I was still staring through my bedroom window, my eyes lost in the mist of Tokyo's night.
The distant sounds of trains mixed with the soft hum of traffic. Then, the rain began—light at first, then heavier.
And with the first drops, the sharp pain returned.
A voice echoed inside my head again:
"Next stop: Shinjuku."
Images flashed quickly:
A man in a black coat,
a black bag in his hand,
a waving hand behind him…
Then everything turned dark.
Knock. Knock.
I held my head, breathing hard.
"Ah… not again…"
My mother's gentle voice came from behind the door:
"Genso, are you okay?"
I tried to steady myself.
"Yes… you can come in."
Haruko entered and sat next to me. Her eyes were calm but full of worry.
"You should sleep, Genso. You look tired."
"Yes, Mom… good night."
Her voice faded, and soon the weight of exhaustion pulled me into sleep.
---
The next morning
The headache didn't stop.
It was stronger… deeper.
With a shaking hand, I grabbed my phone and texted Riko:
"It happened again."
He replied almost immediately:
"This is not a normal headache, Genso. We need to see a doctor."
---
At the clinic — 10:00 AM
Dr. Hayashi wrote notes while watching the results of my neurological tests.
"There is unusual electrical activity in your brain… but I cannot explain the cause."
I looked away, frustrated.
How many times would I hear the same answer?
my eyes moved to the clock on the wall.
10:41
and then—
BOOM.
A deep explosion shook the building.
"What was that!?"
Riko shouted, rushing to me.
"Genso! Are you okay? What's happening!?"
i ran to the window.
A massive cloud of black smoke was rising over Shinjuku.
People were running in the streets, some falling, others crawling to escape the dark fog.
my heart froze.
"This… this is real."
I narrowed my eyes through the smoke…
and I saw something large and strange between the destroyed buildings.
A train.
A train had gone off the tracks and crashed into a chemical facility.
The explosion… the fire… it matched the pieces from my vision.
my mind repeated the words again:
"Next stop: Shinjuku."
i whispered to myself:
"non of this is coincidence… what is happening with me?"
---
end of Chapter Two