Volume 2 – Chapter 31: The Weight of a Promise

The sun had risen but felt more like an afterglow of dull light than a beginning. Gentle, pale, and colorless, doubtful. Kaito was leaning against the kitchen window, warming his hands with half a mug of coffee, which did little to awaken any more sense. Faintly behind him, in the living room, were the sounds of distant talking; either his parents signing softly with Rika's, trying to let the calm of the morning sink in.

But calm had never existed. It was an illusion, tenuous and threatening to crack.

They were getting married in less than 24 hours.

Yet, Kaito could not help but think of the silence outside-newslessness, the stillness of the city, almost as if something great-very much like tension building up underneath the earth before an earthquake-was present just below the surface.

A half-second after Rika entered the kitchen barefoot, clad in one of his hoodies that hung quite loosely on her small form, Kaito turned to her. Her hair was bundled unlike any other version of put-up he could think of, and her eyes seemed as though she had not really had a good sleep.

"You okay?" he asked.

There was no immediate answer. She approached him, leaning against him while resting her forehead on his chest. He felt her breath arc in. "I had a dream," she said.

He put his mug down. "What kind of dream?"

She looked up at him. "The sky was falling. But not like—meteors, or anything. It was like the sky itself was coming down. Peeling. Cracking. Everybody saw it, and none of them moved. Just... standing there, waiting."

His arms had naturally gone around her, rooting her. "Sounds like your brain's way of dealing with all the tension."

"Maybe," she said. "But it felt real. Too real."

They stood that way for some time. No more words. They were not needed. The silence between them felt with shared thoughts, things they did not know how to say without breaking.

Eventually, they went to join the others. Breakfast bore the same quiet. Eggs from Rika's dad, tea brewed by Kaito's mother. This almost felt normal, almost like a life they could have had-if only the world hadn't cracked.

That illusion was never going to hold for long.

By 10:17 AM, there was a flicker of light.

Not more than half a second was lost to that flicker. Just enough to barely notice it.

And that was all it took.

Everyone froze.

Eyes crossed each other across the table. Someone grabbed for her phone, intuitively checking for news, warning, or sign. But there were none.

Kaito rose. "I will go down the street, just in case."

Rika would not stop him. Just followed him with her gaze, biting her lower lip.

Outside, the neighborhood was... too static for anyone's comfort. No wind. No distant car engines or voices. Just a low hum in the background of his skull.

Kaito went to the end of the driveway. Looked up.

And there it was. 

Not unreasonably. At least not yet. But there was an almost imperceptible flicker in the air, heatwaves-like, but there was no rise in temperature to account for it. The sky shimmered uneasily, warped in a way he couldn't articulate.

He entered the building.

“Something’s coming,” he announced.

No one laughed. No one challenged him.

Because underneath it all, they all felt it.

The slow drag of the rest of the day dragged into eternity. Last alterations. Last-minute planning. A few phone calls to guests-- the few they had left-- for confirmations. A few didn’t pick up. A few said they wouldn’t make it. Some roads to get there were getting shut down. Public transport became unstable.

But life carried on.

Because to stop now would have been giving in to fear. And Kaito and Rika hadn’t been willing to satisfy their own fears.

10:51 PM

Rika sat in front of the mirror half-plaiding her hair with the rest of it hanging in disarray over her shoulder, as her mother sat behind her quietly combing through.

"You look like your grandmother did before her wedding," she said. "Same look in her eyes."

Rika forced a smile. "Scared?"

"No," her mother said, almost too softly. "Brave."

Downstairs, Kaito was sitting with his father. They were not speaking much, only having tea and staring into the burnt-out candlelight flickering on the table.

"I'm proud of you," his father then said.

Kaito nodded, swallowing hard in his throat.

11:38 PM

Outside, it was too quiet; not even the insects were chirping.

Inside, with power flickering on and off and dim light from candles, the house seemed to have come alive with some sacred ancient ceremony. Almost as if time was standing still, acknowledging the moment.

Kaito and Rika stood facing one another in the hallway.

"Tomorrow," Rika said softly, "we'll say our vows."

Kaito took her hand. "And they'll mean something."

She shook her head. "No. We say it really. For everything."

11:59 PM

They shared a brief caressing touch before breaking apart.

Something seemed to be stirring in the distance.