Chapter 1 - Game Over

1

A flurry of fanfare resounded as the word “clear” flashed across his laptop screen.

“Done,” Hiroshi commented in his usual monotone voice as he pushed up his glasses.

“...What did you think?” Shun asked, cautiously studying Hiroshi’s face.

It was no easy feat to glean even a glimpse of emotion from Hiroshi’s perpetually calm and cool demeanor.

“It’s done well. The controls feel all right, and the graphics and sound suit the ambiance of the world perfectly. I didn’t expect it to be so polished. It was so fun that I was able to fully immerse myself in it.”

“Really?”

“Can you think of a reason why I should lie to you?”

Hiroshi looked at Shun quizzically. He certainly wasn’t the type of person to butter someone up or feign praise just to cheer them up.

Nestled among the rising hills behind the school was a small marsh. It was the only place Shun felt like he could relax. It had been almost a month since he’d moved to town, but his introverted nature kept him from talking to his classmates. He still hadn’t managed to fit in as part of the class yet. It made school days long and exhausting, and Shun knew that going home and letting his mother see his haggard face would only make her worry needlessly. That’s why he came out into the hills after class instead. He used the time to focus on finding and fixing bugs in the computer games he made.

With the cold air and the desolate scenery, no one else ever came out to the marsh. The area was even surrounded by conifer trees, so it afforded a certain degree of privacy. Shun could be alone and relax without worrying about anyone else. That is, until Hiroshi had appeared in this sacred sanctuary a week ago.

Shun had been sitting by the marsh like normal, typing away at his laptop, when all of a sudden the bushes parted and Hiroshi walked out of them. His pale skin and sharp features strongly reminded Shun of a Northern European actor. Shun had recognized him immediately. The scrutinizing look in his eyes, the self-assured way he pushed up his glasses... It was all unmistakably Hiroshi.

“...Huh?”

The way he had looked, however, was quite a shock. Beneath Hiroshi’s calm exterior was a brain moving at a million miles an hour. He was capable of going toe-to-toe with the teachers in logic battles, and he often came out on top. Everyone thought he was the most mature student in class. Yet the boy standing before Shun now had a bug cage hanging from his neck and a bug net gripped tightly in his right hand. Standing there like that in his school uniform, he looked like a child.

“Have you spotted any Curetis acuta around here?” Hiroshi asked without batting an eyelid when he spotted Shun.

“Curetis... what?”

“It’s a butterfly with orange wings. Because of its color, it’s more commonly known as the angled sunbeam... Did one not fly by here?”

Prattling on about butterflies, Hiroshi readied his bug net like a sword and scanned the area.

“There are butterflies out in this cold?” Shun asked.

“I believe it’s an extremely rare occurrence, but it’s not out of the question. The Curetis acuta can survive the winter in its adult form, you see. And we’ve had some warm weather recently, so one may have mistaken it for a sign of spring and woken up early.... Oh, is that a computer?” Hiroshi tossed aside his net and jogged over to Shun. “If you’re online, may I please borrow it? I’d like to confirm if what I saw was actually a Curetis acuta.”

Without waiting for a response, he peered over at Shun’s laptop.

“U-Um...”

Shun was so nervous that his tongue felt like it was made of lead, but he couldn’t help it. He’d never even seen Hiroshi up close before. His skin was so porcelain that it looked like he was wearing makeup, and his eyelashes were exceptionally long. He looked like a china doll.

“Sorry, I’m not online,” he finally managed to get out.

But Hiroshi’s interest had already moved on to something else.

“This is that ‘escape game’ you can play online for free, right?” he asked, drawing closer to the screen.

“Huh? You know this game?”

“Yes. I stumbled upon it one night and it was so shockingly interesting that I stayed up all night playing it. It’s quite addictive. I think I’ve played it over ten times now. Are you a fan of this game too? Wait, this seems a little different from the version I played.”

“I’m trying to fix some of the stuff I didn’t like about the previous version. I was thinking of uploading it again once I fixed all the bugs...”

“Huh? Are you telling me you made this game?”

Visibly surprised, Hiroshi pushed up his glasses and stared at Shun. It was the first time Shun had ever seen emotion break through Hiroshi’s ordinarily reserved expression. A little hesitant, Shun nodded meekly.

