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Prologue
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It was afternoon as the glaring sun slowly hovers over the sky. While the people continue on with their lives, the road absorbs plenty of heat during the day, and releases it at dawn. This will become another night that is too warm to sleep comfortably.
This is Ichiro city, Shizuoka district, a city where the scenes above are commonplace.
The city center is surrounded by skyscrapers, hosting a myriad of companies, a veriteble general hospital and a park. It also houses one of the most prestigious schools in the area, the Fuyusoba Academy, boasting over hundreds of meters of privately owned lands and has had good academic records, the academy itself also hosts different educational levels, from elementary schools to affiliated college.
In the cool air-conditioned classroom, several students stare silently at their class's monitor screenboards, it is unclear if they really are paying attention or just droning off. The atmosphere is intense, as they are one the best classes in Fuyusoba. Even for them, the lessons are usually difficult, but for today lessons are exceptionally heavy.
"We have 3 hours left to study for the tryouts..."
A male student sitting at one end of the class mumbles with a hint of despair. He is currently battling with a mental time bomb ticking towards explosion with each passing second, also known as the tryouts deadline. Due to incoming national exam, the anxious Fuyusoba Academy staff raised the curriculum, even though some of it was unreasonable. Even during the holidays, the homework given to him and the rest of the class had little room for error. Repeated success AND failures made it even more perilous, the situation can only be described as 'hellish' but there are even more pressing issues.
"Nobuyuki-sensei, this answer is not making any sense! It isn't even related to the question, even with formula checks!"
"Nobuyuki-sensei, we won't make it in time if we don't finish the lesson today."
"...Nobuyuki-sensei, Yuki told me to pass an excuse letter..."
"Ah-- Shut up! How can I teach you guys before the national tryouts with things like this--!"
The teacher who was pressed into a corner-- Nobuyuki Ueno received a string of bad responses, finally breaking down. He swore in his head and reclined on his rather comfy chair.
He knew there was no time to be wasted, but he could not do this, the class is not ready, and even as a certified teacher could barely make anything out of the material. The deadline is looming, but he could not find any solutions, 'Oh no... if they do the tryouts in this state, they will fail, if they fail, then our academy's reputation would drop, if it does, then I will be blamed, and if i---'.
"Nobuyuki-sensei."
"What is it now!?"
He raised his head in response to someone addressing him, a student, no, a man with a gentle smile stood before his eyes.
"I have finished the material, and am ready to assist you."
"Oh... Kira-san... are you fine with joining in?"
The pain on Nobuyuki-sensei's face was swept away, like one who had found a ray of light in the midst of darkness.
"I had browsed through the tryout materials and have gotten gist of the situation. Do you require my assistance, sensei?"
"Of... Of course, you might as well since you're an assistant teacher, you can flip through my folders too. Take care of all that please."
"Eh, Nobuyuki-sensei, I can't manage all that... erm, material number 54 is holding back the progress of this class and we only have two and a half hours, let me settle this..."
The man speaking with Ueno is Takahiro Kira, he sat down on a chair prepared by his stressed colleague and began lectures immediately. He wrote the formulas on the screenboard, read the progress reports while flipping through the tryout's problems as he gave instructions to the students around him.
"Ensure the formulas are correct, as long it is it should be fine, Nobuyuki-sensei, take this opportunity to rest. We will begin intensive cramming in an hour."
Sensing a new approach, the students renewed their enthusiasm, and in the end,
Everyone had put their heart into their work, as the sluggish battle improves dramatically.
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As the radio broadcast announces the time, the clock on the wall indicates it is 2:45pm -- the try-outs for National Exams went smoothly. According to Nobuyuki-sensei, it ended in great success. Although they would need to give the students several days off to cool off, which lead to more paperwork for Nobuyuki-sensei, but not him as Kira simply stretched his back and rotated his tired shoulders.
"Might as well take the day off too."
He had been helping this class for three months, if sensei decided to give the students a break, he would be able to enjoy it too.
"Now then, let's hit karaoke~.... that doesnt sounds right if being said alone."
Sighing about his luck with women, he hit the karaoke solo.
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Several days after the try-out, the month had ended. Fuyusoba-Academy ranked 3rd out of all participating schools in Japan after the tallying, or so the newcaster said.
"Haaa-ah... good thing that went well, I'm sure if they failed we would all face the famed firing squads... well, back to work."
Kurata turned off his TV and prepared for work. He was not alone of course. Hundreds if not thousands of people also started to prepare for work at this hour. It is very crowded in this city, but compared to the hellish time they had just a few days before because of the try out, it is much more relaxed now.
Today is Good Wednesday. Some are rushing to meet with their families, others are hanging out with their friends, and there are some who just want to rest at home. Everybody is different, but for Kira, it is just another day.
The streets are humid in this summer heat, crowded with people knocking off work. The way to the station is jammed with people. After walking some distance away, the traffic doesn't get any smoother.
"Aw man... what's up with the hold up? If I'm late, my image as a perfect Assistant Teacher will be ruined!"
He heard the sound of someting breaking from the rowdy crowd, the oncoming suprise restricted his vision. Sudden intense rays of light from the sun blinded him as he hurried to the side of the road, but then a massive sonic boom happened.
"What the!?"
The dazzling shattered glasses from nearby skycrappers made his reaction fatally slow. Buildings crumbling, electricity went out, people screaming and panicking, thunderstrikes in broad daylight, and a jumbo jet falling out from the sky diving right into him, showing no sign of slowing and no intention to avoid him. By the time he realized it, it was too late for him or anyone else in the area to avoid it.
"Hey, wait...no..."
The roar of the falling jumbo jet reverberated in his ears, his vision was drowned out by the sheer size if it. He felt a grim chill slide down his back.
He couldn't get out of the way no matter what he did as the aircraft was drawing closer.
At the moment of impact, Takahiro Kira was no more.
If Kira would have held back abit and continued to watch the news, he wouldn't have missed a particular article.
"-- This is just in."
"Around 10am today, The CERN of Europe have confirmed that the Sun will release a so called electromagnetic burst, Their spokeperson, Mr.Fabiola Gianotti. Said that they could not analyze the burst even after a week of predictions, but according to past electromagnetic waves emmited from the sun,he assures the world that the worst case scenario would only several electric devices malfunctioning. Another think tank argues that the effects could be more severe--"
Nearly two and a half billions lives extinguished, cities destroyed, society crumbled, and the world they knew was no more.
Yet, it is all but the end.
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