𝖕𝖗𝖔𝖒𝖎𝖘𝖊 𝖒𝖊

prologue

"𝙮𝙤𝙪'𝙧𝙚 𝙖 𝙙𝙪𝙢𝙗𝙖𝙨𝙨 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙠𝙣𝙤𝙬 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩?"

"and you're gonna be late for class."

"it's chemistry who cares." the young girl argued.

"i do," the other woman replied. "cause then i'll be jobless."

"fine." the teen said as she grabbed her backpack and headed for the door. "bye yumi, see you tomorrow."

"bye nila, don't do anything stupid until then." yumi said with a chuckle.

as exhausting as it was sometimes, chinen yumi loved her job. yes she was an intern, she wasn't paid nor did she get recognition from her supervisors... but she had the kids. working as a part-time therapist in a high school, yumi could relate to these students and how they felt. the apathetic teachers, the load of homework, and the pressure to get to college is a shitload to handle, especially at that age. and while she couldn't wish away the troubles of these kids, she made it easier. 

she had a talent, perhaps a gift for empathy. she could understand what people were feeling and told them what they needed to hear. they felt comforted by her, nila included. she came every day into yumi's office, whether to rant about societal standards or her newest crush of the week. yumi loved that kid, she loved all of them. and no matter how tired she was, she'd leave her door open all day. just in case someone needed a person to talk to.

yumi turned her head to get a clear look at the clock, reading 4:30 pm. it was friday, and a beautiful sun was shining outside. she doubted anyone would come to her office at this time, they'd probably walk home with their friends, go to a cafe, or see the fireworks... 

wait fireworks? in the middle of the day? she wiped her eyes as if to see through an illusion, but no. looking through the window, there were indeed fireworks in the sky.

"how strange..." yumi whispered under her breath. she grabbed a few documents, turned off her computer, and left the office.

the cool summer breeze blew on the delicate strands of her hair, as she walked towards the school's exit. the parking lot was filled with cars, yet no one was to be seen. a feeling of uneasiness settled in as yumi roamed farther and farther away from the high school. the streets were silent as ever but nonetheless, she kept walking. after a while, the smell of coffee tickled her nose as she drew near a cafe, but it was empty. even stranger, warm food was still on the empty tables. 

she must have imagined it. she probably fell asleep on her desk. that or the whole population of Tokyo had suddenly disappeared. grabbing on the closest chair, yumi slowly sat down, taking deep breaths while mumbling reassuring words. she stayed there for a while, waiting for something, anything. perhaps she would wake up soon.

nothing happened. it was dead silent and the only movement in sight was trash being pushed by the weak wind. the seconds turned to minutes, then the minutes into hours, until the sky colored itself a dark navy blue.

as night closed in, yumi took out her phone to check the time. 

"what the hell." the phone wouldn't light up. 

it couldn't have just run out of battery, could it? yumi was usually one for positive thinking, but this all felt too bizarre. everyone in Tokyo was gone, her phone wouldn't work, and she couldn't wake up.

what a troubling situation.

well, if she couldn't wake up, perhaps she could explore this dream of hers. as yumi stood up and walked outside of the cafe, a bright light followed by a thumping noise caught her attention. right there, on a large building laid a white screen with the words:

ᴡᴇʟᴄᴏᴍᴇ, ᴘʟᴀʏᴇʀꜱ. ᴛʜᴇ ɢᴀᴍᴇ ᴡɪʟʟ ᴄᴏᴍᴍᴇɴᴄᴇ ɪɴ ᴀ ᴍᴏᴍᴇɴᴛ.

"a game?" yumi frowned and titled her head in confusion at the sight of this. but it didn't end there, as the words quickly changed.

ᴛʜɪꜱ ᴡᴀʏ ᴛᴏ ᴛʜᴇ ɢᴀᴍᴇ ᴀʀᴇɴᴀ

the young woman turned her head towards the directions guided, seeing faint lights in the distance. her eyes opened wide with hope, maybe people would be there. she didn't think another second before running fast-paced towards this "game arena". 

at this point, she didn't care if this was a dream or not, it felt way too real and yumi didn't like it one bit.

after a few minutes, she arrived at what she assumed was the place. yumi took a deep breath, hoping with all her heart she would find something here, for the better or worst, and marched towards the entrance of

ᴛᴏᴇɪ ꜱᴇɴᴅᴀɢᴀʏᴀ ᴀᴘᴀʀᴛᴍᴇɴᴛ

waaaaaa im done !! honestly i might revise it later on because im not completely satisfied but for a first chapter this ain't so bad :DD also my chapters are usually really short but i have a feeling as i go on they'll get longer so bare with me please TvT feel free to comment and vote, or not if u don't feel like it !! maybe give feedback as well i'd love to know what you think i could improve on :OO

till the next chapter, EUNBIWRLD