“What a surprise. I never would have expected such an amazing student to be in our class.”

Shun reflexively looked down at the ground at Hiroshi’s compliment. He wasn’t used to being praised like that. His cheeks burned with embarrassment and he squirmed uncomfortably.

“I’d had my suspicions about you. You have calluses on your thumbs and pointer fingers, don’t you? From their size and position, I’d judged you to be a gamer.”

Shun was taken aback by Hiroshi’s powers of observation and deduction. Not only had he noticed the callouses on his hands, but he was able to figure out what that meant.

“May I play your game for a bit?”

“Oh... Sure. I don’t mind.”

“Thank you kindly. Well, here we go.”

Hiroshi plopped down, moved the laptop onto his lap, and began tapping away on the keyboard. His thin, pale fingers ran across the keys like he was playing a piano.

“What about the butterfly?” Shun asked, sitting next to him and watching the screen.

Hiroshi jumped right into the game, not bothering to look at the help screen. It appeared he’d told the truth about playing the game multiple times already, because he seemed to know exactly what he was doing.

“Finding a Curetis acuta in winter is certainly tempting, but it’s not something that has the power to keep me up all night.”

Shun’s cheeks burned again. He was squirming too, but he wasn’t unhappy. There was a faint warmth blooming in his chest.

“Argh, he got me!” Hiroshi shouted.

The laptop screen faded to black as the words “game over” appeared.

“The enemy’s movements have gotten more complicated compared to the last version. This is difficult.”

Their reflections shimmered on the dark screen. Shun was surprised to see himself smiling. How long had it been since he last smiled?

“Do you always come here after school? I’d like to play again if you’ll let me. I swear I’ll clear it next time,” Hiroshi had asked as they both headed home.

And so Shun had seen him almost every evening since. Hiroshi would play Shun’s game in silence. Neither one of them would speak, but for Shun, that was ideal. He wasn’t good at communicating with others. Just opening his mouth made him nervous. Not that he could ever think of anything to say.

“Oh, shoot. It’s pretty late.” His gaze dropping to his watch, Hiroshi hurriedly stood up. “I was so engrossed in the game that I forgot about my plans tonight.”

“You’re leaving already?”

Shun’s chest suddenly hurt. It shocked him to realize it was loneliness gripping his heart. Now that Hiroshi had cleared the game, he’d probably never come back to the marsh. Shun would go back to being alone after school again.

Pain welled up in the back of his throat. If he let down his guard, there would be nothing to stop the tears from falling. Shun didn’t hate being alone. In fact, it was easiest to be alone. So why was he feeling this way?

“Well, goodbye.”

Hiroshi brushed off the leaves stuck to his uniform and peered at Shun’s face from directly in front of him. The almond-shaped eyes behind those glasses made Shun nervous, so he instinctively straightened his posture.

“I ought to thank that Curetis acuta,” Hiroshi commented, seemingly out of nowhere.

“Huh?”

“If I hadn’t been chasing after it, I never would have discovered you here. I never would have known you were the creator of this game, and I never would have gotten to play the new version as you watched.”

Shun was stunned into silence.

“If you make a new game, please let me play it,” Hiroshi continued.

“S-Sure...”

“Actually, you inspired me to start making my own game.” Rubbing the underside of his nose, Hiroshi looked a little embarrassed. “But it was harder than I expected... Would you mind if I came to you for advice while I’m working on it?”

“Of course not. Thank you.”

Shun couldn’t hide his surprise at how naturally the words “thank you” slipped out.

“Why are you thanking me? That’s just weird.”

Hiroshi shrugged, raised his right hand in a wave, bid Shun farewell, and then quickly disappeared into the bushes.

I’m the one who should thank the Curetis acuta.

Shun looked up at the sky as evening set in, his heart fluttering with a happiness he hadn’t felt in a long time. At the same time, a vague unease bubbled up inside him. He knew why. For every instance of fortune, there were ten instances of misfortune just waiting to pounce. That was how things had always been. He had no reason to think things would change just because he’d moved to a new town.

Suddenly there was a rustle in the shrubbery even though there was no breeze.

“Hiroshi? Did you forget something—” Shun began, then froze.

“Hey, new kid.”

The boy who emerged from the bushes was a classmate he’d seen a thousand times before. But it wasn’t Hiroshi.

