《The Life Club》 1-1 The Life Club Date; 4/4 Of an unspecified year Time; 7:30 AM Have you ever had an encounter with someone that just had to be fate? One that shouldn¡¯t have happened under normal circumstances? I always thought that these kinds of things were limited to fiction, bound to be something only experienced by the main character. Today, I was proven wrong. I headed towards my highschool entrance ceremony. Not that I cared about it or anything, I just wanted to make sure I wasn¡¯t missing anything important. It was a long walk. Not far enough to be a train, but too far to be a walk. But I liked walking, it provided me with time to think. Halfway to the school, I stumbled across a building. A building that was old and decrepit. Slowly fading away, and will someday be replaced by something new. When I was little, I would watch other boys play in buildings like these, as I stood at the sidelines, reading. All I could think was, ¡°Is it in your greatest interest for the ceiling to fall in on you?¡± I stared into the walls that were slowly falling apart, and the mold and moss growing in the corners. I thought, ¡°What kid would play in this? What seems appealing about a place that¡¯s falling to the ground?¡± Almost in sync with that thought, someone appeared.The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. A girl in a highschool uniform. Same school as me. She looked foreign, most features not belonging in the middle of Japan. She wandered out from the building, right in my direction. The girl had a blank facial expression. The face expressed so much, by saying so little. I ran a bit ahead, towards the school, to avoid contact with her. Whatever sad backstory she has, I don¡¯t want to get wrapped up in it. I ignored this event, and arrived at the school. It was larger than I expected, it also had a feeling of it being modern that I hadn¡¯t pictured in my head. I followed the signs plastered throughout the school, and walked towards the main room. I saw a large crowd of people. Everyone was making conversation with the people sitting next to them. There was a large stage up front, which was being set up seemingly by 2nd and 3rd years. I could tell by the clips they put on their uniform¡¯s wrist. I sat down in the seat farthest back I could find, I just wanted to blend in and avoid the noise, bouncing off each and every wall. Even when I sat down, it felt like all the noise was being aimed in my direction, pointed at me deliberately. When I thought that everyone had arrived, and the orientation was about to start, someone came into view. It was the same girl from earlier. She asked me upfront, ¡°Mind if I sit here?¡± Her voice was high, but it was still lacking voice inflection. ¡°I don¡¯t mind.¡± I responded. As if against every cell in my body, the girl tried to start a conversation. ¡°What middle school did you go to?¡± ¡°Nothing special. Just the one a couple streets down from here. You probably saw it on the walk here.¡± ¡°I see. I just moved here, so I still don¡¯t really understand the flow of everyday life here.¡± I don¡¯t understand why she even asked what middle school I went to, if she doesn¡¯t even know any of them. ¡°I¡¯ve lived here my whole life. Probably a bit different from where you come from, but it¡¯s pretty normal.¡± ¡°What¡¯s your name?¡± The girl asked, ¡°Apollo.¡± I answered. ¡°Like the god?¡± ¡°Exactly.¡± ¡°Well, my name is Lucy.¡± Yup. Foreign name. I mean, my name isn¡¯t very much japanese either but still. The orientation started, and I didn¡¯t talk to Lucy for the rest of that day. 1-2 Date; 4/7 Time; 7:55 AM The first day of school is a pleasure to some people. Seeing who you¡¯ll spend the next 210 days with can be exciting, but to me, someone who would rather spend his time reading, it¡¯s not really the most exciting thing. In today¡¯s homeroom class, we each gave a short introduction. I sort of half paid attention to everyone¡¯s introduction. Giving them about a sentence to catch my attention. After a bit, it was my turn. ¡°Hello. My name is Atsushi Apollo. You can just call me by my given name. Nice to meet you.¡± I said in a less than entertaining way. Someone listening responded, ¡°Wow man, jumping straight to given names? Are you a foreigner?¡± I ignored him, and walked back to my desk. Directly after me, was a real foreigner. ¡°Good morning. My name is Lucy. I hope to have a great year with you all.