Prologue

Endless clouds of ashy smoke violently polluted the supposedly clear skies of Tokyo that day. The restaurants of the newly opened mall that claimed to be on par with three star gourmets released an awful burning odor that was indicative of a different type of meat not meant to be on fire. Walls of flames enveloped the food court, where the first explosion occurred, searing the eyes of those fortunate enough to survive the explosion, but unfortunate to be in the building in the first place. It wasn’t much later that the sirens were wailing and people were screaming, but for those poor souls caught in the middle, only a piercing ringing noise made it to their ears. In the midst of all that chaos, there was only one thing on Noritaka’s mind that would plague the rest of his life - if only he didn’t let go.