“What’re you doing out here?”

Shun wanted to run, but he couldn’t move. It was as if he’d been petrified by Medusa’s gaze.

“Hey. Say something, why don’t you?”

Takuro—Shun’s worst nightmare—fussed with his bangs that were draped across his cheek as he approached.

2

Dark clouds began to form in Shun’s heart. A series of spasms took over his right eyelid. His legs shook heavily, threatening to give way at any moment. Soon he succumbed, sinking to his knees. The shiba inu keychain hanging from his shoulder bag jangled, ringing like a bell.

“What is it, new kid? At least answer me.”

A nasty smile crept across Takuro’s lips. Unable to meet his gaze any longer, Shun turned away. His heart was pounding. Cold sweat dripped down his temples.

“Lately you and Hiroshi have been sneaking off together somewhere after school, which made me super curious. What have you two been up to? I finally decided to follow you and find out. You had no idea, did you?”

Shun couldn’t answer.

“You didn’t say anything to him, did you?”

Shun vigorously shook his head. There was no way he could do something like that.

“The hell, man? You’re shaking. You feeling sick or something?”

Shun felt his chest getting tighter and tighter. It was hard to breathe.

“Oh, I get it. You’re so happy to see me after school that you can’t even speak, huh? Aw, shucks. You like me that much, huh? Well, fine. I guess I’ll play with you a little.”

Before Takuro even finished his sentence, a rough blow struck Shun on the back of the head. Unable to brace himself, he landed face first in the dirt.

“Remember in geography class how we learned about cultures that practice geophagia? I just couldn’t believe it, man. I mean, it’s dirt you’re eating. There’s no way that tastes good. But I have to admit I am curious. So, new kid... Test it out for me, will you?”

Takuro ground his shoe into Shun’s head. His cheek scraped against the ground. The taste of blood spread through his mouth, but he felt no pain. Only fear and shame rose in his gut. At some point while putting up with Takuro’s incessant bullying, Shun had learned to shut off all emotion.

Takuro was the soccer team’s star player and the most popular kid in class. He was good-looking too, and rumor had it he’d even been scouted by a talent agency. On top of that, his father was the president of the hardware store company “Smile,” which had over a hundred large stores across the country. He was essentially the textbook definition of perfect. But growing up having absolutely everything had warped his personality in a strange way. Something sinister hid behind that charming face of his.

Shun couldn’t even remember what exactly had started all the bullying. It was probably something petty like Takuro breaking a mechanical pencil he’d borrowed from Shun, or accidentally smacking him in the face while he was horsing around with his friends. Takuro, sick of wearing the mask of a star student, saw a kid like Shun, who was so meek that he simply smiled when someone broke his stuff or hurt him for no reason, as the ultimate plaything.

Day by day, Takuro’s treatment of him worsened. First it was jokes. Then it was verbal abuse. Then it was hitting. Then, finally, torture. He’d call Shun out to the gym storehouse or the back of school, places where no one would see them, and say, “Now, let us begin the experiment,” in a mock teacher-like tone before making Shun drink a laxative or extinguishing cigarettes on his bare skin. Each time, he delighted in Shun’s reaction. He was exactly like a young child picking off the wings and legs of an insect out of morbid curiosity.

This true nature of his, which allowed him to hurt others with a sick smile on his face, frightened Shun, but he hadn’t the courage to fight back. After all, this was only temporary. Surely Takuro would grow bored soon. All Shun had to do was bear it for a little while. It would undoubtedly be more dangerous to ask an adult for help and risk angering Takuro. That’s what Shun believed.

But he was naive. Takuro’s twisted experiments grew more and more sadistic, and their depravity ate away at Shun’s soul just as much as his body. His heart was on the verge of breaking. But no matter what happened to him, he took it with a tired smile. As the injustices mounted, he became completely accustomed to suppressing all emotion.

However, that negative energy had nowhere to go. Shun had no release for it. Eventually, as he continued to grin and bear it, that energy would reach critical mass and explode. One night, Takuro summoned him to school in the middle of the night and asked him to jump from the third floor. Thinking it would be easier just to die right then and there, Shun bolted to the window and jumped right out.

