76 – 76. Time Stopped.
Shibuya, along with Shinjuku, is one of the most bustling districts in Tokyo and all of Japan.
A section always teeming with people, you could never find empty streets even in the early hours.
Therefore, it was only natural that the density of the crowd would reach its peak right after school hours ended.
The crowd on the main street surged like waves.
Thud-thud-thud-thud-
Kitagawa Kenichi struggled through the crowd filling the street, getting bumped from side to side.
His physical abilities had surpassed those of an average person, so he didn’t feel any pain, but the mental damage was another story.
With a vacant expression, Kenichi was pushed by the crowd, slowly moving forward as he thought to himself.
“…What am I even doing here right now?”
It had been a while since he had escaped the grip of his so-called master, Ichimaru Shiki, only to now be latched onto by a childhood friend.
“Well, Sawamura isn’t going, so I might as well skip it…”
“You can’t.”
“…Why not? It’s a band you like, one I don’t even know.”
He expressed a firm refusal.
Although Hotaru occasionally turned into a despot, he believed he would respect Kenichi’s taste.
…At least he thought so.
Ichinose Hotaru, with an artificial smile, firmly placed his hand on Kenichi’s shoulder and whispered, “These are the guys who’ve been underground all this time and are finally making it to the main stage. Do you know how hard it is to come from a place like Shimokita to a big live café in Shibuya? Can’t you see the determination that has overcome all the hardships, blood, sweat, and tears?!”
“…Ah.”
“Just made it to the main stage! It’d be so sad if there weren’t many fans cheering! I can’t let our kids feel like outsiders!”
And so, he was dragged along.
“…Ah.”
At the age of 17.
Kenichi, who was already feeling like he wanted to die.
Despite being pushed around by the crowd with his superhuman body, his childhood friend Hotaru was already far ahead, conquering the human waves.
Suddenly turning back, Ichinose Hotaru waved his hand with a lively expression and shouted, “Hurry up, Kenichi! We need to be there first for the unity of our fans!”
“…”
Afterward, the live café they arrived at was even more crowded.
─Wow!
─Give it your all!
─For our empire! For everyone’s unity!
It was even noisier.
The music was surprisingly good, but, how should I put it, the atmosphere with everyone going crazy felt unfamiliar.
He had never once thought he hated people in his life, but amidst the bustling crowd, Kenichi thought once again.
“…I want to go home.”
Kenichi understood the heart of a runaway ninja.
***
Kwung─ he put down a tower of books on the table.
He carefully sifted through the materials that made up the tower, classified them, and then stored the books in their proper places.
One of the tasks he had been repeating since entering Karakura High School.
Familiarity eradicates hesitation and excess.
Especially with such simple repetitive tasks, he could finish them in one go without the need for a break.
“Great job today!”
The librarian expressed gratitude with a wide smile, and the library committee member, Sawamura Sento, as usual, humbly nodded his head in acknowledgment.
“No, it didn’t take that long.”
“Still, being diligent about this every day is impressive! There are plenty of slackers around, but Seno Sawa is really something, right? I’ll be counting on you for the next three years!”
“Yes, I’ll do my best as well.”
If the world didn’t come to an end, as Miss Nugu said, that was how it was supposed to be.
Even though he knew of the existence of yokai, it didn’t really register as a fact.
Sawa Seno, having left the library, strolled down a quiet corridor devoid of other students.
All classes were over.
Unless there were extracurricular activities, there was no need to linger in school.
In reality, the only people around were the teachers in the staff room, the athletes running on the field, and a few students left on campus.
From Noble mtl dot com
‘Is this what peace feels like?’
Sawa Seno turned his head to look out the window.
The energetic male students playing on the field, the fresh atmosphere of the boys and girls, the chattering students heading home—all these scenes were captured in his sight, but more than anything, he noticed the gloomy evening sky beginning to darken, tinted with tangerine-colored juice.
The sky was the same as when he first encountered her.
‘It wasn’t particularly romantic.’
…Why was he entangled in memories of that man?
Did he really like that person?
As he pondered such thoughts, Sawa Seno involuntarily let out a sigh.
“…Ha.”
The frustration that burst out of his mouth was due to his cowardly heart that couldn’t muster courage and the fear of what might go wrong even if he dared to be brave.
Seno decided to just gaze at the sunset outside the window, pondering his own feelings that were hard to express.
He turned his head.
– Huh?
Instead of the crimson sky, he saw a person’s face.
However, the size of one eye was so large that it could fill the entire glass pane.
Originally, the place where she was sitting was on the third floor of the school building.
A being of roughly 10 meters in height, with a body so large that it could be called a giant.
