The Future is a God

Tanaka

My wish was to protect.

"No! What are you doing?"

I've always protected people, regardless of gender, race, or religion.

"Please, I have to get back to my kids!"

The problem with people is that they often need to be protected from themselves, though.

"Your children? Haha! You don't have to worry about them!"

Humans do stupid things and then wonder how come fate is so unforgiving to them alone.

"What... What do you mean? What have you done to them?"

Of course, I wasn't someone who could challenge fate, so I let it run its course. No, let's say I helped it push people around a bit.

"Oh no... this is not about me. They've never even met me before~"

It goes without saying, but I wasn't a monster that would lay his hands on children. After all, I lived by a rule to do no evil.

"What's this? What have you done to me?" this random stranger asked me, as if it was my fault that he had broken the rules.

"No, no! AHHHHHHHHHH!"

And as such, his skin turned ashen white, and his vision faded to black.

I wasted no second and took this man's life while he still looked like a human. One strike was all it took. I was simply that strong.

His body went limp and started turning to dust. I am one helpful guy, so I helped the process by blowing on his body to spread the ashes faster. His fate had always been to be spread throughout the city; I just made sure it would happen before anyone else could see him in that sorry state.

With that unexpected encounter taken care of, I stepped out of the narrow passage and into the light.

"Hey mister, why didn't Daddy come out with you? Where is he?" a shy girl asked me, holding her little brother by the hand. The boy, just as shy, kept looking at the laces of his shoes.

Fortunately, I had my lie already prepared.

"Ah, call me Tanaka!"

"... what?"

I used the wrong lie. It was just that brilliant that I couldn't take my mind off it.

"Ah... Ignore what I've said... Ahem! It seems the discussion between me and your dad will take a bit longer. He asked if you could take your brother home. Do you know the way back?"

The little girl took a second to think.

"Yes... I think I do..."

"No no no, 'I think I do' is not enough to convince this Tanaka. Do you? Or do you not? Tell me how your address' name starts at least."

The girl thought for a couple more seconds until her brother pulled on her hand and whispered something to her ear. Then, with confident eyes, she told me her address.

"Well... It's still in Shibuya, so that's close enough. I guess... "

I took out my phone and opened the navigation app. I put in her address and gave the little girl my phone.

"Here, go this route and you'll get home."

The girl took my phone, but something seemed to trouble her as she still wouldn't leave.

"But... how do I return this to you?"

And what bothered her was so trivial I had to keep myself from laughing.

"Ah, don't worry about that! Consider it a nice gift for me taking up your papa's time," I said, keeping my smile unbroken.

Yet she still seemed unsure about it.

"It's got games on it~"

With that final line, I managed to turn her frown into a smile. She nodded, thanked me, and left in a hurry. Fortunately, she went in the right direction.

As for me, I went the other way, my mind clouded by whether I should have answered to her words of gratitude.

"Don't thank me just yet," I said to myself.

"There's somebody else I need to save you two kids from."

As I walked down the street, the image of that young boy lifting his head to whisper to his dear sister didn't leave my mind.

"You just had to ruin your own family..." I sighed, thinking about how hard life was going to become for that kindhearted older sister.

I lied when I said that I would never hurt a child. Or maybe I didn't.

"I guess I should mark the location once they get home..."

When it stops being a human, it also stops being a child, and by the looks of his eyes, I knew he wouldn't be human for much longer.

My heart felt heavy as I walked down the street.

"Oh?"

But it got much lighter once I saw her. Outside the mall, there stood a girl dressed in red, yellow, and green. It was a hideous combination.

I grinned. My day was getting all the more interesting.

*****

The future is just like a god. Or maybe fate is the actual god, but my rhetoric worked better with using "the future", so I went with it.

The future gives and takes, hates and loves, promises and disappoints.

"If those aren't the traits of a god, then I'm at a loss for words..."

As I sneakily followed the girl wearing a construction belt, I confirmed my suspicion.

"What a cute couple... going on their sneaky date~"

*****

Future—no, Future-sama is a god. Everyone lives their lives thinking about it. Everyone does things for its sake. If it didn't exist, the world itself would have perished before it was created.

"Past? I don't have one. What about it?"

Past could have also been a god, but not as long as people like me were around. With nothing behind, I had nothing to bind me. I was free to do as I wished, and what I wished to do was to protect the world.

"You can call me a bit of a workaholic—just like that guy. Nah, that guy is on a date right now. That's got nothing to do with working... Right?..."

I stopped for a second. The lady I was talking to wasn't listening to me anymore, and that made me really angry.

I was now doing the unspeakable, walking around in the women's bathroom as a man. But I had good reason, for there was somebody there I had to save from herself.

"Listen... you're being really difficult here..."

The only problem was that she stopped listening. No, she lost her ears completely, her body turning into something like a mannequin.

"Oh? That's a new one! Are you really that mad?"

There it was, the fruit of my own creation. I managed to get that woman so mad with my rhetoric that it finally happened.

"No way? Are you... Are you really?"

I was speechless.

"Finally! My very own semono! Finally the one who does no evil!"

It was then that an alarm resounded in the station.

"Tsk. One of those girls hiding here must have—woah!"

With no warning, the blank creature grabbed arm and tried to snap it like a twig.

"Now... that's not how you play with your benefactor..."

Luckily, transforming my arm into dust and escaping was one of my special skills. I did just that and left the semono behind.

"You're a dangerous one! Fine, go do your thing then, just don't put people in danger~" I said as I left it behind. At the same time as I was going out the door, somebody ran in. It was an undressed lunatic, but one with green hair.

"Hmm?~" I hummed, pleased at finally meeting that girl. Yet I said nothing more. I accepted the fact that the semono would meet a tragic end and continued down the road.

*****

Future-sama is a god. Everyone follows Future-sama, and they were no exception.

They went to buy clothes that they would also wear tomorrow, but most importantly, they went and prayed. Why would you pray if not for a good future?

"Maybe there are other reasons... nah."

Unthinkable. I couldn't think of any wish unrelated to the future. Or maybe I didn't want to think about one, since neither of them had spoken one of those.

I'm good at reading lips, so I had no trouble reading his. He wished for nothing.

"Hm, maybe he's an atheist? That's even more interesting~"

Yet when I read her, I felt disappointed, so I clicked my tongue and quit tailing them.

"Ridiculous," I muttered, displeased.

"Why would you wish to keep such a lame guy safe..."