Our Journey Can Finally Begin!

“Hnrghh…”

I slowly open my eyes.

I scramble to find my glasses next to my pillow, lazily putting them on.

What greets me is a room that is dimly lit in an orange color, the walls adorned with modernistic tiles that have beautiful carvings all over them, looking like some sort of mansion. There’s a broken-down television positioned right in front of me, and a comically large bathroom to my right that you can see through the glass, its interior adorned with gray tiles followed by a giant bathtub located at the center of it.

“…?”

I look down at myself, noticing a large double bed and me wearing a white bathrobe.

“…Did I…”

*CLICK*

“…!”

My gaze quickly redirects itself towards the source of the sound, to which a woman with long, black hair gradually appears from the doorway. In her arms, she’s holding a plate filled with noodles whilst shouldering my backpack.

“You’re up…” The woman says, her jaw slightly open, “How are you—”

“D-D-Did we do it?!” I grab my blanket and cover my body, then I quickly put some distance until I hit the wall behind the bed.

“No, we didn’t!” The woman hastened her pace to put the food on a nearby desk, “Why am I even taking care of a clown like you?” She unshouldered a bag, letting it drop on the floor with a large thump.

Looking at the color and amount of accessories strapped onto it…

“Hey! My laptop’s in there!” I jumped out of the bed and headed towards the bag.

“You seem to be doing fine, so go get dressed and please leave.” The woman says exasperatedly, putting her hand on her hips.

“Hey…” I slowly turn my gaze towards the woman, looking up from below, “Did you reaaaally do nothing to me?” I tug my bathrobe, facing her with a smug.

“Haaah…” The woman rubbed her eyes and looked downwards. “You just freaked out on me, and you’re saying you’re expecting something?”

“…Oh…” I dropped my gaze, looking around the floor tiles, eventually landing on my bag. “That happened, huh…”

“…If you’re so against being touched, then why are you desperate to have sex anyway?” The woman asks.

“…I don’t know…” I grab onto my bag, clutching onto it with everything I have, “It’s just that… it looks enjoyable…”

“…I’m pretty sure you already know the first step to having sex is to get touched, right?” The woman scoffs.

“…”

I nod my head.

“…So, what are you planning to do?” The woman crossed her arms.

“…I don’t know…” I slowly stand up, keeping my head lowered, “I’m really sorry for bothering you! It’s a bad habit of mine to do something rash when I’m desperate…” I let out an awkward smile.

“…”

“I’ll figure something out, so no need to worry about me!” I raised my face, yet my eyes are closed, “Not that you were worried about a waste of oxygen like me, hahaha…”

“…”

“A-Anyway… I’m really sorry for everything…” I quickly bow down, finally opening my eyes, the only thing I see is a pair of the woman’s shoes.

“…”

“…”

Figure something out?

What is there to figure out?

Not like it even matters, considering how this earth doesn’t have long left…

Even after the universe has determined Earth as a pile of garbage, this world still has enough willpower to determine me as a piece of trash, huh…

If that’s the case…

Then I might as well—

“Hey.” The woman’s feet inch closer to me, making me take a step back. “Do you want to live?”

“…Eh?” I raised my head.

Only to be greeted with a blank expression.

One that made my entire blood circulation freeze.

“Have you heard about a new incoming meteorite?” She asks.

“…” I nod.

“Despite hearing that, do you still want to live?”

“…I don’t know…” I lower my gaze.

“…I’ve wanted to visit Tokyo for a while now, and now there’s no one that’s going to stop me!” The woman puffs her chest out and places her hands on her hips, a determined expression dawns on her face, “Yet for some reason, you’re here preventing me from doing exactly that…”

“Well, sorry about that…” I snorted.

“What about you?” She crossed her arms again. “Is there something you want to do while still being alive?”

“…I…”

“…”

“…I still want to have sex…” I lower my head, feeling the insides of my stomach churning when I state that.

“Then do you want to come to Tokyo with me?” The woman stretched her hand out.

“…Eh?” I lock my gaze on her hand, one that is filled with multiple cuts.

“My step-dad owns a brothel somewhere in Shibuya, and I want to try meeting him. There’s a chance some people still work at that brothel, so maybe you could get laid there.” The woman smiles.

“…”

There’s… still a chance…

I can still have sex!

“…”

But…

Can I really go through with it?

“When it comes to what just happened… All I can really say is for you to figure that out once we cross the bridge…” The woman scratched her head.

“…Why are you being so nice all of a sudden?” I relocate my gaze towards the ground, “Even though I’ve been nothing but a bother to you…”

“Don’t get me wrong here; seeing you that desperate pisses me off, and seeing you be in the dumps makes me even more pissed…” The woman raised her voice.

“Why do you even care whether I’m depressed or not?” I fix my glasses while staring into her.

“…I just hate seeing pathetic people…” The woman mutters, looking away from me. [JA1]

“…?”

“…Point is, I have my reasons for doing things, and I’m not obligated to tell you about it.” She said, retracting her hand and crossing them.

“…Are you scared of being alone?”

“Now don’t get smug on me, kid!” The woman stomps her feet, inching closer to me, “If there were two people, it would make things a lot easier to keep each other safe! It’s not like I need company, and even if I do, you would be the last person I’d choose as my friend!”

“…Heh.”

“W-What’s that smug for?!” The woman gazed away from me, her cheeks becoming a bit red.

“Oh no, it’s nothing…” I wave my hand off.

Despite her looks, she can be pretty cute…

“…So, are you coming or not?” The woman stretched her hand out towards me again.

“Yeah…” I firmly hold onto it, feeling its rough texture in my grip, “I’ll be in your care, Ms… uhh…”

“Alice. Just Alice…” She lets out a smile.

“I’m Yuiko. It’s nice to meet you…”

Both of us lock into each other’s eyes, so much so that I noticed my reflection within her determined gaze.

…

…..

……