I lay on something, oddly soft. It finally felt like some sort of a floor was under me again, yet I didn’t move. “M-Millie..?” I sniffled. I could feel the brightness of sunshine even though my eyes were still closed shut, a rush of wind blew through my hair, it’s coolness made me curl tighter into a ball on the ground. Slowly, I squinted one eye open. I was resting on a hill overlooking a giant city, it’s towers and buildings looked oddly familiar. Was I still in… Tokyo?!
It appeared to be so, for I knew those buildings just by the way they looked. Even then, something still felt off. I slowly raised my head, feeling the warmth of the sun kiss my face. The grass brushing around my ankles and my hands was strangely fluffy and bright, an odd sight to see in Tokyo. Usually grass in my big city of Japan was littered with trash, and almost always unkept. I placed my hand over my forehead to looked up at the sky. A few white clouds drifted here and there, as birds chirped their melodies. Everything seemed to be so fresh, even the sky looked unpolluted.
“I bet this is why Mama named the game, ‘Heaven’.” I murmured almost as softly as the grass I laid on. I could’ve stayed on that hill forever probably, enjoying the peaceful scenery. Yet something stirred me to look for my sister, who seemed to be nowhere in sight. Millie couldn’t have been near, for if she was she would’ve called my name. Even though she was born only minutes before me, I’ve always thought of her as my big sister. She could calm me down over anything just by her comforting words, and not being able to be by her side in that moment made my heart ache.
“I have to go find her,” I said to myself, picking up the backpack that lay stretched out before me. “I have to make sure she’s alright.”
I ran off the hill, leaves that were caught in the wind's breeze danced around my head, and birds were still chirping as they soared above the clouds. Headed straight for the vast city, I had no idea what would be in store for me.
. . .
I entered the metropolis, clutching the straps of my backpack. Without my twin I felt so isolated and downcast, a little child wandering all by himself. What made things worse was that I didn’t even have the phone Mama gave us, and there was no way of me getting any directions. Slowly, quietly, I flowed into a sea of people walking down the street. Besides the newfound freshness, Tokyo looked almost as normal as before. People still bustled around, going from place to place. One thing I did notice however was that everyone seemed to be incredible happy. A woman and her son walked down the street across from us, giggling as they ate ice cream together. A man in a business suit wearing headphones was getting inside a parked car, bobbing his head up and down to the rhythm of music. Lots of people were waving to each other, smiling cheerfully as they called one another’s names. I guessed if those people were talking amongst themselves, I could too.
“Millie?” I hollered. “Millieee? Where are you??” My call kept being drowned by the crowd of people, I felt like a helpless toddler who had lost his mother. I tried to break out from the sea of people, falling onto the side of the street. Somewhere farther down the road was girl in a pink jacket, calling someone else’s name. “Haruuuuu?! Haru??” She looked frustrated, perhaps just as frightened as I was. I collapsed on the sidewalk. “Millie… I’m over here!” I tried to yell over the noise. She turned in my direction, slowly, she started to walk faster in my direction. At that moment she realized it was me, and ran even faster with her arms stretched out. Embracing me at full-force, my sister cried, “Oh Haru, I thought I lost you!!”
“Millie…” I dug my face deep into the side of her shirt. We were still laying on the side of the road with numerous people walking by, yet I didn’t care. Millie held me in her arms, sniffling just as hard as I was. “You should’ve never let go of my hand! We both entered the game in different places!”
“I know,” I muffled. “But I didn’t mean to!! I got scared Millie, it was an accident I let go!”
“I’m just glad you’re okay. You know I wouldn’t want you to be all by yourself, right?” Millie pulled me off the ground, dusting her knees off. I wiped a tear off my cheek and nodded. “Oh, and that reminds me…” Millie murmured. "Have you seen this place?! It’s amazing!”
She was right of course, it truly was amazing. The air was still so fresh and clean, and people’s smiles never seemed to cease.
“It is really beautiful out here... but it wouldn't be as fun without you.” I said, smiling for the first time that day. My sister laughed, her cheeks were a soft shade of red. She already knew how grateful I was that she was there.
Just as we were looking around, the phone in Millie’s pocket buzzed. A message appeared on the screen saying, “Welcome to Level One! Find more pieces of trash to level up. Hint: Shibuya Train Station is a good place to find lots of it.”
Millie slid the phone back into her jacket. “Shibuya… Didn’t Papa tell us once that that’s one of the most popular train stations in all of Tokyo? I bet we could find tons of trash there.”
“I think you’re right, Millie,” I remarked. “Mama also said she used to go to that underground station all the time when she worked for Motoyo… but how do we get there? We have no idea where that is!”
