I Was Just An Ordinary Working Man
My name is Masato Tanaka, and I'm an ordinary working adult you can find anywhere.
My hobbies are watching movies and taking walks at night.
When I say walks, I mean just small ones like stopping by the convenience store near my home.
I'm a young man who was attending high school just three months ago, and now I’m undergoing new employee training during the day in a building that houses a travel agency!
I spend my days entering the company by 8 AM and leaving at 5 PM to return home. I'm just a normal youngster who has somehow jumped into the sea of society.
Honestly, it gets tough at times, but finishing the training today and going home is just another part of my daily routine.
Well, even when I get home, it's just an empty house...
After saying "I'm home" to myself, I washed my hands at the sink, hung the suit I was wearing on a hanger in my room, then headed to the kitchen to make something simple to eat.
This is my daily life. Back then, I didn’t really enjoy the lively family dinners with the four of us, but now I miss them.
The morning after I graduated from high school, my father, mother, and sister disappeared.
They were just there the night before, but when morning came, they had vanished, leaving only white ashes on their beds. There was nothing else, no signs of struggle. It was just a quiet morning.
Even now, I don't understand why there were ashes or where they went, but when I consulted the police, I was told that a search was no longer possible. However, since I can’t give up, I walk around the neighborhood every night under the guise of taking a walk.
Hoping that they might come back, I have been taking walks for an hour from 9 to 10 PM every night before bed ever since that day.
Stopping by the convenience store on the way back and buying snacks and ice cream that my sister liked has also become part of my routine.
Of course, when I don't see them, I end up eating all the food myself... I wish I didn't know how lonely it is to have it all to myself...
"After I take a bath, I guess I’ll go tonight as well…"
I start thinking about unpleasant things when I take baths. As I wash my hair and body and soak my tired body in the bathtub, I suddenly find myself thinking.
"Give up already…things won’t go back the way they were even if you do this. Stop coping cause you don’t even know what happened. You should just go to bed."
I whispered these words of weakness to myself in my head.
My head feels heavy as I soak in the bathtub.
Like someone once said, "We think about unnecessary things because we have the luxury to do so."
There was actually more to that, but for some reason, that line came up in my head again.
Am I feeling this lonely because I have the luxury to do so? Or is it because it's nighttime that I end up having these thoughts while soaking in the bathtub?
After finishing my bath, I dried my whole body including my hair with a towel, changed into the clothes I prepared, and dried my hair with a hairdryer.
I’m ready to go.
Once again tonight, I turned off the lights in the house and headed out into the night.
Like bugs that are attracted to light, I walked along the street with streetlights, always taking the same route.
My expectations were shrinking day by day, and my heart was becoming increasingly worn down, but still, I couldn’t give up.
I arrived at my destination, the park, but I couldn't find anyone.
Today was the same again. My desire to give up starts to gnaw at my conscience.
“Haah”, the thought of wanting to give up made me sigh.
"No more...I want to disappear... Hah... Let's go home..."
I circled around the neighborhood and then began walking the rest of the way back, still holding onto a sliver of hope
The way back is along a road without a single streetlight. The streetlight in the distance was flickering faintly, looking like it was about to go out.
On the way back, I saw the light of the convenience store. I went in and bought the usual snacks and ice cream.
"Thank you very much~"
All that's left is to go home...Go home, wash my hands and go to bed. That would be the end of my day.
I hear the sound of cicadas and a dog howling in the distance even though it's nighttime. The cicadas' buzzing which I find annoying during the day somehow feels refreshing at night.
On the way home, the moonlight dimly illuminated the road. I saw on TV that the moon isn't actually shining, but just reflecting the sun's light. Still, the moon always looked so beautiful.
I can see my house. It's visible next to the road illuminated by streetlights.
Suddenly, I see a girl in a dress—I'm not sure which country's attire it is—collapsed in front of my house.
A young girl with beautiful hair that looks both blonde and white is lying in front of my house.
"Hey, are you alright?"
Naturally worried, I called out to her. There doesn't seem to be anyone around who looks like her parents…
"Hm? Oh! Are you this child's father? That’s not cool man, you shouldn't have taken your eyes off your daugh...!"
"...! Watch out!"
Suddenly, the girl pulled my arm.
The human figure that was just a small shadow a moment ago was now standing right next to me.
"Ugh!"
I had fallen on my backside after being pulled by the girl. And there was a deep scratch on my other arm that she didn’t touch. Dark red blood was flowing from there.
"What?!"
"You need to run away!"
The girl stood in front of me as I sat on the ground.
"Princess... Have you forgotten a vampire’s way of life, protecting this human?"
"Princess? I'm a vampire who has chosen a different way of life from you. I'm different from you who can only boast about bloodlines!"
The girl spoke confidently to the gentlemanly-looking white-haired man in front of her, who seemed to be named Jontor.
"How long are you going to stay here, human? I told you to hurry up and run away..."
"But I can't just leave you here!"
I got up. Hiding my trembling hands, I stood in front of the girl.
"Do you want to die, human?!"
"You told me to run away, but...we’re in front of my house. So I can't run away from here..."
While holding my painful, bleeding arm, I stood up. I desperately tried to control my legs that were shaking from fear as I stood in front of the girl.
"Sigh…so you’re fine with dying, boy? I'm not hungry right now... I don't want to kill needlessly, so in honor of your chivalrous resolve, I'm willing to overlook this situation. What do you say?"
"... That's... *huff* *huff*... not going to happen! We Japanese aren't so naive that we would entrust a child to a suspicious adult..."
"Then die...!"
The man's figure appeared to double for a moment, and all sensation left my body as a chill ran through me.
Is this the flashback of my life? In an instant, a seemingly infinite stream of memories flows through my head.
"...! *Huff* *huff*...! Huh... I'm alive?"
There's a sharp pain in my stomach, but in front of me is the figure of the young girl restraining the man's hand.
Apparently, I had been kicked by the girl and forced to step back.
"Ugh!"
The girl then kicked the man away. The wall in front of the house was shattered.
Impressed by her power that didn’t match her appearance, I held my aching stomach, grabbed the girl’s hand, and began running.
"Wait... human! I told you! I told you to just run away by yourself!"
"Cough... *Huff* *huff*! There's no way I can leave you alone in front of a man like that! Don't underestimate the Japanese!"
Running among the streetlights, I knew the park was just ahead. There’s a police booth past there, so that’s where I aimed to go.
The park comes into view. The police booth is just around the corner!
"You’re late. Princess, we can play as much as you want when we get back home, so let's go back."
"Wha... *Huff* *huff*! How did you get in front of us..."
"Boy, there's no way you can outrun a vampire. I've decided to kill you now, so why don't you just die already?"
I fell to my knees, perhaps due to fatigue. And because of my painful arm and stomach, I don't think I can walk anymore.
"Ugh!... run... away. If you turn that corner, there's a police booth... *Huff* *huff*... Run!"
"You know... aren’t you too self-centered? I’ve told you to run so many times..."
I let go of the girl's hand and ran towards the man.
"Uwaaa!"
"Stop! You'll die!"
"What a futile effort..."
He smoothly dodges my arm as I try to grab his clothes.
"Die..."
The man's hand pierces my chest. There was no pain, and it happened so quickly that I couldn't remember anything.
"Gu... ha... R... un... away"
Blood started to pour out.
I could really feel the sound and warmth of my blood flowing in this moment.
Strength was leaving my entire body bit by bit.
Now I don't even have the strength to stand up.
Ah, I’m going to die today.
I won’t have to be sad anymore. I won't have to go for walks anymore.
TLN: This is a very new story but it's hard to find something that interests me lately so TLing as I read.
