Chapter 1: Chapter 1: Realization
The soft sensation of a pillowcase soothed the side of his face as his body lay upon the bed. Opening his eyes, he was met with the interior of a mostly undecorated room; white walls, a wooden floor with a light-blue square rug in the center of the room, a bedside table with a lamp wearing a gray lampshade, and a desktop computer sitting upon a black, wooden bookshelf desk, carrying several textbooks that any person wouldn't read if they didn't have to.
His tired eyes turned to his bedside desk with an electronic clock, reading 10:19 AM. He slowly emerged from the addicting comfort of the bed and planted his feet upon the rug with his head hanging down. Shifting his head brought the calendar into view, reading the date.
"2009 年 7 月 27 日 / July 27 2009"
The young boy smiled with relief at the day with all the previous squares having been crossed out.
"I'm so glad it's over for now… man…" he said with a sense of tranquility as he closed his eyes with a faint smile as he turned his head to gaze back at the floor. After about ten seconds, he rose from the bed as it creaked.
He carried his feet over to the blinds-covered window to reveal the new day that was free from responsibility. Blinds turned, the sunlight poured into the rectangular room that stood two story's above the earth underneath a clear sky with a few small cumulus clouds hanging above.
Turning to the sleeping monitor, he nudged the mouse to wake up the black screen. The computer requested a login, which the boy answered with a swift clacking of the keyboard.
"Username: t_sato"
Upon pressing the enter key, a wallpaper of a distant view of a waxing crescent in a clear blue sky faded into view. Tomoya clicked on an icon of a yellow sun hiding behind a white, puffy cloud, opening an application window.
"2009 年 7 月 27 日 | 午前10時20分 | 摂氏21度 | 名古屋市岩倉市"
"July 27 2009 | 10:20 AM | 21 Degrees Celsius | Iwakura City, Aichi Prefecture, Japan"
"Lovely." He smiled faintly at the perfect temperature. The last step was to retrieve his white MP3 player connected to white earbuds before exiting his beloved room. Downstairs, he reached the foyer of his home and called out.
"Mom, I'm going for a walk!" He yelled as he turned the doorknob and crossed into the outside world before swiftly closing the front door.
"Tomoya?" His mother peered out from behind the wall and observed the door with a puzzled expression.
Outside, he turned his head both ways and viewed a clean, gray road with dashed white lines running down the middle of the road. On the right side of the road were several storm drains, patiently awaiting the next rainfall.
Alongside the road stood a series of skinny and tall utility poles, stringing overhead powerlines across the sky.
Tomoya calmly stepped down the few concrete steps in front of his home that wore a light-gray, traditional tiled roof and stood next to neighboring houses. Immediately, on the sidewalk, he began his stroll down the street.
Tomoya smiled in a state of bliss while walking down the street and quietly playing his favorite tracks into his ears with his hands in his pants pockets while listening to the screeching sound of the calls of cicadas. A few elderly individuals were as well on a small journey through the neighborhood, though they paid no attention to Tomoya.
Some time passed and so did the various buildings by Tomoya. Eventually, the boy found himself near a plain, white, rectangular building, which he entered after pulling on the handle of one of the two glass doors, triggering a two-note jingle.
Three seconds afterwards, a middle-aged man emerged into view from a door behind the front counter, though he appeared confused. The man took some glances, attempting to look behind the aisles of products.
Tomoya searched the aisles, attempting to decide which beverage to choose. The teenager searched his pockets with his hands and withdrew three 100 yen coins. Tomoya reached out to grab a particular glass container that held a clear, edible fluid, and made his way to the counter, but the man could not be seen.
Not desiring to wait, Tomoya placed the three coins upon the white countertop before making his way out the door. Promptly after opening the door, the man returned and gave a highly confused expression with his eyes on the slowly closing entrance.
Tomoya then proceeded down the sidewalk with the beverage in hand. Along the way, he encountered two young women who appeared to be around his age. Hesitantly, the teenager waved his hand at the two young girls with a timid greeting. They did not respond, and appeared to be more interested in the beverage along with his left pocket. Tomoya did not look back after he passed by the girls.
"Jeez… that was rough." Tomoya sighed. "They didn't even look at me. Apparently a soda bottle is more interesting than I am."
The young boy did not let this rain on his mood. Tomoya kept on his voyage through the cityscape of Iwakura despite the failed interaction. The sky became completely clear at this point without a trace of a cloud.
The cicadas continued their song as Tomoya noticed this clearness. The boy reached a crosswalk, which he quickly began moving across. A careless vehicle then made a close flyby with Tomoya while he was crossing, causing the boy to jump back, startled.
"What the hell?!" Tomoya said to himself, angered by the reckless driver. "What, did he not see me?! There was a damn mirror right there!" Tomoya pointed to the traffic mirror that displayed views of what lied around the corners.
The sky remained as clear as clean glass. Two young casually dressed boys carrying school bags on their backs were headed in Tomoya's direction. He recognized them as some of his classmates from his junior high school. They initially appeared to be undisturbed, but upon looking in Tomoya's direction, their expressions became ones of confusion. Like the two teenage girls before, their eyes were fixed on the soft drink that Tomoya held while giving glances to his left pocket.
Oblivious to the apparent allure of the carbonated beverage, Tomoya held it up to his eyes to inspect it. His eyes examined each detail of the glass bottle, attempting to find something to explain its attractiveness, but to no avail.
Tomoya decided to begin heading back toward his home. The journey back seemed quicker than the journey forward, and before Tomoya knew it, he was within proximity of his beloved house. Tomoya made his way up the few steps and slipped out of his shoes before neatly setting them aside. After inserting his house key into the lock and twisting, he as well twisted the doorknob and pushed the door aside.
"I'm back!" Tomoya announced his return, but was met with silence. "I guess she's taking a nap or something."
"Tomoya!" A female voice yelled from upstairs. Tomoya lifted his feet up the staircase toward his mother's voice.
"Tomoya, Tomoya!" His mother continued.
"I'm coming!" Tomoya responded. He reached the location of his mother's voice and saw his mother in his room, her attention focused on his bed.
"Mom, what is it?" Tomoya asked.
"Oh my god! Tomoya!" His mother screamed.
"Mom, what happened?!" Tomoya moved closer to his mother, and immediately froze. Tomoya found himself looking at very familiar, yet unknown person lying in his bed with its eyes closed. Tomoya's mother kept frantically shaking the unresponsive boy, begging him to wake up.
Tomoya stood completely still and stared at the individual in his bed while experiencing intense confusion and fear.
"Who… mom, who is this?! Mom!" Tomoya asked, desperate to understand the situation. Tomoya placed his hand on his mother's shoulder, but his mother immediately jumped back and screamed before breaking down into tears. Tomoya was both distraught from his mother's fear and confused by seeing this boy in his own bed.
Tomoya's mother quickly ran down the stairs and scrambled for the telephone, which she dialed and held to her ear with a tremor while whimpering as tears streamed from her eyes. Tomoya stood and watched silently, clueless as to what action to take.
"Please, please bring and ambulance, please make it fast!" His mother begged while snuffling.
"Mom, listen to…" Tomoya stopped his sentence and paused before heading toward his room to take a second look at the boy in his bed. Tomoya studied his appearance, and without a doubt saw himself lying in the bed. It then dawned on Tomoya what was happening as he thought about the odd behavior of the passersby he encountered earlier.
"I'm… gone." Tomoya realized.