Yokohama

The darkness was even worse than Nobu had imagined. It was crushing, suffocating, and all encompassing. Almost nothing cut through. Not light, not sound, not even scent. It was just pure nothingness.

The only thing Nobu could see was an area of only a few meters around them thanks to Shosouke’s lantern.

Unlike in Tokyo, the city streets within the darkness seemed almost untouched, as if they had been frozen in time from before the darkness even fell.

The pavement was clean, the buildings were pristine, there wasn’t even any litter.

“Strangely beautiful, isn’t it?” Shosuke said as he looked over his shoulder.

“Yes… I suppose so.”

“Still. It’s cruel. The darkness has perfectly preserved the world it took from us.”

As Nobu kept walking through the streets within the darkness, he felt something strange… It was almost a sort of nostalgia, but how could he be nostalgic for a world he’d never known?

“Before Tokyo lost contact with the other cities, the closest one that still stood was Kamakura.” Shosuke showed Nobu the map. “It’s really not too far, but we’ll be cutting through Yokohama to get there. We should be able to make it in a day if we keep up the pace.”

Everything was going fine so far, but there was a massive elephant in the room that Shosuke still hadn’t addressed.

“What about…” Nobu gulped. “Those things…?”

“You mean the entities?” Shosuke chuckled.

Referred to officially as “entities,” they were mysterious beasts that lived within the darkness. Very few had ever managed to even see one, and a specimen had never been recovered for study. But they were certainly real. They were what killed everyone, no, everything in the darkness.

“The entities aren’t too bad actually. They can’t stand light, and this lantern won’t be going out, so we have nothing to worry about.” He held the shotgun slung over his arm. “At least for the most part…” he mumbled.

Guns were very rare and illegal for civilians in Tokyo, so Nobu was shocked that Shosuke managed to get one. But Shosuke insisted that it was necessary for safety, an opinion which Nobu agreed with.

But the entities weren’t the only things they had to worry about in the darkness…

While Shosuke was navigating, Nobu was paying very close attention to their surroundings, and certain things stuck out like a sore thumb to him. Certain things like a crooked street light. A massive dent was in its side and it bent over at an angle. It was impossible to tell what happened to it, but presumably a car had hit it way back in the day.

However, only about a minute later, Nobu saw that exact same crooked street light.

And not only that, the buildings, the signs, everything was exactly the same.

“Shosuke!”

“What is it?”

“I don't know what's happening, but weren’t we just on this street?” Nobu pointed to the crooked street light. “I just saw that!”

Shosuke looked at it and squinted. “Damn it… We’re in an anomalous zone…”

“A what!?”

“There are certain areas of the darkness where things don’t work the way you’d expect. We call these anomalous zones. I didn’t think we’d hit one so soon…”

“Well what are we supposed to do then!?”

“First of all, calm down! This one seems pretty minor. We’ll just keep walking until we’re out of it.”

“What if the road keeps looping?”

“Nothing’s infinite. Now come on.”

The two kept walking, and over and over again, they saw that same crooked street light.

But Nobu wished it stopped there.

The street itself began to morph with each repeat. In some ways it became worse. The buildings deteriorated, cracks in the road formed and widened, but in some ways it was the exact opposite.

The first thing Nobu noticed was the smell. It was absolutely delicious, better smelling than any meal he’d ever had, could even imagine, and not long after, its light cut through the darkness.

It was a restaurant. The curtains were drawn, but the lights were on, shining through. Music was playing, that same delicious smell was even stronger now, and he could even see the silhouettes of people inside, talking, laughing…

Almost instinctually, Nobu started walking towards it, but just as he was about to grab the door handle…

His arm was violently grabbed and held in place. Looking up, he saw Shosuke, his eyes as cold as ice.

“If you go inside there,” he said, his voice deathly serious. “You will die.”

Nobu knew that Shosuke was right, but it was so hard not to be tempted. Still, with one last look at the door, the music so loud, the scent so strong, he turned his head and walked away with Shosuke.

Soon, the street returned to normal, although it still kept repeating.

“We’re almost out now, just hold on a bit longer,” Nobu said.

It felt like they had been in the anomalous zone for hours, but according to Nobu’s watch, it had only been a few minutes.

But it wasn’t over yet.

Shosuke first heard it. Silently, he held up his arm, signalling Nobu to stop. Closely, he watched in front of him, his gun drawn.

It wasn’t long until Nobu heard it too. Unmistakably, it was footsteps, and not just footsteps, but human footsteps.

Could it be? Was there another person here with them?