¡± At some level, I think that everyone was in awe at the fact that there were two people with an introduction so simple, and jumping to given names. I could almost hear their thoughts, ¡°Are they related?¡± ¡°Do they both have the same thought process?¡± ¡°Do you think they¡¯re both foreigners?¡± The noise was killing me. All I want is for the noise to go away. As long as I¡¯ve had this problem, I¡¯ve blocked out the noise by reading books. I set my mind to one task, and let it go. I don¡¯t have to think about anything other than the material I¡¯m enjoying. Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions. The other introductions were less memorable. Pretty regular, although not entirely boring. I went through the day, book in hand. Language arts was perfect, because I could read for class, rather than in spite of it. On the walk home, I saw Lucy. She was looking around, as if checking to see if anyone was watching her. She walked home, to the abandoned building she started in. I arrived at my house, and had dinner. Perfectly served by none other than my mother. ¡°It¡¯s good.¡± I said, being polite. ¡°Thank you.¡± My mom replied. I walked upstairs to my room, turning on the TV. It switched onto the sports channel. A soccer game was about halfway through. It was the semifinals of the tournament. Thousands were in attendance. The red team was the underdog, barely made it through to this match, while the blue team was expected to win the entire thing from before the season even started. The score was 10-7, the blue team in the lead. They made goal after goal. Destroying the red team in a way that would surely haunt their dreams forever. The game ended 30-8. The red team left heads down. Their dream was crushed. I watched TV for another two hours. At 11:00, I went downstairs to grab something to eat. My mom had turned in already. I checked the fridge, but the only thing in there was ingredients, and I didn¡¯t want to prepare anything. I went to the convenience store. The streets were dark, and I could barely recognize the same streets I had walked to school on. But I still could make out the same abandoned building. I walked into the store, and grabbed some instant ramen off the shelf. It was only 200 yen, and it was a bit of a ways walk, so I got a bit of chocolate with my remaining 300 yen. I walked up to the register, and paid. ¡°Thank you, that will be 540 yen please.¡± ¡°Oh, sorry I forgot about tax, I¡¯ll just put this chocolate back.¡± ¡°It¡¯s only 40 yen, I¡¯ll just pay it for you.¡± The cashier kindly said. ¡°Thank you!¡± I responded a bit loudly, as I was caught off guard. ¡°No, it¡¯s fine. I didn¡¯t know what I was going to do with a couple 10 yen coins anyway.¡± I exited the store. Rather than feeling the kindness of the woman, I just felt worse about myself. I glared back into the abandoned building. I sat down on a bench, and started eating the chocolate, never taking my eyes off the building. I dropped a piece on the ground. I took my eyes off the building, and kicked the piece of chocolate. I finished the bar, and threw the wrapper in the garbage. I started walking back to my house. I felt a warm breeze. Different for fall. I turned back towards the building one last time, almost to say, ¡°Farewell, until tomorrow.¡± But I saw something. It was a fire. ¡°Lucy!¡± 2-1 2 I rushed towards the burning building, without thinking, throwing my bag aside. I put my shirt over my nose and mouth as a sort of mask to prevent the smoke from entering my lungs. I rushed into the building, checked the first floor, nothing. I sprinted up to the second floor, I found nothing. I went up to the third floor, and still found nothing. I wasn¡¯t discouraged though, no, all rationalization in my body had disappeared now. I went all the way up to the 6th floor, and finally found something, Lucy¡¯s bag. Right in front of that was a flashlight. Things were strewn about the floor, and I followed them. I finally found where they led to. A large wall of fire. That¡¯s when the rationalization started to kick in. ¡°Even if I do find her, will we both be able to get out? I should just leave, try to save myself. And if I do save Lucy, the press will be all over me, I just want to read my damn books.¡± I thought. You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author. But I pushed through. ¡°Lucy!¡± I yelled towards the fire. ¡°Hello?