE!"
His alarm rings again, rousing Ryunosuke from his dream.
A bird's wings flap around before landing outside by the scratched windows, with sunlight peering in through thick curtains, rays of light illuminate his bedroom.
Ryunosuke lazily climbs out of bed and his gray fur blanket leans off the side, he feels a chill go up his spine before closing the AC.
He stands to stretch his arms before sitting back down on the bed, he runs his fingers through his unkempt head, entangled strands of hair snap as they're separated.
A calendar hangs on the blue wall by the panel door, there's a day in march circled in red, with the words 'Graduation day!' written closely on the top left.
Ryunosuke's desk is placed under the window and beside his bed, on the desk is a sectioned pen holder, a letter and his phone.
He reaches over for his phone but struggles before a realization hits; his arm isn't long enough, so he shifts closer on his bed to grab it.
The bird outside's high-pitched chirps make Ryunosuke stand up; before pulling aside the curtains, he opens the window.
"Shoo, get outta here; you're cute but a noisy ass bird."
He gestures at the Shima Enaga, a round bird with soft white feathers. The bird flies off the roof in a hurry, speeding away until begins to resemble a tiny mothball.
Ryunosuke watches as he slowly closes the window shut; he locks it before walking towards the wardrobe.
Dust floats about in the room, Ryunosuke snatches his white school uniform from the rack in his wardrobe and quickly shoves his arms through the top, he puts on the rest of his uniform and throws on a blue hoodie, its the last day, who cares?
He flies down the stairs several steps at a time and stops in front of a mostly empty room on his way out, only a memorial shrine exists within the space.
"I'm graduating today mom, I honestly can't wait to go to college, if I get the chance to that is haha... Oh but maybe I could buy that console you never got the chance to get me."
Raising a finger towards the front door, he smiles before speaking in a gentle tone, "it'll be fine alright? Uncle has me covered for expenses after all... Well I gotta go now, I'll be back by dinner!"
Ryunosuke waits for a moment, but no reply. His hand drops back to his side.
Reluctantly he walks to the exit before slipping on his brown loafers, a key box is hung near the top hinge. Ryunosuke lightly taps his feet against the floor after putting his shoes on, he grabs a key and unlocks the door, bright steaming hot sunlight floods his eyes.
Ryunosuke runs across the street when a truck narrowly drives by, whisking the wind up into his face. 'Oh my god...' His expression turns sour, 'that old man still can't bother to watch the damn road!'
"HEY KOUGA YOU OLD COOT. ALMOST RAN ME OVER AGAIN!!" He angrily yells at the truck as it drives away, unexpectedly the truck stops and the window rolls down, an elderly man sticks his head out.
"SHUT UP! I KNOW YOU DIDN'T LOOK LEFT AND RIGHT EITHER, DID YOU!" His bombastic voice, although far away, still manages to ring in Ryunosuke's ear. "JUST GET TO SCHOOL ALREADY, YOU'RE LATE!" The "old coot" Kouga rolls back down the window and drives off.
"That dementia-ridden Kouga still wants to teach me a lesson... Just who does he think he is?" Ryunosuke roughly stuffs his hands into the pockets of his hoodie.
Along the way to school, he finds a pebble in the road and decides to kick it with him all the way there, though he doesn't get far from home when Kouga's words flash in his mind, "wait I'm late?" He checks the time on his phone, he is already five minutes late. "Shoot."
Ryunosuke dashes towards school at a record breaking speed, whilst kicking a pebble that is. He runs through narrow winding roads and tight alleyways until he reaches the gates of his school.
It is spring season and cherry blossom trees are blooming across Japan, including Ryunosuke's school. Here they are lined up along the short brick walls beside the iron gate, scores of sakura petals litter the ground, various shades of pink streak across the plain white sky.
The front of the school is empty, the students would've definitely been gathered inside the hall by now. Unfortunately Ryunosuke is unable to appreciate the beautiful scene, as he is too busy panting whilst laid back on the floor. "Hah... Hah..."
After resting on the ground for a moment, he swiftly gets back on his feet and readies himself. Ryunosuke firmly grasps the straps of his bag, proceeding to step onto his toes for a moment to gather himself, the contents of his bag shift around upon settling back on the floor.
He struts towards the gate, leaving the pebble behind him. Ryunosuke places a foot past the gate, when a blast of wind sends him flying backwards, landing on his back.
He feels something start to push him, the air itself appears to be pushing him towards something, in the distance a black foreboding door appears out of thin air in front of him, "that wasn't there before..."
It stands on its own without hinges or a panel. An intricate pattern is scrawled on its wooden surface, like vines are growing across it, starting from its four corners and in the center of them an odd stone-like rune with a symbol on it.
Ryunosuke looks around, there isn't a person in sight. He quickly tries to analyze the situation, soon he realises that only things within a short perimeter of the door were being pushed, so he immediately tries to get up and run.
However the wind picks up, it pushes him whilst he is still helpless on his back, instinctively he rams his fingers into the dirt, immense pain emanates from his fingers as blood gushes out from their tips and flies into the door.
The wind begins to push harder... No... He isn't being pushed but rather, he's getting sucked in.
The door was now slightly ajar and dragging everything into it like a black hole, the petals, his blood and even the air around them. Ryunosuke soon feels himself losing consciousness, his strength is rapidly running out, he knows that he can't hold on much longer.
The rune began to dimly shine black, with a white outline accentuating its shape.
"HELP ME...! YOSHIO! MASARU! JUN...!" His voice is dry, pain rips through his throat after screaming as loudly as he could.
Ryunosuke tastes blood in his mouth, 'crap... Did my larynx break...?' In the same moment, he loses all consciousness as his body gets violently ripped from the ground, causing his fingers to dislocate.
He awakens for a moment when a rock hits him in the face. He feels time slow down as his body flies towards the door, 'well fuck me...' He looks behind at the door, watching it slowly creak open. Suddenly it feels as if everything has stopped, like time has paused.
Sakura petals are suspended in the air along with small pebbles to rocks and blades of grass.
The door fully opens, revealing a dark void filled with bright lights, the rune goes through the door and remains in place, now glaring intensely at him.
'Is that space? Am I... being sent into space by aliens? But why? And what is that thing in the middle...?' Ryunosuke closes his eyes as he phases through the rune and fully enters the door, he can't move even a single part of his body.
To his complete horror, this isn't space.
He begins to fall, fast. At a speed one would not picture the human body being capable of handling. He soon arrives before a white orb, it slowly expands until it swallows him whole, at that moment he loses all consciousness once again.
"Welcome Kobayashi Ryunosuke, to the god forsaken country of Imram."