When I arrived home from my part time job at the convenience store, my phone started ringing. The caller ID showed that it was my mom calling. After a long day working a double shift, it was going to end with a call from mom who was probably calling to nag.

  “Hell no.”

  I let the phone continue ringing. I would just tell her the next day that I had already fallen asleep. Without bothering to shower, I just jumped onto my bed. Right now, all I wanted to do was sleep. The ringing eventually stopped and I buried my head into my pillow, relieved.

  I then heard a message notification.

  [Riku, if you don’t stop pretending to be asleep and pick up the phone, I’m cutting your allowance.]

  Right after I read the message, my phone started ringing again. I picked it up this time.

  “…hello?”

  “Why didn’t you pick up the phone earlier?”

  “Because I was pretending to be asleep.”

  “You wanna die, you punk?”

  For reference, my mom used to be a delinquent back in the day and it showed in her mannerisms.

  “Hahaha…”

  “I’m cutting next month’s allowance in half as punishment.”

  I stared at my phone. This woman was always threatening me with money. Time and time again she’d do this. Does she really think I’d always give in?!

  “I’m sorry, please don’t.”

  Yes. Yes, I would.

  She just laughed in response. Is it really that funny to toy with your only son?

  “Riku, isn’t about time you give up on your studies and come back home?”

  A sudden straight ball.

  Even if I knew this was eventually coming, I didn’t think she’d just bring up the matter out of nowhere. Right now, I, Minami Riku, was living alone in Tokyo in a small rented one-room apartment. I had come here to take the entrance exams for university. That was four years ago.

  That’s right, I’m currently a 22-year-old man failing at life.

  “Mom, I’m confident about the upcoming exams. I’ll get in for sure this time.”

  “You tell me the exact same thing every year. Honestly, you should just come back and take over the store.”

  My family owns a small ramen shop back in my hometown. Mom opened it way back when I was still a toddler and she’s been running it ever since. She said if me or my sister ever failed our studies, there was at least something for us to fall back on.

  Except I didn’t want to run a ramen shop. The hours were long and it was tiring work. The only reason mom managed all these years was because she had a passion for it. I didn’t.

  “Trust me, I’m confident this time!”

  “Alright, but no more chances after this. If you flunk again, you’re coming back home.”

  “…okay.”

  Failure was no longer an option. It was do or die, otherwise I’d spend the rest of my life making ramen.

  “Also, when are you going to get a girlfrie-”

  I hang up.

  Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

  That damned old lady. I left all my friends when I came to Tokyo to live alone. I barely had enough cash to spend after paying for the rent here. I had no friends, no money and I was a ronin who failed to get into university for four years in a row. What sort of girl would go for me?

  “Argh!”

  All these negative thoughts were ruining my mood. This was supposed to be a good day. I had just received my pay after all.

  It wasn’t always like this. I was fairly popular back home. I was good with studies and sports which made me popular amongst my peers. I didn’t have a girlfriend even though I knew that there were girls who were interested but I was more interested in playing basketball and video games at the time.

  Then it all changed when I came to Tokyo alone.

  It turns out that unless you have tons of self-discipline, it was easy to turn into a hopeless human being who spends most of his time reading manga and playing games. I respect those who live alone and yet remain productive. I really do.

  I picked up my bag and searched for my phone charger so it could charge while I slept.

  It wasn’t there.

  “Shit.”

  I must have left it back at work. I groaned.

  I could have just waited till the next day to go pick it up but all those negative thoughts I was having were motivating me to not be lazy. It’d only take me less than half an hour anyway. Procrastination begone!

  I got up and left home to go get my charger.

  The streets were empty now since it was past midnight. Usually, in a city like Tokyo, it wouldn’t be surprising if there were people out this late but in order to save as much money as possible, I had rented a place in a rather deserted neighborhood.

  “Hey.”

  Oh? I didn’t expect anyone out this late.

  The voice belonged to a man. He was wearing a cap and dressed in a large trench coat. He also reeked of alcohol. In an instant, I knew I didn’t like the vibe I was getting.

  “Give me all your money.”

  He reached into his coat. Was it a hidden knife?

  Fuck.

  You’ve got to be kidding me.

  I raise my hands up in natural reflex.

  “Look here ossan, I don’t want any trouble. I’m just going to go get my phone charger I left at work, okay? I don’t have my wallet with me.”

  Of course, that a lie. It was in my pocket right at this moment, filled with my hard-earned pay for this month. Of all the times, why did I decide to ask for cash instead of cheque?!

  “Just shut the fuck up and give me your money.”

  “Like I said, I don’t have my wallet right now!”

  His expression told me he didn’t believe me one bit.

  Should I run? Even if he had a knife, there was no way some drunk old dude could catch up to me, right? I took a second to think and then I bolted. Even if I haven’t worked out in years, I was the fastest in the hundred-meter dash back in high school. I ran with all my might. I was going to escape!

  Thud.

  The next thing I knew was that I was on the ground. How?

  I suddenly felt a warm and wet sensation from my lower back and the front of my stomach.

  It was blood.

  There was so much blood.

  I had just been shot.

  The motherfucker had a gun. I hadn’t expected it at all. I was convinced it was a hidden knife or some other weapon. There was no way I could have known since gun laws were extremely strict in Japan.

  I heard the crunching sound of the road against his boots. He ran up to me and reached into my back pocket for my wallet. Hey, that’s my precious ass you’re touching there. I don’t swing that way.

  “Shit, you tried to run just because of 50,000 yen?”

  Ah, I understood. He probably thought I ran because I had tons of cash on me. You stupid ass drunk, there was no way anyone in this poor neighborhood would be walking around loaded with money at this time.

  I heard the sound of crunching gravel again except this time instead of it getting closer to me, it was fading into the distance. The damned thief was running away.

  Maybe it was because of the shock, but I didn’t feel much pain. However, I was extremely weak. I tried to get up but my arms gave in.

  I tried to reach for my phone but I couldn’t find it. The bastard must have taken my phone as well. Damn it, why was no one coming? Didn’t they hear the gunshot? Wait… what gunshot? Earlier, I didn’t hear anything myself. I realized at that moment he must have had a silencer. It made sense, otherwise it would be way too risky to use a gun in public, even at night.

  At this point, my stupor was fading away and the reality of the situation was starting to sink in.

  Shit.

  Shit.

  Shit.

  Was I really going to die like this?

  Shot in the middle of the streets over 50,000 yen and bleeding out a slow death.

  Mom, I’m sorry for not taking care of you better all these years. Hina-nee, your little brother is dying so I hope you’ll forgive him for not repaying you that 20,000 yen you lent him last month.

  Just as I was thinking these stupid thoughts, I heard it.

  “Do you want to live?”

  I tried to look around but I couldn’t see anyone. The voice didn’t belong to the robber. It was much more high-pitched, like it was from a little child. In fact, the voice seemed to come from inside my own head. Was I getting delirious from the blood loss?

  “I want to live.”

  I answer anyway.

  If I wasn’t on the verge of death then what happened next would have definitely caused me to make a tsukkomi. A door materialized out of mid-air in front of me. It was a double door design, made of red wooden planks. The kind you’d see in a shrine.

  The doors creaked open but all I saw was a murky darkness.

  A baby’s arm emerged from that blackness. If that wasn’t weird enough, it was much larger, almost like an adults. Then, a huge and chubby hand grabbed the top of my head.

  And pulled me into that darkness.