¡± I heard yell back. ¡°I¡¯m coming! I¡¯ll get you out!¡± I ran down one floor, and to the other side of the building, back up another staircase, and was on the same side as Lucy. ¡°Apollo?¡± Lucy asked, sitting on the ground. ¡°Lucy! Come on!¡± I put out my hand, and we locked together. Lucy and I ran together down the staircase, around to the other side of the building, down two more levels, ran to the other side of the building to avoid fire, and ran down 3 more floors to the exit. We ran out the front doors to the media¡¯s attention. Many people were standing outside, most of them holding cameras or microphones. But that didn¡¯t matter, because right next to me was Lucy. Still alive. Lucy was crying. Different to her normal, emotionless face. And all I could do was stand there, still holding her hand. Whenever I saw the main character lose all sense of reason and rush into a fiery building in anime or manga, I always thought that they were insane. Why would you risk your own life for someone you just met? Although, I get it now. I finally understand. It¡¯s for a fraction of a chance. That small chance that you both make it out alive, that is a living resemblance of your love for that person. As I begin to hear the beeping of ambulances in the background, the sight of Lucy fades from view, for a darker approach. 2-2 I eventually awoke to find myself in a hospital bed. Definitely the kind of thing I can¡¯t afford. I got up, and walked out of the room, to find a doctor. ¡°S- Sir, y- you¡¯re awake?¡± ¡°Yes. And?¡± ¡°It- It¡¯s just so surprising for such a quick recovery. You can even walk¡­ But we strongly advise you not to-¡± ¡°Do you happen to know where Lucy is?¡± ¡°L- Lucy? Oh, th- the girl from the same building as you¡­ She- she¡¯s in the room a couple rooms down, 207. I looked back at the number on the door, it said 203. ¡°Thank you.¡± I had to hold myself back from sprinting straight to my destination at the speed of sound. Although I did just open the door immediately instead of knocking, I was still surprised when Lucy was asleep. sat by in a chair right by the hospital bed. As long as I could. Until a doctor came in. ¡°Wh- What are you doing in here? This girl isn¡¯t supposed to see visitors.¡± I stared with all my might directly at the floor. I didn¡¯t want to think about the repercussions of what I¡¯ve done. ¡°Sir you-¡± As the Doctor spoke, she pulled up my shoulder in a way that made my face visible. She made out that it was me. ¡°Ah. I see. You may have 5 minutes.¡± ¡°Thank you.¡± I used about 2 minutes in the best way I could. Staring from the floor, to the hospital bed. Until the doctor once again said something.If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. ¡°It¡¯s surprising that you woke up so soon. You were expected to be asleep just as or longer than the girl right here.¡± ¡°What do you mean?¡± ¡°Oh. Yes. Yesterday, you were both taken to the hospital, both of you struggled to move by yourselves, and eventually fell. Both of you were recognized to be in a coma. While the girl had underlying health issues that would surely make it a harder recovery.¡± ¡°What kind of health issues?¡± ¡°Even if I could do that legally, I think it¡¯s better that you hear it for yourself.¡± ¡°I understand.¡± ¡°Your 5 minutes are up. I¡¯m sorry to say this, but I¡¯m going to have to have you leave the room.¡± ¡°Where should I go?¡± ¡°You can probably go to the front desk. Explain and they¡¯ll let you go home.¡± ¡°Alright. Thanks.¡± I eventually arrived home. The door was opened by none other than my mother. She says, ¡°Apollo! You¡¯re back¡­¡± As she slowly lets the tears roll down her cheeks. ¡°Yeah Mom, I¡¯m back.¡± I responded calmly, trying to inspire Mom to do the same. But it was never-ending. ¡°Why did you do that?¡± She asked, although I was unable to respond. Why did I do that? Right after I saved Lucy, I remember feeling something. Some true reason. But, it seems that has all but vanished. And even at that, why did I immediately rush to Lucy¡¯s room, rather than look after my own health? So I just stood there, kind of blank faced, and felt my Mother¡¯s arms wrapped around me. Eventually, I was let in. I ate dinner, although the quiet dinner I was hoping for wasn¡¯t there. Rather replaced by a bombardment of questions. ¡°Did you know that girl?¡± or ¡°Was the media all over you?¡± or even, ¡°Why did you wake up so quickly?