A Hectic Day, and a Brush with Infinity.
Izuki pulled up in front of the forty-floored skyscraper,
his car slowing down to a halt. He hadn’t any time to waste as the downtown
meat-bun run had made him tardy. Which won’t have happened if not for an incident back at the pastry shop.
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About an hour earlier…
Izuki had just come out of heavy traffic and was finally at Daifuku pastry and buns. He knew on a normal day he’d never get anything for Kiriha. But today was different, he needed Kiriha’s approval if he was going to get that promotion. Besides, he loved pastries. He entered the store, graciously accepting the assault on his nostrils.
He approached the front desk, but just as he was about to reach the employee
and place an order, a lady in an all-black jumpsuit cut in front of him. Izuki never gets angry.
Izuki remained silent.
‘This lady, knows what she’s doing, right?’ he thought.
‘I am pretty sure she could have just gone any other time. This makes no sense. What was the reasoning behind this
act? And why me of the multiple people in this store?’ he thought.
Izuki remained silent.
‘It’s been a while since something like this has happened. How should I react?’ he thought.
Izuki remained silent.
“Yes, your last three meat buns please.” She said. Then, like a
pig returning to its pen, she scuttled back to her husband at a nearby table.
Izuki remained silent. It was finally his turn to order, “Can I get a meat bun please?” he said calmly.
The employee seemed almost taken aback, he was about 16 years old and a part-timer,
he knew what had just happened but he dared not to say anything since she and her
husband are regulars who knew the manager.
Izuki knew this, not wanting to put such a kind young worker on the spot.
“Thank you…” the young man whispered under his breath. Izuki nodded in response.
“It will take a while before the next buns are ready, but just for you I’ll get
them to whip them up in five.” He said cheerfully.
“Thank you very much,” said Izuki with a smile.
He then sat down to wait by the store window. Izuki knew what people like her thrived off of. She wanted nothing more than a
reaction from him. And he wasn’t going to give it to her. He waited patiently,
and when his order was called, he got up to go and claim it. But then, this
lady cut in front of him again and ordered another set of buns.
But this time Izuki wasn’t having any of it. He took a step to the side of the
lady and asked for his buns. To which the employee happily obliged. At that
moment the woman smiled, she thought she could now embarrass Izuki and the
employee. “Uh, excuse me I ordered before him?” she said in the most stuck-up voice.
But both Izuki and the employee ignored her. Izuki waited silently and the
employee went into the back room to get his buns. The woman turned purple with
rage.
“Hey!! What’s your problem?!” She yelled at Izuki. “Do you
think you can just cut in front of people as you see fit?”
Izuki remained silent. He wasn't going to give her the satisfaction she wanted.
The employee came back and handed him his buns. Izuki turned to look at the
woman. He then calmly said with a smile, “I will remember this.”
He said finally breaking the string of silence he had created.
There was dead silence in the store. The woman looked petrified. As though she
had seen a ghost. Her husband was sweating buckets at her back. The employee
was frozen. The other customers stared at the ceiling or the floor not wanting
to attract his attention.
Izuki left the shop quietly, the sounds of his footsteps echoing as he walked
to the door.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------The Present…
Izuki sighed. He was gonna get another lecture from Kiriha, even though it was her fault he arrived late. She was so unreasonable. He handed his key to the Valet and went inside.
At the front desk, he heard a very familiar screeching from a very familiar woman. There she was again the pig and her farmer going completely ballistic.
“This is absurd, let me speak to your manager right this instant.” She stated.
“I’m sorry ma’am but even if you say you know Mr. Kikuhara, I can’t let you in
unless you show me proof. Maybe his phone number or a picture with him or something.”
Replied the employee. Izuki approached the front desk asking. “What’s going on here?”.
The employee looked relieved replying, “Ah, Manager Kikuhara. So sorry to bother you sir, but this woman says that she has an appointment with you?”. Izuki met eyes with the lady and a villainous smile decorated his lips. The banshee’s smug façade had melted away like an Ice cream cone in the summer, leaving only a well of tears in the place it had once resided.
“Could I be of any assistance ma’am?” Izuki replied calmly with a smile on his
face. “Um, yes, I made an appointment with you a few days ago, here are my documents.”
