1. A Bad Day
Today was a bad day for me. Yup, a very bad day. I died when I stepped out of my home for the first time in six months. And it happened because I helped save a child who fell down a train platform. How could this be? My rare good deed ended in my unexpected death? I refuse to accept this!
I remembered how it happened. I was waiting patiently for the train to the next city like every other law-abiding citizen around me. There were not as many people as the rush hour swarm, but there was a small crowd of them. I, staying true to my anti-social tendency, stood at the fringe of this crowd.
Unfortunately for me, there was this one perfect family beside me -- a dad, a mom, and a little boy. They were such an obviously acceptable member of society, unlike me, that I was reminded of my shortcomings as I stood next to them. This was one of the reasons why I preferred to hole up in my apartment and become a shut-in. I didn't need the reminder.
So I stood there pretending to be an upstanding citizen like everyone else as I cursed this outing in my heart. As a trusted freelance software programmer, the company I had just signed on should be fine with live conferencing for discussions, like my other client. But no... they insisted to do a face-to-face meeting. I should just reject them when they insisted. How dare they asked me to step out of my house and endure public places like this? It's not like I can contribute anything extra by going to a meeting at their office.
However, I had a reputation to maintain, being a freelancer. Thus I decided to oblige them so they could be assured that I'm a real person, not a made up persona created to scam people. You could never be too sure in this digital era.
Suddenly the small boy flew past my side. Which shocked me out of my dark mood. Contrary to this polite society's and my expectations, the boy was jumping and running around in giddiness, making a scene all by himself. He was being hyperactive like he had just eaten handfuls of sugar. Maybe he did? Not like I know what parents feed little kids these days.
The boy's mother tried to stop him from being a nuisance by going down on her knees and chiding him quietly as she held his shoulders. He listened to his mom like a good child and obediently stopped.
For less than 5 seconds.
Then he started again, flitting away in circles, round and round his parents. He could really be too high on sugar to keep still. If he kept on being like this, his parents would be forced to take action. I could see some people around me were being judgemental of this little family already. I wished they would cut this young family some slack.
Not that I was paying attention to them much. Why would I? There was no reason to. I was not envious or dissatisfied with them or anything. Though the boy's mother was really pretty. She was small and dainty, her voice sweet like an anime girl, and her round face held a resemblance to Haruhi Suzumiyan. She even had on a hairband - a blue one - to match her blue dress. The perfect waifu...
Cough, cough! A guy could dream, okay?
Anyway, waifu was desperate to stop the boy, calling out "Kazuki-chan, Kazuki-chan," as she reached out her hands to stop him, but without much success. Such a coincidence. My name is Kazuki too. Ah, a perfect waifu calling out my name so desperately, how could I not savor it?
Cough! I was not thinking of anything inappropriate... Nothing is inappropriate in my world, anyway. Cough, cough! The air around here sure is bad today!
What I was trying to say, was that she was about to catch her son when the boy swerved away to avoid her. Unfortunately, his swerve was too wide and too fast that he was unable to stop his momentum. Like a runaway train, he went straight over the yellow line and fell off the platform onto the railway right in front of me.
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