Millie paused, thinking for quite some time. “It’s sure to be around here somewhere, maybe we should just ask one of these nice people!” She said, going up to a crowd that was walking along the same street as us. Millie tapped the shoulder of a mildly tall woman wearing a sun hat, her hair was wrapped into a bun and her knee-length dress flowed in the cool breeze.
“Excuse me ma’am, but we’re looking for the Shibuya Station, do you know where that could be?”
The woman turned around, her eyes were as pitch black as a cold winter night. “The Shibuya Station? How funny, that’s exactly where I’m headed. You can come with me if you want, little ones.” Her voice was warm and welcoming, something made me want to follow her. She took the hand of Millie, as for me, stroking my hair lovingly. It almost, just almost felt as though my mother was the one doing it, her tenderness made me feel homesick.
“What’s your name?” Millie looked up at her, the sun reflecting off her hat. “Tora. It’s a simple name, don’t you think?” The woman said. Millie nodded in reply. “Oh, I’m Millie! Why are you going to Shibuya, Tora?”
Without missing a beat, the woman calmly looked down at my sister. Something in her eyes seemed to stir sadness, or was it fear? I couldn’t tell. “Millie, listen to me. I know this is out of the blue, but there’s something I need to tell you..”
“Um.. what is it?” My sister questioned hesitantly. Whatever Tora was about to say wasn’t going to be too bad, right? We had just met her after all.
The lady in the sunhat sighed quietly. “I am your aunt. Your mother sent me here to look after you and Haru. Someone might be waiting at the train station that Jín warned me to steer clear of. Is that understood?”
My heart stopped. My mother had never mentioned anything about an aunt before. She had always told me that she’d never been close with her family, and after marrying Papa she rarely ever talked to them.
“Aunt.. Tora? Wow, I can’t believe I just said that..” I blinked. “Um.. who’s waiting at the station? What did Mama tell you?! How did you know this, a-and most importantly how did you even get here?!?” I managed to spit out a few things, yet my brain was still swirling with a thousand questions. Tora cupped a loose flyaway hair that had gotten into my face behind my ear. “Child, you remind me so much of your mother when she was young. That bright mind of yours never ceases to work, ah?”
I didn’t answer her, and I guess she took the hint that I would need a lot of explaining on her part. “Haru, I’m afraid you’ll keep asking questions after this, but promise me that you’ll hush for a moment. You know that Jín programmed this game so you could leave anytime you pleased, yet someone at Motoyo Inc altered this before you left. Please stay calm, but you’re both stuck here until you finish leveling up and the simulation ends. That may take a long time, and you’ll have to go through many trials.”
Millie looked terrified, which frightened me even more. Millie was never scared, never. “B-but… Who would do such a terrible thing!?” She cried.
Tora looked grave. Her middle-aged face was contorted in worry, and now she didn’t seem so soothing after all. “The person who altered the game did this to blackmail your parents. They want full ownership of the Motoyo company, and will only release you two from the game if your parents comply. Your father hired me to work at his business long ago, though your mother and I rarely spoke. I witnessed what happened after you entered the game, and had no other choice but to warn you both. The person who blackmailed Jín and Yuito is waiting at the Shibuya Station right now, ready to confront you. But I promise to be by your side, for my sister’s sake.”
I lowered my head, looking down at the sidewalk. “Are Mama and Papa gonna sell the company then? You don’t know how hard my father worked for that! I-I don’t wanna be stuck here forever!” I sniffled, trying to hide my face so Tora couldn’t see my fear. Tora wrapped her arms around me, letting me use her shirt as a tissue for my tears. Yet even without looking up, I knew there was no way she could comfort me. “I should’ve stayed home, then none of this would’ve had to happen. I don’t even know why I agreed to playing this.. to look brave?! Well I’m not!!” I buried my face deep into my aunt’s side, sobbing.
“Haru…” Tora hushed. “Do you think your mother would let her only son go if she thought you were weak or helpless? No, my child.. she knows just how strong you are. But you have to believe it for yourself, too. That’s the only way you can succeed.”
I looked up at my aunt. My eyes were wet from crying, hair blowing in my face. “I don't know if I can be strong, Tora. B-but I'll try.. for Mama, Papa and for Millie and you.”
“Sore wa seishinda… you are welcome, my child.”
And so she took my hand, wiped the tears from my eyes, and the three of us walked down the streets of Tokyo, towards the Shibuya Train Station. Little did I know, Tengoku wouldn’t turn out to be much of a ‘heaven’ after all.
ns 172.70.131.43da2