She said as she handed him a file containing a bunch of signed documents. “It
was quite hard to reach you since neither your phone nor your face was revealed.”
She stated weakly.
“Ah, of course, please allow me to just go through these in my office, meanwhile,
can I offer you a complimentary cup of tea for your wait?” he stated while
gesturing to the nearby employee who swiftly got everything set up before he
could even complete his sentence.
A few minutes had passed and Izuki was examining the files in his office. Kiriha
was there because she had to stamp the papers. And she also wanted her meat
buns…
“Hmm, it's just a permit to renovate a house in a nearby residential
area. Ok, I see nothing wrong with that. What do you think senpai?” He asked.
“Aren’t they... ?” she asked.
“I like to keep business and personal matters separate…” He stated blandly. “It’s
unprofessional to carry grudges into your place of work. If you took your work
seriously you might know that.” He said. “Besides, did you see her face? She was shitting bricks out there. That’s more
than enough payback for me. Just stamp these and have them sent out to them.
You know how busy it gets here on Mondays. AND SWALLOW THAT DAMN BUN.”
“Ok, geez.” She said as she swallowed the last bite.
The rest of the work day was slow and almost infinite. The paperwork kept
coming, Izuki wondered why so many damn people wanted to build houses. Just buy
a goddamn apartment. It’s cheap and comfortable. Then their saving grace,
break time arrived.
She looked at the clock and teared up. “4 more hours…” she said with a lump in
her throat.
Even Izuki was at his limit what the fuck was happening today? Is the company
taking on another estate contract plan? He regretted asking for the time. And
as if to put sand in his already wet socks.
Siren’s wail….
‘What? right now? Right now, is when a rift chooses to appear?’
“No time to waste.” Said Izuki grabbing his car keys while waking up the half-dead Kiriha. He threw his papers into his suitcase and grabbed his phone, checking the rift app immediately for cosmic distortions. A few seconds later a loud beeping was heard.
The P.A.I.A had passed a government law stating that all
mobile phones were to be equipped with a C.R.D (Cosmic Radiation Detector), as
well as the rift app to ensure that citizens can know how far to get away before
the occurrence of a rift. It also states the time left till the arrival of a
rift. One beep means that you are within range of a rift but you’ll be safe. Two
beeps mean that you are within range but you are only at the risk of cosmic
radiation. A continuous loud beeping means that you’d better get the fuck outta
there!
Izuki and Kiriha looked at themselves knowing their situation. Izuki grabbed
his stuff and Kiriha took off her heels knowing they needed to run.
“You have six minutes to live” stated the app. “Fuck!” Izuki stated as he ran out of his office, only to see that everyone had
already evacuated.
‘Why wasn’t there an announcement…? dammit…’ he thought.
He started speeding towards the emergency staircase but he was on the 11th floor. At that moment an electromagnetic pulse was released which short-circuited the phone it also caused a minor space quake so just like a treadmill Izuki and Kiriha were running in the same spot for like 30 seconds. Every second counts when it comes to a rift. Izuki knew this, his heart was banging against his sternum, and his breathing had de-stabilized. Kiriha collapsed, gasping for air.
‘Fuck, radiation poisoning has begun, we better move or we’ll be caught in a vacuum.’ he thought.
“Kiriha, come on.” He said as he lifted her by the arm. “Are
you still conscious?” he asked
“Not. For. Long.” she said between gasps and coughs.
‘This isn’t optimal. What’s the most optimal solution to this problem?’ he thought.
‘Dammit! This lack of oxygen is making it hard to think. Relax Izuki, relax!’ he said under his breath as he took in a long deep breath. Then another, and another, and another. His blood slowed. His pupils contracted. His ringing ears only picked up on the sound of his voice. His heart stopped racing.
Only then did he feel he was perfectly capable of making use of his body’s flight or fight response. In this case, he wasn’t just gonna fly he was gonna soar.
He looked down the hall and saw the stairs just barely out of his reach. “Ok. Kiriha close your eyes” he said calmly.
“What? Why?” she asked scared. Who could blame her? She was just an office worker who was thrown into a situation completely over her head. Frankly, considering some of the pictures of the cadavers of people caught in an Anomaly seen on the news, she was acting way calmer than she should have been.