‘A yokai.’
It was too early for it to appear when the sun hadn’t fully set yet. Maybe it was due to the influence of something related to the end.
Seno reached out his hand and quickly prepared a spell to eliminate the yokai before it could act.
He realized the anomaly due to the voice that resonated in her vast consciousness.
– …What’s that, a special effect?
– Huh? A hidden camera?
June 21, 20XX, 6:43 PM.
A yokai appeared visible to civilians.
Sawa Seno, with widened eyes, refocused on the students on the field.
Yokai and ordinary people were fundamentally beings from different worlds.
Students were clearly watching the giant figure standing upright, although it should not be able to influence or be seen.
─Whoa?
That giant was no different.
The giant turned its head from her towards the students on the surface.
As the monster raised its huge hand, Sento’s face twisted.
“───Annihilation, bombardment spell.”
The spell was complete.
***
“Hmm.”
Troublesome.
Kenichi, who had left the auditorium momentarily under the pretext of going to the restroom, found himself in a dilemma.
Well, he did plan to stay outside for quite some time under the pretext of using the restroom, but the urgency of it was a true fact-
‘Where am I?’
The boy was lost.
He urgently sought a restroom to relieve his lower body needs, but it was nowhere to be found.
He had heard it was to the right after exiting the building, but it was certainly not there…
“No, why isn’t it here.”
Troublesome.
Really troublesome.
Kitagawa and Kenichi, who had been hesitating, finally gathered their wits.
“Let’s ask the nearby shop owner again.”
Normally, they wouldn’t ask such a question without buying anything, but it was an urgent situation now.
Faced with the imminent emergence of base desires in human nature, the urgency of their lower body needs was of apocalyptic proportions.
“Um, can we use your restroom?”
“…Thank you, thank you!”
Perhaps it was due to their newfound courage.
The lost young boy, Kitagawa and Kenichi, encountered a kind shop owner.
Kenichi, moved, bowed deeply and tried to run towards the restroom.
“…Huh?”
If he hadn’t felt a strange energy above his head, he would have surely done so.
Sensing an inexplicable unease for a moment, Kenichi slowly raised his head.
He saw only a part of the sky turning pitch black.
The sun, which had risen highest this year, had suddenly turned black and was collapsing below the ground.
It would have been better if that was all, but even in the city streets, shadows were rising.
“…What is this?”
Likewise, were these black shadows rising in various places on the streets?
As the voices of perplexed people reached him, Kenichi grabbed the cross hanging around his neck.
Summoning a demon suddenly might lead to a battle with giants, but there was something more urgent.
─Shadows are turning into monsters.
Dozens of monsters were visible in the immediate vicinity. Strangely, even monsters visible to people’s eyes.
Kenichi sensed the extreme danger of the current situation without needing to think deeply.
“Open.”
Therefore, the boy drew his sword.
***
It was still a time when city dwellers had not yet fallen asleep, and the moment when the sky had not yet turned pitch black.
If a monster were to suddenly attack the city, it could harvest a multitude of blood and souls.
“Before defying the heavens, offer a precious sacrifice.”
The Apostle of the End suddenly asked the priest.
“Have all the rituals deployed across the region been activated?”
“Yes, everything is in order.”
“Then proceed with the massacre until midnight. Offer that blood as a sacrifice and summon another apostle to advance to the palace.”
“I will spread the gospel to everyone.”
“Good.”
The Apostle of the End nodded satisfactorily.
“Now, the era of holy faith has finally arrived.”
It was the time when everyone received the grace of God, a time of blessings that had come to the world.
The day of facing death, confronting the end, the time of judgment had arrived.
“Show your will to the world.”
The priest approached the Apostle, who was contemplating the gospel with a bright smile.
“…Um, Apostle.”
“Can’t you see I’m in prayer? Get lost.”
“…No, it’s just-“
“Unless it’s important, you will kneel before the Lord. What is it?”
The Apostle glared at the priest, and the man, who was merely a disciple, tremblingly delivered the news.
“…Sir, it seems there’s an intruder!”
“What?”
***
The followers of the End Cult might liken the shadows to some kind of heavenly fortress, but in reality, they were nothing more than burrows where even a mole could hide.
After uncovering all the rituals in one section, they delved into the inner shadows.
Floating like being submerged in a lake for a moment, they soon set foot in a dark passage like a tunnel.
“Ha, how dreary. What kind of offspring of darkness are you?”
A living space that looked completely shabby in terms of the satisfaction of life.
Well, it seemed spacious enough due to the number of people, but it was meaningless.
I grasped the air.
“Open.”
─And time stood still.