The autumnal breeze and orange-tinged sky sunk into the hours of the day. The sultry classroom's atmosphere was aloof like the spaced-out 1st-year in the classroom's back row. He has a normal stature and frame, though leaning towards being leaner. He catches the wafting sun on his average-looking face. Reflecting harshly, his cold black eyes and hair accentuate. His legs are crossed with a hand on his chin leaning on the desk. He's probably a great guy. By the way, he's me: Akito Harada.

XXX High School 1st-year of the Go-Home Club, Akito Harada: a normal high school student.

The bell rings and I wait for the crowd of students exiting to pass. Promptly after I stand up to take my own leave and walk through the open doorway. I walk past the empty classrooms one by one. Since they're all on the same floor, they should be 1st-year classes like mine.

"?"

In my peripheral, I catch a glint, a flash of bright blue light. I turn, but the light has already faded away. Was it just my imagination? I decide not to pursue it anymore and continue on with light relaxed footsteps.

I walk the same path I walk home every day. It's quite lucky that my apartment is within walking distance of the school and affordable for Tokyo. The sun mercilessly beats down now that I'm outside and deprived of AC. I look up slightly at the vast sky, it's a better view than the cracked road. A never-changing sky, an everyday school life, a never solved question...

My footsteps stop.

"W-What the...!?"

The sky cracks. There are spatial ruptures like someone hammered a glass dome hanging above Earth. I pull out my phone and zoom in with the camera. The wind picks up, a tailwind from behind towards the rift.

*crash*

 "!?"

A nearby building is obliterated in the blink of an eye. I try to get a closer look with my camera, only to see...

"Grrrahhh!!!"

It was a monster, a hideous monster; it was a grotesque pulsing black, purplish mass. My instincts screamed,

Run!

Tokyo, 4:32 PM

They called it the worst day, [First Contact]. The day the sky split open and monsters invaded Earth. 

I arrive back at my apartment panting and sweaty. The bottom of the building looks like it took a cannonball strike. I search my pocket hastily for the key. Ok, got it. Rushing up the flight of stairs I catch a glimpse of a wide view of Tokyo. I held back my horror for it was a scene out of hell. There were numerous fires covering portions of the sky with smoke. There was distance gunfire and screams. Above it all, those cracks in the sky with monsters pouring out of them: hundreds of monsters. My breathing becomes sporadic and I'm naturally painted with fear. I see in the distance a bear-shaped monster eating a...person. I take a step back from the ledge and try to calm my heart.

I make my way to my apartment door and jam the key in. After swiftly opening the door, slipping in, and slamming the door behind me, my shoulders relax and my breathing slows down a bit in relief. I don't know what the heck is happening, but I can't get killed by whatever those things are. I take a few moments to regain my composure and organize my thoughts.

"For now, I'll try to limit my presence and stay in my home. Time to enjoy the hikikomori lifestyle."

I load up the news on my phone, and the only thing on the page are about the cracks in the sky and the mysterious monsters. I swipe through the footage.

There already seems to be a name for the event of the broken sky. They called it [First Contact], the deadly phenomenon that spread throughout the world. Presumably, it means the contact of the monsters. These monsters are later commonly referred to as [Curses], the curse on humanity. Scientists are trying to figure out what caused this but to no avail. After all, science can't possibly explain that. We've also tried fighting back against the [Curses]. But, it's tough. It seems their physical defense is illogically high. Normal guns barely dent them and the only way people have managed to defeat them is by dropping numerous bombs on them. Inexplicably, [Curses] usually take the form of animals and beasts we're familiar with. Everything about this rejects our modern understanding of science. Numerous lives have been lost and are being lost by the second. What is this happening to this world!?

I slump onto the bed which is next to my desk. My desk has on it a computer and numerous papers for schoolwork sprawled out. Next to that is the area for my clothing drawers and next to that is the bathroom across from the door. On the walls is various anime-related paraphernalia that is also piled and scattered precariously on the floor. The curtains are shut, but I can still tell whether the sun is out or not. The days pass, and I don't keep track. The power lines are down and my food is running low. I stave away the boredom with light novels and offline games on my limited-charged consoles. The days pass and then more days pass. The water has stopped running too.

At this rate, I might have to go outside for resources. But, I remember the [Curses] outside and get a chill down my spine. They'll kill me...

"Hey, hasn't the situation gotten a bit better though?"

I haven't heard screams as often, or maybe the numbers have just been thinned that much. Wait, I heard this in the news. This may be the result of...

[Magical Girls]

The concept may be familiar to you. Girls are imbued with power, fighting against evil for the sake of justice: a common genre. Really, what has the world come to? Magical girls in real life?

*stomach growls*

"Yeah, I'm going out."

I creak open the door slowly and sneak out of the building as if making a single sound would alert monsters to my location. Well, it actually might. I silently strut towards the local supermarket. What I need should be there!

With great anticipation, I finally make it and shuffle inside. I was not greeted like usual, for the building was empty and eerily quiet. The lights were off as well. Well, no one's here so I'll just take a few things okay? I began stuffing my bags with as much as I could carry.

"This is great! I guess I can come back here whenever I need to restock."

Maybe other people might come here to take stuff too though. Ready to leave and not pay, I waltz out smoothly with stuffed bags on both arms and my neck and begin the journey home with the haul. Halfway there...

[Curse sighted in your area]

My phone dings, but...

"Uh..."

Too late. I just realize the bear-like [Curse] is staring at me ~30 meters away. Did I attract it somehow? Crap, am I going to die!? I drop the bags and book it.

Please don't catch up. Please don't catch up--

I feel a sharp pain in my back and then numbness. Why do I feel so...tired? My vision phases in and out of blurred states, the pain-produced tears don't help. My back--is covered with blood. Three large slashes run down it, pretty deep. This fatal wound, with no doctors around, is my certain death. My thoughts pump as vigorously as the blood does out my body. I'm dying. I'm dying--

"Mom, dad, Airi..."

My life flashes before my eyes.

It was your standard nuclear family. It was my mom, dad, sister, and I; we were perfectly normal, perfectly happy. If only that lasted.

A truck slammed into the car. It was instant death for the three of them while I was home. They were taken from me, my family, in an instant near the later end of my middle school years. Without time to say goodbye or time to thank them, they were gone and had left me.

"Don't worry Akito--I'll take good care of you," he sneered.

My rotten uncle took on the responsibility of being my new guardian. But, he was scum. He sold all our property and left Japan entirely, leaving me behind with nothing but some money to live off on. Well, that's why I'm living alone in that apartment. There were some legal hurdles I had to get across but I'm good at forging things and that man is still listed as my legal guardian so I managed. But, even then, this is Tokyo. An apartment is not cheap and the money I was given wouldn't last forever. So, I began working part-time at whatever places would take me. I also had a job on the side. That was...a professional illustrator. From a young age, I'd liked anime and the like and had tried to reproduce the images I saw and the images I thought of. I got a digital drawing tablet as a Christmas present and have been drawing digitally ever since. I trained and trained and before I realized it, my skills were that of a pro. If only I was this passionate about studying *sigh*. Well, I began uploading my works, gaining attention, and eventually, requests and commissions came in tow. I worked online and received much-needed revenue from requested artworks, some even for popular series and games. It was fun...

The blood pooled around me and the pain had me screaming with all my might. Time passes excruciatingly slowly, and the bear [Curse] watches me struggle as if it enjoyed my pained expression. When I couldn't scream anymore, I stopped moving altogether. I began to accept the fact that I was going to die.

"H-Help me..."

I pleaded emptily. Suddenly, a cold voice flowed into my ears. A fateful encounter.

"Do you want to be saved?"