Shoukyu

Prologue

VROOM

Cars were zooming down the highway as normal, trying to get to their destination, but today was different. When you got to a certain point, around the entrance bridge of D.C, there was a significant amount of traffic. Of course, this was normal, it was one of the most crowded places in the U.S, but there was also something deafening. Police sirens were blaring loudly, ambulances were coming by, and you could hear cries from a mile ahead.

There was a crash.

As you got closer to the scene, you saw a car crushed like a soda can. There were no wheels on the car, it probably fell off the bridge. There was another car you could see between the land and the lake, but it had exploded, so you again look forward at the crushed car. It had blood all over the glass and the floor around the car. You saw a man with his body mortally wounded on a roller bed in the ambulance, connected to a machine counting his heartbeat.

And for a second, before you were off of traffic, you saw him flatline.

As you drive away, you could hear a nurse yelling out.

"The man has flatlined! Get him to the hospital! Quickly!"

As you drove away from that horrifying sight, you realized what you had witnessed.

He's dead.

Falling forever, or maybe fading.

There's nothing around me. Time does not exist here. There is no "where", "when", "what", or "who" There's nothing. It's just a deep, dark, empty void. I'm the only one who exists. I'm the only person that I can see. My life flashes before me. All my joy and suffering that I had. The memories of the time I spent with my dear friends and family are washing away, like the waves washing away any marks in the sand the water comes over. I regret all the mistakes I made, but I also smile at what I did right. I want to cry, but the tears do not come out. I feel like I'm going to burst apart if I don't let a tear out, but nothing comes out.

I feel someone pressing against me. I feel shaken, but my body does not move. The feeling grows each second. It overthrows my sadness and fills me with hope.

"Hey..... Wake up."

I hear a voice...a girl's voice. There's a light in front of me, and I try to reach outwards towards that light, but I keep falling. I keep reaching, and reaching, and reaching a little more, but my body still falls. I close my eyes and let the void swallow me away from the light, forever. No one can save me now...

But someone pulls me back up.

"Are you willing to hold the hand of a devil?"

"Hey. HEY." I keep yelling and shaking the unconscious boy in front of me, but he won't wake up. Should I call the police? Oh wait, they don't exist anymore. Should I call for help? Oh, wait, everyone else is at war. I keep scrolling down ideas of what I could do with the man to help him. Nothing comes to mind. I look at my pink haired friend who was standing right next to me. "Kyu, what should I do?" She responded, "I don't know, shake him some more!" I turn back to the boy and shake him again, "WAKE THE HELL UP." I keep shaking him, but he stays asleep, like a child who doesn't want to get dragged out of his mom's room. I stand up and give up. "You know what? I'm done." Kyu stared me down with disappointment in her face. I shrugged. "He'll probably wake up tomorrow." Kyu sighed, nodding her head, and started to walk back. "If he gets killed, you owe me 5 runes." I scoffed, "Needy as always." Another girl, with red hair, came behind both of us and patted us on the shoulder. "He'll be fine. His body is far from the war anyways." We turn around and started to walk back home. I started to think about the boy. His skin looked so fragile like it could rip off if you just touched it. HIs hair muddy after having laid on the moist ground. He looked vulnerable as if someone walking up to him would give him a heart attack. Even so, he looked pretty...... uh...never mind. Moving on, would he be safe out in a world like this? Maybe he'll wake up tomorrow. I'll see him then, right? Ah, what am I thinking? I start to run in anger, in anxiety. I'm leaving someone to die. Just like on that day. Before I'm able to go ten paces, I felt a cold hand grab onto my arm abruptly, like a child who doesn't want its parent to leave for work, and I heard a voice come out, along with his tears. "Who are you?" I turned around, startled, and saw the boy, standing, but he lowered his face to hide his tears, and he kept repeating the words, "Who are you?" The timid body he had now disappeared, now having a fierce, but soft look. He let go of my arm suddenly and backed up a bit. "I'm sorry!", he apologized as I walked up to him. He kept going, "I didn't mean to grab you...." Before he could finish his sentence, I pat him on the shoulder and comforted him. "It's okay," I said to the boy. He looked back at me; his face had turned timid again. "My name is Insanity." He scratched the back of the head and spoke like a kindergartener trying to pronounce words... "In..sanity..." Kyu stepped up to introduce herself too. "You can call me Kyu, man." The boy opened his mouth again, "Ki..yu..kyu..." Yuka too stepped up. "Ay bitch, call me Yu-Ka. Got it?" The man nodded. "Yu..ka..." Yuka smiled, "There you go." I asked the boy, "What's your name?" The boy stood up and held out his hand, "My name is Aeio Lin.....Nice to meet you..." I looked at him as he held out his hand.

I grabbed it, regretfully.

Edited