Chapter 17: Her hand felt really soft against my lips

Thursday 8 May, 20XX - Part 2

Yui came back from the bathroom. Her cheeks were flushed.

“Everyone! A new email just came in!” She raised her phone into the air.

None of us responded. We were all reading the message on our phones.

“Oh…everyone already started reading…” She pouted slightly, annoyed at being ignored.

The Murakami brothers were sitting in camping chairs next to their white minivan, while the Kobayashi sisters were huddled together next to the campfire.

I sat detached from the group, next to our tent.

Yui sat down in the camping chair next to mine.

“You all started reading without me.”

“Sorry…the email came out of nowhere…”

“Let’s read it together.”

Yui leaned in close, peering at my phone. Our shoulders touched. Her long black hair tickled my cheek. It’s the first time ever since I dated Chisato that I had been this close with a girl. My heart beat fast.

“Haruto, is something wrong?”

“I-It’s nothing.”

There was no way I could say that I thought she smelled good…

Even I knew that saying that would be a death sentence.

“Don’t you have your own phone?”

“I wanna read it on your phone.”

I wanted to say that it’s weird for two people to read something on the same phone. I could feel the warmth of her shoulders. If I turned, our faces might touch.

“Come on, open the message.”

Yui nudged me with her shoulder.

“F-Fine.”

I hope I didn’t smell.

Even though we only had a 2G signal out here in the mountains, we received the message in the form of an SMS text message.

We began to read it.

———————————————————————

Dear all,

Please look forward to the end of the world.

As previously stated, the world will end one year from the Effective Date (January 1, 20XX). This date has not been changed. This message serves as a reminder that the world will end.

The last event has caused great inconvenience for many people. We sincerely apologize for that. Furthermore, it has come to our attention that the incident has not affected everyone equally due to time zone differences. This is a mistake, and we will do our utmost to correct this injustice during the next incident.

Regarding the next incident, all electricity will be turned off for a six-hour duration starting from May 8, 20XX, 11pm, Japan Standard Time.

Please take care.

———————————————————————

“H-Hey, wait a minute! Will all electricity be turned off?!” Murakami Kota, the younger Murakami brother exclaimed.

“What does this mean?” the elder Murakami brother asked. “All electricity around the world will be turned off for six hours? How is that even possible?”

It was an unbelievable message.

Turning off all traffic lights around the world might be within the realm of possibility. Whoever was behind this had to hack into the traffic light systems of every city in the world and time it perfectly.

But –

Turning off every power grid in the world at the same time?

I said, ”So far, their emails have lacked detail, but that’s only because they didn’t need any details. If they say something is going to happen around the world at a specific time, then it will happen.”

A lack of detail was a testament to what they were capable of. There were no details because there was no need for them.

Details would simply mean that there is a limit to their power.

“It can’t be,” Kobayashi Yuki said. “The world will go dark for six hours? That’s impossible.”

“If that happens, then we will also lose the 2G signal tonight,” her sister, Fumi, said.

“In any case, we’re safe out here,” I said. “We’re far away from the city, and we don’t need a source of electricity.”

“But still…”Murakami Kota gazed thoughtfully at the ground. “Everything we do requires electricity. Fridges, phones, computers, even water cookers. The financial markets will shut down if there is no electricity to power the computers.”

His brother, Ryu, continued.

“Without electricity, society will cease to exist.”

A heavy silence settled.

Kobayashi Fumi, the elder sister, began to cry. Her younger sister comforted her. The two Murakami brothers slumped back in their camping chairs, stunned by the gravity of the message.

Ryu was right.

If you think about it, electricity is what ties society together. No matter how hard things got, people still went to work, obeyed their boss and paid rent because electricity created the modern comforts that form the foundation of today’s society. We earned money because it gives us access to heating, cooling and a reliable source of food.

Without electricity, factories couldn’t run, modern packaged grocery items wouldn’t be made, the lights wouldn’t turn on and the heating in our homes wouldn’t work out.

In the blink of an eye, we’d return to feudal times.

The fundamental reason for upholding social order would be gone.

Social order has already begun to break down in other countries. Could Japan withstand this blow?

I looked at the time. It was 11am. There were twelve more hours to go.

“It feels like this time the sender wants to make things fair,” Yui commented.

“What do you mean?”

“11pm Japan Standard Time is 7am in America, or 10am on the East Coast. It’s also late afternoon in Europe. It feels like this is designed to hurt Europe and America more than Japan.”

Yui had a point. She continued.

“Most of us will be asleep. And by the time we wake up, the electricity will have come back on. It will be the other side of the world that will suffer the most.”

But there was something else about this email that was bothering me.

“Please take care,” I read out loud.

Yui tilted her head slightly.

“What is it, Haruto?”

“They’ve never written something like this before. Usually the emails lack emotion, like they are a formality that had to be sent out. This is the only time they’ve written something like ‘please take care.’”

“Is it really that strange?”

“Yeah. So far all the emails have been very business-like, almost too business-like. It’s strange that they’ve started letting their emotions show now.”

“But does it have any special meaning?” Yui asked.

“I don’t think so,” I said. “It reveals a bit about the sender’s personality. But…”

I stared at the email, imagining the person on the other side, writing this message, conflicting emotions flashing across their face.

“Haruto? Is something wrong?” Yui tilted her head slightly.

“I think they are trying to be sincere. At least, I don’t sense any malice…which is strange because they are in charge of ending the world. I don’t really understand.”

“Haruto…”

Her eyes were filled with gentle emotion. She looked like she was going to cry.

“Yui? What’s wrong?”

“Ah – “ She blinked her tears away. “It’s nothing. I just thought that you were really kind, to be able to think that about someone who is going to cause so much trouble for other people. You really are different from other people.”

“You think so?” I honestly thought that this much was normal.

“Mh!”

The six of us gathered in a circle to discuss what we should do next.

We were safe out here in the mountains, far from civilization. But at the same time, we were at a huge information disadvantage. We had no idea of knowing what is going to happen out there in the world during those crucial six hours.

We came up with a plan.

The two Murakami brothers would drive to the next city in their white minivan and spend the night there, then come back to tell us what happened.

After lunch, Ryu and Kota left. Yui, the two Kobayashi sisters and I stayed to guard our campsite.

With nothing to do, the four of us went about doing chores around the campsite. The Kobayashi sisters did laundry, while I went to gather firewood and Yui took care of the campfire.

A little while later, I came back with a basket full of dry leaves, twigs and tree branches.

“I’m ba–“

I was about to announce that I had returned, when Yui grabbed me and covered my mouth.

She peered into eyes, her face filling my vision.

Her hand felt really soft against my lips…

“Shhhh!”

Her eyes were filled with urgency.

“Yui?”

She pushed me into our tent. I fell to the ground. Before I could say anything, she got on top of me and covered my mouth again.

“Quiet,” she hissed.

Why are you on top of me?! If the Kobayashi sisters saw us, they’d definitely think we are doing something perverted.

But I didn’t voice those thoughts. I stayed quiet.

She glanced at the tent entrance. Outside we could hear the Kobayashi sisters chatting about something.

“Yui! What’s wrong?” I whispered.

She took a deep breath.

“Haruto, we need to leave, right now.”