¡± ¡°Slow down,¡± I said, ¡°Let¡¯s start with the easy questions. Yes, the media was on me the entire time. It¡¯s now difficult to walk down the street without people clapping randomly. I have no clue why I woke up ¡®early¡¯ or even how long I was supposed to be asleep.¡± ¡°The doctors said 3 months at best.¡± ¡°Thank you! I finally got a concrete number. I woke up much before I was supposed to-¡± I paused, I thought about what this might mean for another person. One with an underlying condition. How long would it take before I could see her awake? ¡°Apollo?¡± Mom said, ¡°Yeah?¡± ¡°I¡¯ve been saying your name for 2 minutes.¡± ¡°Really? Sorry, I was staring into space.¡± Mom looked quite confused, trying to put her mind to work. I finished my dinner, and said to Mom, ¡°Thanks for dinner. You¡¯ll find me in my room.¡± When I got into my room, I layed down on my bed, pulled out my phone, and started playing music. I put on some lofi, to try to let my mind think, while not prohibiting it. I knew that I had school the next day, but oddly instead of doing my usual routine to try to get ready for school the next day, I was instead just thinking about going to see Lucy tomorrow. Why did I accept that offer? No, I should stop thinking about that and just go to bed. I got under my covers, and started to drift into a deep sleep that even my alarm clock the next day couldn¡¯t wake me from. 3-1 3 Date; 4/10 Time; 8:00 AM I woke up from my sleep to find that I was already 5 minutes late to class. If I optimized this completely, then I could get there in another 5 minutes. I would be 10 minutes late. That¡¯s fine I guess. I jumped out of bed, put toast into the toaster, packed my stuff as fast as I could, got out the half done toast, buttered the toast, and then ran to school, toast in mouth. I really am turning into a typical main character. I arrived at school at 8:05, just as planned, and was immediately scolded. The teacher was halfway done with destroying my mental fortitude when someone piped up. ¡°Maybe it was because of the fire?¡± ¡°Fire? What fire?¡± The teacher said, ¡°You don¡¯t know!?¡± All of the other students said in unison. This was gonna be a long day. Date; 4/10 Time; 4:05 I remember having this same feeling at some point in my life. Maybe when I was 13 or so? But I still remember the feeling that people were talking behind my back. I could almost see the smoke, drifting from person to person, transferring through word of mouth. If you knew, you had a smoke cloud above your head. If you didn¡¯t know, you would soon enough.Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions. But there was still one girl that was close to me. She was still there, regardless of everyone else. Her heart was actually that of a kind human. But eventually, others would get to her, and I would utter the phrase, ¡°Please, for your own good, pretend I¡¯m not who I really am.¡± And she obeyed what I said very well. Almost to the point where I was sad because of it. But I still stumbled through. I looked back up, regaining my consciousness after my short daydream while walking home from school. I realized I had placed myself at the front doors of the hospital. My subconscious was eager to see Lucy. I got special permission once again, and saw Lucy in a hospital bed for a second time. She was in a dream-like state, but the way she flinched every once and a while indicated to me that she was having a sort of nightmare. This rolling from one side to another, the clenching and unclenching of her fists, and many other things just made me wonder what kind of dream Lucy could be having. But before I could think about it too much, I was ripped away from Lucy by a nurse. Date; 4/17 Time; 4:07 As I walked my normal path to see Lucy as usual, looking back on the day I had. More than one person today came up to me and asked me about my relationship with Lucy. Questions like ¡°Are you dating?¡± Or, ¡°Are you related?¡± Both of which I immediately and calmly responded with no. I really don¡¯t think I was putting on the show that anyone wanted. Which was made specifically apparent by the newspaper club¡¯s interrogation on me. ¡°Give us the goods. We want a title that everyone will see in the main hall! ¡®Atsushi Apollo saves student, Lucy, from a burning building. Is there something more to them?¡¯ That¡¯s an intriguing title! Give it to us! Please. Come on!