Silver Wish

Lila did not know what she expected when she finally met the famous Okamoto Nobuhiko. No, she does not count that first meeting when he dropped down from the window with a rope on his neck. He was a famous rockstar from a popular band in the US. How he ended up in Japan in Star Town during this crisis was a mystery to her.

She never met a real rock star before.

Despite being a member of a rock band, there were various sub-genres in rock. Even though he was merely holding a broom and dustpan - and his face covered with soot, he looked like a rock star.

"So, your Okamoto."

He flashed her a smile. "Your that gorgeous girl who I scared a few days back. Nice to meet you at last."

Kiryu hits his Nobuhiko with the broom. "Hands of the married woman."

"Who is she married too? You?" Nobuhiko was joking, but she saw Kiryu look away with red cheeks.

Lila laughed awkwardly and looked around the room. "So uh, what is this?"

The entire room as trashed, furniture knocked to the side. Glasses on the ground, strange substances still lingered in them.

He smiled. "Life."

She liked this guy already. He seemed like the type of person she wanted as a friend for Kiryu before, somebody like Shougo but more carefree.

Kiryu sighed deeply. "You know I cant renovate this whole place. It would feel like I am disrespecting the previous owners. That is why I only chose the modest-looking rooms to change. However, you-" Kiryu shook his head. "-keep destroying every room."

"The last room was not big enough, so I moved some stuff," Nobuhiko said unapologetically.

She saw Kiryu silently fuming and tapped his arm. "Should I go get a vacuum?"

"I will get it, you-" Kiryu looked at her. "Do you mind?"

Lila immediately understood what he meant. He wanted to know if she was okay being alone with Nobuhiko. She nodded, and Kiryu disappeared behind the doors again.

"Your the girl he carries a picture of." It was the last thing Lila expected to hear, but she slowly nodded

"I see."

"You tried to kill yourself?" Lila recalled what Kotori told her. It seemed like seeing Nobuhiko hang from the window frightened her a lot. So she asked what the issue was.

"I met that man Zane?" Nobuhiko threw his hands in the air. "That guy said he would bring me to a new world. He said all the pain would end once I take those drugs. It made me feel strange but good for a while. Gradually it felt like I was losing my senses."

"That is the effect of those drugs."

Nobuhiko nodded. "But it did not transform me into a monster. So I decided I should end it and get swallowed up. Right at that moment, Kiryu appeared before me." He trailed off and laughed. "Oh boy, that was fun; he looked so pissed off then. He told me after he saved me if I wanted to end my life, could I do it somewhere else?"

Her sweat fell when she heard those words. It sounded like something Kiryu would do.

"What made you change your mind?"

"Kiryu." Nobuhiko nodded. "I mean, he did not convince me personally, but when I saw him struggle to survive every day. Well, it inspired me a little. I mean, who wants to live during these times?"

Indeed it is not like they can live their everyday lives during this time frame. With the current pandemic civilization as they know it is on the verge of destruction. Lila wondered how much time it would take for things to return to normal. But even when it returned to normal, how much time would it take to rebuild everything?

Her phone started ringing a few times, but Lila did not pick up.

When Kiryu returned with the vacuum cleaner, she offered to help. But this only led to Kiryu making her sit down, with a blanket - cup of cocoa, and his jacket on her shoulders. It is not like the room was freezing. Yet it was indeed colder in here than the other rooms.

Voicemail one: Hey, my cute wife, I am now sobber and regretting everything I said or did earlier.

Voicemail two: I am lying on my bed (alone) and just finished showering, trying to get rid of the dirt that is me. I guess it is not easy to scrub away the scum and dirtiness from my body.

Lila bit her lip when she heard that message.

It is not like he is scum; he is not dirty either. She hated it whenever he thought of himself that way.

Voicemail three: I wrote you a song (yes while I was sobber). Listen to it.

Voicemail four: That song was terrible; there were too many mistakes.

Voicemail five: Hi, this is your husband, Haruka. Still, remember me? Let us have a reminder how we got married. I was already planning to marry you, but you got a jump ahead of me. When people were spouting nonsense, you brought that out to save me.

Voicemail six: You know, Rikka just left the house. I think I officially pissed her off. Will you come to me now?

Lila sighed deeply, there were several more messages, but she was not in the mood to continue listening. It does not sound like he is repenting at all.

Four hours later, Lila finally decided to listen to the rest of the messages; by the time she checked her phone, there were a hundred messages. Lila paused in mid-thought. What is this? Haruka did this thing with the voice messages before, but he never went this far. Is he that upset? Maybe she ought to stop ignoring him.

Voicemail fifty: I am going to end things with Rikka for good. Your right. I cannot continue this.

Voicemail fifty-one: I am on my way to meet her now

Voicemail fifty-two: Here she comes wish me luck

The next few messages were snippets of their conversation - then the next second, she hears the sound of a bullet. Lila almost dropped her phone; then, her entire face color grew cold. Huh? What--what?

She skips to a random voicemail number seventy-two.

I will take him with me, Haruka will be mine forever.

That voice no longer sounded like Rikka, no it was very familiar. She felt her knees grow cold, her entire body trembling. The voice on the other end of the phone was somebody she knew very well.

The sound of a car screeching and then a large splash of water.

Voicemail one hundred: Game over.. I win.