Soon, this person’s light cut through the darkness.

Shosuke and Nobu squinted, but soon both of their eyes widened as the figure carrying the light became clear.

“Shosuke? Is that you?” The figure was unmistakable. It was Takuya Tanimura. The president of the now defunct Tanimura Industries and Shosuke’s father.

“D-Dad…?” Shosuke lowered his firearm in disbelief.

It was undeniable even to Nobu. The man who had been assassinated by his father ten years ago was before them.

But how was that even possible? Did he somehow escape? Nobu never saw the body himself… To think someone else had already been traveling through the darkness for so long…

“It really is you, isn’t it?” Takuya smiled warmly. “You’ve really grown since the last time I saw you, Shosuke.”

“Yes, I suppose I have.” In a split second, Shosuke drew his shotgun and fired. The buckshot tore through Takuya’s torso, sending him hurtling to the ground.

Nobu jumped at the gunshot. “Sh-Shosuke!? What the hell!?”

“Come on.” Pumping his shotgun, Shosuke continued, “Don’t tell me you were really fooled.”

Breathing heavily, Nobu looked at Takuya. Or more accurately, the thing that looked like Takuya. While it laid on the ground, a look of anguish on its face, it hadn’t bled at all. Instead a black gel flowed from its insides, its body already disintegrating into a dark, gelatinous paste.

“My dad died ten years ago. I saw it with my own eyes.” Shosuke reloaded the shot.

It seemed so obvious in retrospect. Takuya Tanimura still being alive was already insane, how ridiculous would it be for them to find him here of all places? But… Shosuke shooting him so callously… Nobu couldn’t even imagine…

“You’re too easily rattled, Nobu. You won’t survive if such cheap tricks throw you for a loop. Now come on, let’s keep going.” Shosuke slung the shotgun over his shoulder as he started walking again, and as he stepped over the black blob that once looked like his father, under his breath, he said, “But it was nice to at least see him again, even if it wasn’t really him.”

***

Shosuke and Nobu had finally arrived in Yokohama. But they weren’t just passing through as Shosuke mentioned. No, they were making a detour.

The darkness was insulating, blocking out all sound. However, Nobu soon started hearing something… Unfamiliar… It was like a crashing sound, but much lighter, and it was rhythmic, almost like breathing.

But the salty scent was even more striking.

“And we’re here!” Light glittered across the waves as Shosuke held out the lantern. “We’ve finally reached the ocean!”

Nobu looked down. The water below was a swirling black void.

Not even the richest people in Tokyo had the luxury of swimming pools, so Nobu had never learned to swim. If he had fallen in… He’d be somewhere even darker and more inescapable than the darkness he was currently in…

“Follow me, I want to show you something.” Shosuke took off without even waiting for Nobu.

The two had ended up in a park, but there was one thing in particular Shosuke was looking for.

“Here it is!” Shosuke held up his lantern triumphantly.

It was a bronze statue that was partially green thanks to oxidization. It depicted a young girl sitting down while looking out into the ocean, her untarnished eyes glittering in the light of Shosuke’s lantern.

“This is ‘The Girl in the Red Shoes,”’ Shosuke began. “This girl, Kimi Iwasaki, was orphaned by her mother and subsequently adopted by a pair of travelers. They had planned to take her back home to America, a land far to the East across the ocean. However, before they could leave, Kimi became very ill, and, worried that she wouldn’t survive the trip, the travelers left her in the care of an orphanage where she would die at the age of nine. This statue shows her gazing off into the sea, dreaming of the journey she was never able to take.”

It was truly a sad story. But…

“Why did we go so far out of the way to see this?” Nobu asked.

“Well, because I wanted to see it.” Shosuke chuckled. “And also because… Kimi’s a bit relatable, isn’t she?”

Abandoned in her homeland, promised a better future, but robbed of it at the last second… The story was maybe too relatable…

“Shosuke…” Nobu shuffled a bit. “Do you think we’ll ever reach our destination? Do you think we’ll ever find something more out there?”

Shosuke laughed. “It’s a little too late to be having doubts like that, don’t you think? After all, we’re way ahead of Kimi.”

“Yeah, but that doesn’t mean we’ll ever find anything…”

“That’s right, but does it really matter? Let’s go back to Kimi’s story. The difference between her and I is that I wouldn’t care how sick I was, I would’ve demanded that they take me with them. I would’ve held on no matter what. Even if all I ever got to see was the distant coastline, it would've been worth it. Because just a glimpse of that dream is better than spending the rest of your short life in a dingy orphanage.”