¡± While I was talking this girl from the newspaper club kept saying short sentences. ¡°You know you want to be famous!¡± ¡°You can do it!¡± We¡¯ll give you a good job in the newspaper club!¡± ¡°You¡¯re responsible!¡± All of these interruptions made it impossible to say anything, so I just ended up leaving the room. I snapped out of me looking back on my day, walked into Lucy¡¯s room, and sat down, staring into her closed eyes. But, as I looked longer, I began to feel a glare back at me. A nurse was walking in at the same time, and she dropped a glass on the floor. I could feel the shock bleeding from her aura. Stuttering, I began to form the words, ¡°L- Lucy?¡± 3-2 ¡°A- Apollo?¡± Lucy said, slowly waking from her slumber. I sat there, a smile being clearly visible on my face. ¡°Welcome back Lucy.¡± I said, trying to hold back all of my emotion. ¡°W- What happened?¡± Lucy said. Although, almost immediately after her question, it seemed as though her answer struck her. ¡°A- Apollo? Did you sa-¡± Lucy paused to cough. ¡°Don¡¯t push yourself.¡± I said. The nurse silently nodded, while calling a doctor in. Although, when the doctor arrived, I was asked to leave. I did, and the walk home was a mix of happiness, sadness, and wonder. I was glad that Lucy woke up, but I might have to wait a while before I can see her. She might even be impacted by the experience in the future, since she has the underlying condition. Which, what is that? I walked in my own home, ready to have dinner. I walked up to my mom, asking what was ready. ¡°Hold on. We¡¯re having- Apollo?¡± ¡°What?¡± I asked, ¡°You¡¯re crying?¡± ¡°W- What is this?¡± I said, wiping the tears from my face with my shirt. ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡± Mom asked. I didn¡¯t know how to answer. Was I really this completely emotion blasted by the waking of someone I barely know? ¡°I- I don¡¯t know.¡±Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. ¡°I don¡¯t think that¡¯s the case. Is it about the fire? More specifically, the girl you dove in there for?¡± I think my mom¡¯s a psychic. ¡°Ye- Yeah¡­ She just woke up today.¡± ¡°Wow! That¡¯s great news!¡± ¡°But, she might have some kind of underlying condition that keeps her bedridden.¡± ¡°That¡¯s not good. But, you should always look on the bright side. You still don¡¯t know that, she could be awake tomorrow.¡± ¡°I guess you¡¯re right.¡± ¡°Now, let¡¯s have some dinner.¡± I ate dinner slowly, and walked back upstairs. I watched the news on TV. I really didn¡¯t care much, but I really wasn¡¯t paying attention to the TV, so it was just more white noise than anything. Until a segment came on that was dedicated to- ME? I watched as a video played of me rushing into that building, and saving Lucy. ¡°I never agreed to this!¡± I said out loud, but still watched intently. I checked the channel, this was national news. I threw my forehead into my palms, saying to myself, ¡°Why couldn¡¯t I have combed my hair to go to the convenience store?¡± Why did I do this all for some girl? WHY!? So that night, I fell asleep trying to comprehend the greater scheme of what I was going through. There was no way I could understand it then. Again, I woke up. Again, I ate breakfast. Again, I walked to school. Again, I walked through the hallways. And again, I was pointed at. Although I could withstand everything normally, my mental state was particularly awful today. The weight of this one girl. The weight of that split second decision to go after her, it was slowly breaking my body away, making sure it wouldn¡¯t ever be able to stand back up after it fell. So, I went throughout my day with minimum effort. I blocked everything out, stopping myself from thinking about the horrible mess I had gotten into. But even after school, even with my terrible mental state, I still made the effort to find myself placed inside of the very hospital Lucy was housed in. So I walked up to the front desk. Thump. Thump. Thump. I could feel my very heart pumping blood to my body as I slowly started to say something to the front desk lady. ¡°C- Could I visit Lucy please?¡± I said, quivering while awaiting my denial of entry. ¡°I was told to only allow one person. Do you happen to be Atsushi Apollo?¡± ¡°Yes.¡± I said, holding in my questions, excitement, and everything else. And so, I walked up to the door. I was shaking, wondering what sort of sorry state Lucy would be in. And saw Lucy, alive and well. Standing up doing cartwheels.