Chapter 3: As per the last email

Saturday 19 April, 20XX - Part 4

I revealed my situation to Yui. It was the first time I had revealed this to anyone other than Chisato, whom I had known since kindergarten.

My father left around the time I started kindergarten. I didn’t know if he ran off with another woman or if something else caused our family to break down. I only had vague memories of him. As far as I could remember, he was neither a good nor a bad parent.

After my father left, my mother raised me on her own. She worked day and night to pay off the house, the car and our debts.

She pushed herself too hard, got sick and last year, she passed on.

All that was left of her was this house, a red Kei car, and some money, meant for me to attend university. But as much as she saved, tuition fees kept increasing. I secretly worked part-time to help with household expenses until part-time jobs for high schoolers became scarce as the economy changed.

“That’s why I don’t mind if this world ends,” I said. “My mother worked herself to death. All that’s left behind this house, a car and some money. If the world says that her life is only worth so much, then it can go to hell.”

Yui stared at me with wide eyes and then began to cry.

“Haruto, I had no idea that you’ve been through so much. Every day, you come back…and – “

“It’s nothing much.”

That’s why I preferred to stay at school for long as long as possible. Coming back to an empty home gradually fills your heart with loneliness.

And there is only so much loneliness the heart can bear.

After we had discussed everything, Yui said that she had to go home.

“Are you sure?” I asked.

“Mh…I came here after he got really violent. I need to go home to at least get my clothes and the money hid in my room. If we go on a journey, we will need money, right? It’s good that you have a car, but petrol and food aren’t free.”

She was right. Now that we might run away together, we had to take practical things into consideration.

Before Yui left, we exchanged LINE IDs and emails so that we could keep in touch. We also agreed to decide on a date for the start of our journey on Monday – as soon as she had gathered her things tomorrow, on Sunday.

“It’s my first time exchanging LINE IDs with a classmate,” she said. “The others usually stay away from me.”

I guess it was true that the others could sense her bad home environment and chose not to get involved with her.

Sunday, 20 April, 20XX

I’ve always hated Sundays. There is nothing to do and the silence in the house is overwhelming.

It’s a constant reminder that I was alone.

Monday, 21 April, 20XX

Yui didn’t come to school.

I messaged her on LINE, but she didn’t answer. She didn’t even read the message.

I asked our homeroom teacher if he knew something. He said he would call her parents.

After school, he said that her mother said that Yui was too sick to attend school.

Tuesday, 22 April, 20XX

Yui didn’t come to school again.

I went to her house to deliver the worksheets. But no matter how many times I rang the bell, no one answered the door.

When I called Yui, she didn’t answer her phone.

Wednesday, 23 April, 20XX

When I arrived at school, everyone was talking about one thing.

For the first time since January 1, another mass email had been sent out to every email address in the world.

This time, the sender had taken things further. Rather than just an email, this message was displayed on every phone. It was as if all of our phones had been frozen and could only display this message. Even if you didn’t open your email, you still had to read the message. And if you didn’t have a phone, the message was displayed on every digital bill board and television.

Things stayed like that for about ten minutes, from 8am to around 8:11am.

The message read:

——————————————————————————————————

Regarding the end of the world:

As per the last email, the world will end exactly one year from the Effective Date, January 1, 20XX.

We have observed that the first email was disregarded by the vast majority of the world. The initial message was poorly written. We sincerely apologize for that.

To demonstrate the truthfulness of the first message, all traffic lights in the world will cease to operate for one hour starting from 1 May, 20XX, around 4pm (GMT+9).

We apologize for any inconvenience caused.

——————————————————————————————————

That was the end of the email. There was no indicator as to who sent the message.

But this time, it was impossible for everyone to ignore it.

Everyone in the world had been forced to look at the message. But also, a specific time had been set.

It didn’t take long for everyone to realize that GMT+9 was Japan Standard Time. Which lead people to believe that Japan was responsible for this.

By around lunch time, our Prime Minister issued a statement that had a lot of words, but essentially said, “We know nothing.”

Well, it’s not as if anyone expected much from him.

I called Yui and sent her a message. But just like before, there was no response.

“Is Yui okay?” Chisato asked. She had joined me in the classroom after school. Her usual circle of friends had gone to karaoke, but she decided to skip for today.

“I think her parents confiscated her phone.”

“What? Why would they do that?!”

For now I decided not to tell Chisato about how Yui was being abused at home.

“Haruto, is it because those rumors are true?”

“I don’t know.”

It wasn’t my secret to tell.

Thursday, 24 April, 20XX - Part 1

I saw Yui while doing grocery shopping at the shopping arcade after school. She was walking behind her parents, who seemed to have also come here to find some late afternoon deals.

We made eye contact. She appeared surprised to see me, then made a nervous smile and quickly looked away.

Her parents were with her, so I decided to stay away.

But this was the first time I had seen Yui in days. I had to use this chance to talk to her.

They went to the same supermarket I wanted to go to. I followed them inside. They went to the produce section while I observed them from the drinks aisle.

“Haruto.” A voice whispered behind me.

I turned around. It was Yui.

“Yui!”

“What are you doing here?”

“Eggs are 100 yen cheaper on Thursdays and they have chicken on sale after 3pm. It’s important to shop the sales during a tough economy.”

“…”

“I saw you and your parents and followed you here. Are you okay? You didn’t come to school in the past few days.”

“My parents are punishing me for running away in the middle of the night.”

Yui said they wouldn’t care, but it seemed that she was wrong.

She continued. “My legs are covered with bruises; they don’t want me to join gym class. I thought that bastard was going to break my legs..”

I gritted my teeth. My anger rose to my throat. They tortured her.

“Did you see the new message?” I asked.

“Mh, the one about traffic lights.”

“Let’s leave the city before then.”

Yui gave me an uneasy look. “I can’t. My parents are keeping me under constant watch. I can’t even leave the house.”

They were probably worried that she would report them to the police, especially after she ran away in the middle of the night.

“Ah – wait, I have an idea,” Yui said, but stopped. Her eyes widened. I felt a chill run down my spine. I turned around and saw her parents standing behind me.

“Yui, who is this?” her mother asked with a look of disapproval, as if I was an insect disturbing them.

“This is Haruto, my classmate.” Yui said awkwardly. “Uhm…these are my parents.”

Yui’s mother put a hand to her mouth. Suddenly, her expression changed to that of a typical parent – a neutral, gentle smile. It was the default expression so many adults had when meeting others.

“We are Yui’s parents. Thank you for always taking care of her,” her mother said.

“Ah…it’s nothing. Likewise.” I lowered my head.

“We’ve never met any of Yui’s classmates,” her stepfather said. He was smiling, but I could feel his suspicion towards me. He must be wondering how much I knew about their family.

I glanced at his hands. It was these hands that hurt her.

Inside, I was shaking with rage.

“Well, we must get going,” her mother said, eager to cut the conversation short.

We went our separate ways. Her parents left the supermarket without buying anything. It was as if they wanted to run away.

Yui glanced back at me as they left. What was the idea she had?