Tokyo never sleeps anymore it just glows. Neon lights fill the sky. Drones float over the streets. Cars drive themselves. Screens watch everyone. People call this progress. I call it noise. Kurokawa Corporation owns almost everything here. The trains, the schools, the security systems, even the cameras in the sky. People trust them They think Kurokawa keeps Japan safe *I don't trust them*
My name is Kael. I'm a high school student. Teachers say I'm talented. Students say I'm lucky. I'm the captain of the soccer team. I win things without trying that hard But None of it feels important *it all feels distant, like I'm watching someone else live my life. * I have white hair that makes people stare and dark red eyes that never match how I feel inside. My family is gone. Some died. Some disappeared when the city changed tech took over everything. My father vanished years ago. No body. No message. Just erased. People stopped asking. *I never did* My mom is all I have. She works for Kurokawa Long hours. Always tire. When she comes home, she tries to talk.
(Kael, did you eat?) (How was school?) (You should sleep earlier.)
Sometimes I answer. Sometimes I don't
I stay on my phone. I keep my headphones on. I pretend I'm busy. *I know she's lonely. * *I just don't care enough to fix it. *
That thought makes me feel sick. I still don't change. There are things I don't tell anyone *I've watched people fall apart and said nothing because it helped me. * *I've stayed quiet when someone else took the blame. * *I told myself it wasn't my problem. * It was. Sometimes I think about the accidents that happen in this city. People disappear. Systems fail. Names get erased. And part of me feels relief when the world gets quieter. *I hate that part of me* My father disappeared years ago. No body. No answers Sometimes I think it was my fault. Sometimes I think life was easier without him. *That Thought never leaves me. * Late at night, when the city is quiet, I wonder something worse. *If fewer people existed, would the world be calmer *Would I finally feel something real? * I don't like how normal that question feels
At school, everyone expects me to lead. To win. To smile. *It feels like I'm playing a role. * Winning feels dull. Being praised feels dull. Living like this feels dull sometimes I stand on the rooftop and look at the city lights. I think about what it would be like if everything stopped. The city. The noise. The expectations *Would anything change? * I don't like that I think that way. For a moment, I imagine something breaking the silence Something that forces me to feel something real I don't know why, but I feel that moment is close.