“Just close your damn eyes if you don’t want to die,” I yelled back. To which she obeyed without any qualms. I won’t mind dying here. But it would be the epitome of selfishness to let her die here with me. Especially since she wants to live. I’ll do my best at least. I can promise that.
Three minutes…
Death is fast approaching. The universe is warping around me. I spring to my feet with Kiriha on my back her eyes closed. Only the sound of my breath filled my ears as the floors of the building began to crumble like crackers. I sped to the door and step on the railing to take a leap of faith to the floor below me. {Slam} I hit the floor. I mistakenly jumped three floors down. I got lucky the suitcase I was holding broke my fall. My head is spinning from the aftershock. Not good. I need balance to keep moving. I look at Kiriha behind me. She seems fine, clenching onto my shoulder with such force I thought they’d be crushed. Let’s keep moving.
Two minutes and some seconds…
I thought as I checked my silver watch. A crack now displayed on its once spotless glass. I’d gone down a total of 5 floors. I prepare to take another jump. I give a run-up and land properly this time. The aftershock makes me go weak to the knees. I support myself, preparing to stand up. Shit, I landed in a bad spot a metal rod is in my lower abdomen. It’s a short rod. I tear off my shirt, the taste of metal is in my mouth as I spit up some blood. My sweat runs into my eye from the top of my head. As I prepare to make another jump. I tie the shirt and put it in my mouth as I push it through till it comes out the other side of my body, effectively impaling me. I then flex my abdominal muscles around the rod. This is the best way to prevent blood loss. I make the jump to the 2nd floor. I land on my feet. I check on Kiriha, she’s still closing her eyes. Good.
One minute…
Says my watch as I get up from the jump to the ground floor. My body aches, I feel weak and my vision is blurred. I get up. Kiriha is unconscious. She got hit on the head by falling debris. Seems to be a major concussion. I see the emergency exit. I pick her up and limp towards the door. My body screamed at me with each step. I try to open the door. It’s blocked by minor debris. “Damn.”. I look around again. I see a door further down the hall… I rush over, ignoring my fatigue in a chance of finding hope. I try it. It opens, “Yes!” I exclaimed.
30 seconds…
I look around and examine what can only be described as the city of the dead. I grab a nearby phone. It’s unlocked. I check the rift app... Why is it still loudly beeping?! It says below the timer on the app, “TYPE 7 ANOMALY: 100 KM RADIUS. INBOUND IN 00:01:20:84. Just my luck, a type-7.
Luckily, I counted the time wrong. Thank you, lady fate. A cruel but just mistress indeed. I check around I see the company parking lot. There he is. My noble steed who has served me all these years. I limp over to the Camry and check my pocket for my keys. No. no, no, no, no, no, no, no. I must have dropped them somewhere. I look around briefly… nothing. No choice. With my last ounce of strength, I lean back and use my foot to let the window have it. It gives way after two or three kicks. I wasn’t counting... I throw Kiriha into the back seat.
50 seconds…
Yeah, I counted wrong. The sky has darkened, and I hear a deafening sound
coming from the building as if reality was pulling itself apart. I can barely
breathe anymore and I feel the blood rushing to my brain… I see so this is a
Type 7. I was feeling all these symptoms
even 90 kilometers away from the building. Then I saw it… the black and white
tape. The flashing lights. I floored it and then fainted on the brakes. I heard
muffled voices, screaming, shouting… I heard a loud bang. My eyes were still
very blurry… I could just about make out the P.A.I.A symbol on his suit. He was
shouting something I couldn’t quite hear him… “₴łⱤ? ₴łⱤ, ₳ⱤɆ ɎØɄ ₳ⱠłVɆ?”
he shouted at Izuki.
‘I hope they grab Kiriha.’ Izuki
thought. ‘Kiriha? Who’s Kiriha?’, ‘Ah, fuck it. I’ll just sleep’ Izuki thought as he drifted off leaving
the world of consciousness
Zero seconds...
ǟ ɢօɖ’ֆ ɖɛֆƈɛռȶ ɛƈɦօɛɖ ɨռ ȶɦɛ ɖɨֆȶǟռƈɛ…. ɨֆ ɨȶ ǟ ɦɛʀǟʟɖ օʄ ȶɦɨռɢֆ ȶօ ƈօʍɛ?
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