the hooded boy | shuntaro chishiya

chapter two

HAYAMI was grinning ecstatically. her hope has come back to her. she got to the apartment building and walked up the steps.

when she got up there, she saw a single room with no one inside. in the room, however, was a small table with a couple of cellphones on it. there was a sign next to them that said 'one per person.'

confused, hayami walked up to it and grabbed one of the phones. as she held it in  her hand, it turned on. the screen read 'facial recognition.'

'facial recognition?' she asked herself as the phone opened, showing a white screen.

"please wait until the game commences," a voice from inside the phone said, "registration closes in 5 minutes."

'game?' hayami wondered. what kind of game was she playing? she shrugged and looked around. "hello?" she called out, "what is this?" but, of course, she got no reply.

she walked back over to where she came in at, but was stopped suddenly. a wall of red lasers was blocking her in, and she jumped back quickly. "what the hell?" she cursed, walking back to the table.

hayami huffed and leaned against the wall. she still had some of her hope left, since she knew she wasn't the only one there. why else would there be more than one phone if she were? she looked at the entrance, waiting for something to happen.

she looked down at the phone and saw that there was only 4 minutes and 25 seconds left for registration. suddenly, she heard something.

footsteps, which were then followed by a voice.

"is this the place?" the voice, which sounded like a teenage girl, called out.

hayami perked her head up and saw two young ladies walking towards the apartment building. they looked just as confused and scared as hayami was.

"i think so," the other girl said as they walked up the steps. they were almost at the lasers.

"hey!" hayami yelled and put her hand out, signaling for the girls to stop, but they didn't. they walked through the entrance without harm.

"is everything okay?" one of the girls asked, her voice full of concern.

hayami sighed out of relief. "there's a wall of lasers right there," she said, "or there was. i think it only activates when you try to leave."

"really?" the other girl asked in disbelief before walking over to the lasers.

"wait!" hayami yelled once again. the girl almost hit the lasers, and she jumped back.

"mai!" the first girl called out, "are you alright."

mai turned around and nodded. she looked at hayami and bowed. "thank you for telling us," she said, and her friend nodded and bowed as well. hayami bowed back.

mai and her friend walked to the table, and they each grabbed a phone. as they did, hayami's phone lit up. "there are currently 3 participants," the voice in the phone said, "please wait until the game commences."

the two teenage girls shared the same confused look.

mai's friend looked at hayami. "do you know what this is?" she asked her, and hayami shook her head.

"no, sorry," she replied, shrugging her shoulders. the two girls pouted.

"did everyone around you disappear, too?" mai asked hayami, and she nodded.

"yeah, all the power went out and i was suddenly all alone," she said, "i'm glad to see other people, though." mai and her friend nodded as hayami stuck her hand out to them.