He had seriously intended to die that night. But despite his wishes, that was the night Shun learned how surprisingly sturdy the human body could be. Some shrubbery broke his fall, and the only real injury he sustained was a sprained left ankle. He’d hoped by falling asleep right there that he’d freeze to death, but someone must have called an ambulance. In the end, he didn’t even catch a cold. Sometimes he still wondered about that night. If he’d actually died, would Takuro have felt even the slightest bit guilty?

“Come on, try some. Taste it for me!”

Takuro bent down next to Shun, scooped up the dirt in front of him with his right hand, and flashed his twisted smile.

“You don’t look so good. I’ve got the perfect thing for you. Dirt is filled with minerals. This’ll definitely make you healthy again.”

Grabbing the back of Shun’s head with his other hand, Takuro shoved the wet dirt in his mouth. Shun hadn’t planned to fight back. He didn’t have any energy left for that. But as the clumps of grit that smelled like they’d come from a drainage ditch entered his mouth, he couldn’t help gagging and coughing. Mud sputtered from his mouth and splattered on Takuro’s face.

“What the hell, man? That’s disgusting.”

For a narcissist like Takuro, there was nothing he hated more than having his face dirtied. His eyes began to twitch.

“Who do you think you are?” Takuro growled.

He kicked Shun in the forehead, knocking him over onto his back with a thud. The force caused him to drop the laptop he’d been clinging to his chest so tightly. Panicking, he tried to grab it, but Takuro beat him to it by a hair.

“Oh. Well, look what we have here. Let me borrow this, will you?”

Takuro picked up the laptop and violently hit the enter key.

“...Stop it,” Shun rasped weakly. “Give it back.”

I don’t care what you do to me. I can take being hit and kicked, but keep your hands off my laptop. All of my code is there.

“Oh. What’s this? A game?”

Takuro licked his lips with his long tongue, staring at the laptop screen greedily.

“An escape game, huh? Well, well. Looks interesting.”

He smiled again, then began to play.

“Please... Give it back.”

It was all Shun could do to eke out those words. He didn’t have the strength to fight back. But looking at Takuro’s eyes, his whole body shivered unconsciously. Suddenly, Takuro’s hands stopped.

“What’s the meaning of this, new kid?” He glared at Shun grimly. “Did you make this? You little turd!”

Takuro threw the laptop against the ground as he yelled. It broke in half, sending tons of little pieces flying everywhere.

“Ah...”

Shun tried to pick up the remains of his laptop, but instead took a swift kick to the gut. There was a searing pain. Doubled over, he cowered in place. Acid from his stomach burst from his mouth and spilled onto the back of his hand.

“New kid. I see what you really think of me now,” Takuro spat, straddling Shun’s back. “I felt bad because you didn’t have any friends, so I was going to be your first. I never would have imagined you’d betray me like this. Man, what a shame. I feel like I’ve been stabbed in the back here.”

Shun felt his jacket pull tight against his throat. Unable to breathe, his body instinctually bucked. It was enough to knock Takuro off of his back.

“Hey, what the hell? You got my clothes all dirty,” Takuro complained, his voice quivering as he tried to wipe the mud off his jacket.

“S-Sorry.”

“You’re gonna have to pay for this to be dry-cleaned. Come on, pay up. I bet you have a huge allowance, seeing as how you walk around with that laptop.”

“I’m sorry... I don’t have any money.”

“Don’t lie to me. It’s in here, isn’t it?”

Takuro ripped Shun’s shoulder bag away from him and started rifling through it.

“Stop it. That’s...”

“The hell? It’s full of garbage. You’re so boring.”

Takuro snorted and threw the bag into the marsh.

“No!”

“Bring me twenty thousand yen tomorrow for my cleaning bill. Got it?” Takuro barked, fixing his messy hair with his fingers. “Hey. You listening to me, new kid?”

Shun could hear him just fine, but he was unable to answer. It was all he could do to continue watching with disbelief as his bag slowly sank to the bottom of the marsh. Crushing despair threatened to consume him.

...No more...

Shun mustered up all his strength and screamed as loud as he could. What he screamed, he had no idea. All he could process was the look of surprise on Takuro’s face and the sight of his bag disappearing into the marshy water. Shun could feel yet another sense of loss worming its way into the depths of his heart.

Oh...

An empty sigh slipped from his lips. Something inside his body burst. The next moment, a world of dark, swirling despair swallowed him whole.