Can Pass

Light peeked between my deep gray curtains. Some kids shouted outside through the window, and my eyes eventually flickered open. I groggily grabbed my phone–six in the morning. Ew, but at least the sun was out today.

Like a ragdoll, I shuffled into the shower, then downstairs, and collapsed on the couch. The TV flicked on, buzzing, as the morning news chatted away.

A faint raspberry taste flowed through my lips, the carbonation almost burning. My one relief in the morning was the small mini fridge stuffed full of energy drinks Dad had put under the dining room table. If my body decided we couldn't sleep in I’d get my revenge one way or another.

I couldn’t help but wonder, was there a singular other girl my age watching NHK this early in the morning? “Recently, we’ve been hearing reports of strange groups of masked…” He blabbed on, pure white noise.

Sadly my dull daydreaming had to come to an end.

I turned towards the front door, groggily grabbing my backpack and hefting it over my shoulder. Maybe if I arrived early enough Ms. Yamada would let me work some more on my paper.

Outside the sun’s warmth shone on my skin. A faint blue light illuminated through a nearby lantern as it rocked back and forth in the morning's air.

A group of kids wearing backpacks twice their size waddled past like a pack of penguins; With big floppy hats, matching uniforms with tiny buttons–none of the dead of entrance exams yet to be seen on their faces.

“Mari! Hey!”

Running like the elementary schoolers, Chiyo appeared from behind one of the houses and tackled me in the tightest hug I’d ever felt. My joints felt like they'd shatter one at a time–staring with my ribs.

“I see someone slept well,” I muttered. For being half my height she put up a fight. Maybe it was finally time to drag myself back to the gym.

“Halloween’s not for another week or so, why are you already dressing up as a zombie?”

“Funny, truly.” With one final tug, I finally got her off with my uniform still intact. “Anyway, it's not even seven yet, what are you doing out here?”

“Waiting for you. It’s so boring walking to school by myself.”

“You’re funeral,” despite my words, I couldn't help but feel a bit of happiness in my heart. “Have you had a chance to try on your costume yet? I asked, both of us starting the trek towards class.

“Yeah, I sent them to you last night.”

“Oh?” I glanced down, opening social media. “Sure enough in our dm's there were enough photos to fill my entire phone’s storage. “You really managed to go after every angle imaginable.”

“Well, I wanted to be though.”

“You wanted to brag about how well it fit.”

“So what? Am I not allowed to talk about how cute I look in it?

Resting the urge to smack Chiyo in the face, we turned the corner onto the main road. Store after store of every height imaginable was getting ready to welcome everyone for the day. Even the bookstores were slowly opening up.

We crossed by the bakery–a line half a kilometer long coming from its entrance. The warm scent of freshly baked bread nearly made me join the queue, stomach rumbling. Chiyo joined me in nearly drooling at the sight of a woman walking out with a blueberry muffin.

One of the singular blessings of my school was that somehow our house happened to be barely a thirty-minute walk from the giant brick torture chamber, something unbeknownst to me before I put it in my maps app for the first time.

Compared to Grace’s two-hour commute I counted my blessings every day.

“Hey, Mari.”

“What's up,” I asked Chiyo, snapping out of my daydream.

“Don’t those people over there look a bit strange to you?”

“Strange?” I followed her gaze. Just a street over, a group of people stood donned in pale white cloaks–heads covered with hoods twice the size of my head. They held what looked to be cardboard signs. The scribbles on them reminded me of something a kindergartener would draw. “Maybe it's a Halloween cosplay thing?”

“Maybe, but even I think it's a bit early to wear stuff in public,” Chiyo muttered, hiding behind me. “Let’s take a different way to school today.”

“Yeah…” With everything weird going on, better to not give the world more excuses to creep me out. My normal lifestyle gave it enough already. My hands unconsciously shifted around my pockets and pulled out another sucker. Butterscotch this time, not a sign great things were to come.

We quickly ducked into a nearby side street. Lines of clothes hung from above, creating uncertain shadows in the alleyway.

“Wait!” I put my hand out, stopping Chiyo in her tracks. “There's some people chanting up ahead.”

“Chanting?” She whispered as I leaned my head over. Most of those cloaked freaks huddled around, completely obscuring everything past them. “Let’s take the back alley, the one near Book Off.”

“S-sounds good,” Chiyo said, staying close.

That was a bust too, and so was the street next to it. Around every damned corner, there was at least one group of those cloaked weirdos. And the more time that went on, the more I felt they were all eyeing me in particular.

Eventually, me and Chiyo found ourselves back where we started–the street now completely devoid of people. Even the bakery line had dwindled down.

Would we just have to bite the bullet? There couldn’t have been that many cloaked morons, but it felt like they’d predicted our every move before we made it. A group that committed wouldn’t give up till they at least gave their plan a shot.

I’d just have to hope their plan turned out well for me and Chiyo.

We walked forward, my frame exhibiting as much confidence as I could muster. Back in the day, this would have been nothing. Hell, I would have looked forward to the altercation as an excuse to throw down.

“Mari Watanabe!” I cursed under my breath. Just as we started to walk past one of the hooded men called out–a deep strong voice.

“Do you know you? Who said you could call me by my full name?”

“We know you very well, even if you have yet to recall, chosen one.”

“Chosen? The only thing I’m chosen for is extracurricular cleaning. Come on Chiyo.”

“Your mother should have told you otherwise. Did she not reach out in your dream?”

I froze in my tracks, hand shaking. “H-how did you know I had a dream about that?”

“We know a lot of things, such as that you’ve been chosen for a spot in heaven. Don’t you want this sweet nightmare to end Mari? You push yourself to forget your suffering when eternal bliss is just a single choice away.”

“A-and what would I have to do to get your eternal bliss?” I asked, gripping Chiyo’s hand like my life depended on it, and in a sense it probably did.

“Omega!” The man snapped, gesturing to a nearby cloaked figure who pulled out a polished wooden box from under his robes. “All you would have to do is sever your connection to this world; end this eternal nightmare.

He slowly creaked open the box, revealing a crystalline silver dagger.

Against every fiber of my being, I pushed aside my nerves. Breakdowns later Mari, later! They wouldn’t break me. Not yet, not with just that puny bit of metal in their hands.

“Chiyo, we're running!” I muttered, right before taking off, tackling the cultists like bowling pins.

“We’ll be waiting, chosen one. No one can run from their destiny forever.” His deep voice echoed against the surrounding stores as we dashed away without a single glance back.