Chapter 92 - Chapter 0: The Story Before the Story Begins, Part 1
From this time, the boy's flashback will begin for a while, returning to the protagonist's first-person perspective.
By the way, the timeline is, as the subtitle suggests, a point before the start of the main story.
"It's already eight o'clock. Just because school is out, how long do you plan on sleeping?"
It was my mother's voice that woke me up. The morning sun shining through the gap in the curtains brightly illuminated the room, and when I looked up, beyond my vision blurred with sleep-grease, there was my mother's face peeking through the opened door.
"Breakfast is in the fridge. For lunch, make something yourself and eat. Don't just play games all day just because you're off; you have entrance exams next year."
"Yeah, yeah..."
"Well, Mom's going now. I'm off."
"Take care."
When I just lifted my right hand and gave a wobbly wave, Mom pulled her face back. A few seconds later, I heard the sound of footsteps going down the stairs. The door opened, and the footsteps moved outside.
Looking at the clock, it was already past eight in the morning. Usually, it would be a time when I'd have to have left the house long ago to make it to school on time, but now there was no worry about being late. Since yesterday, school had been closed in the form of moving up spring break. Originally, spring break would start around March 20th, but the number on the daily tear-off calendar on the wall was March 16th.
Perhaps because I had been watching movies I'd rented from the video rental store until late yesterday, I couldn't stop yawning even after waking up. Being so happy about the lengthened spring break that I rented about ten Hollywood action movies all at once that day and got carried away thinking it would be an all-night movie marathon was a mistake. As expected, one shouldn't break their usual lifestyle rhythm.
Naturally, there was no one in the living room on the first floor. Mom had just left, and Dad had left the house for work while I was still sleeping. Recently, the government has been calling for people to refrain from non-essential outings, but almost no one follows such a thing. Dad is a busy section manager at a mid-sized company, and Mom is a part-time leader at a bank. They weren't in positions where they could take time off or have someone else fill in for them.
Just as Mom said, breakfast was in the fridge. I took out the fried egg and salad and carried them to the table. While spreading jam on raw bread and turning on the TV, the face of a man who had been appearing on every program lately was shown in a large close-up.
Was he a leading expert in infectious disease research? I didn't remember his name, but if I turned the channel, he was almost certainly appearing on some station's program, being asked for comments or providing explanations. Not just him, but now many virologists and medical institution personnel were being asked to appear on news and report programs. A female announcer stuck a flip with a world map drawn on it onto a board placed in the center of the studio. The world map drawn on that flip was stained red, centered around Africa.
"It seems that patients with Anti-Social Destructive Impulse Syndrome, which spread from Africa, have finally been confirmed in our neighbor, South Korea. Yamamoto-sensei, is there a possibility of this virus landing in Japan?"
Anti-Social Destructive Impulse Syndrome. That long name was the term used to describe the disease of the rioters that had been spreading from Africa for several days.
Humans infected with the virus lose their reason, increase in ferocity, and run wild. It seems some even kill people—.
I say "it seems" because almost nothing detailed is known about this disease yet. Because on the African continent, which is in the middle of civil wars in various places, it wasn't unusual for riots to be spreading until now.
It was about ten days ago that it became clear that the situation with those riots seemed different from before. And it was five days ago that it was understood to be caused by a virus. Because terrorist attacks and civil wars due to the rise of Islamic extremists were expanding in the Middle East, and riots due to clashes between immigrants and residents were expanding in Europe and America, it seemed difficult to distinguish whether the occurring riots were due to virus infection or not.
I once saw a video of assaults by people said to be infected on an internet video posting site. The video, which seemed to have been filmed with a smartphone, was extremely shaky, and on top of that, the image quality was rough, so I could only tell that a man was straddling a woman and beating her. Even so, several similar videos were posted on video sites, and it seems some even captured the moment a person was killed. I also searched out of morbid curiosity, but by then they had already been deleted.
In the end, even now, I remained without knowing what was happening in foreign countries. That would be the same for not just me, but Dad and Mom, and many people in this country. Just the other day, the government decided to strengthen quarantine at airports and seaports, refrain from large-scale gatherings, and close schools to prevent the spread of infection.
The final exams, which were clearly going to have terrible results, were not postponed. Instead, it was decided that school would be closed immediately after the testing period ended, and I was thus left with time on my hands.
"Isn't the government's measure this time a bit too exaggerated? Even during the swine flu or Ebola, after making a huge fuss, nothing much happened, right? Strengthening quarantine might be one thing, but restricting foreign flights or deploying the JSDF for public security might just incite public anxiety instead, don't you think?"
One of the commentators lined up in the studio said with an unpleasant face. The screen switched, and footage of JSDF vehicles departing from a garrison was shown. It was last night that the government decided on the JSDF's public security deployment.
From now on, they would apparently dispatch the JSDF to major metropolitan areas to maintain public security. In Europe and America, it seems even the military has been deployed against the riots of Anti-Social Destructive Impulse Syndrome patients, but they have yet to be suppressed. Strengthening of quarantine has already been carried out at major airports, and flights from regions where the virus infection is expanding were prohibited.
Seeing foreign countries where measures had fallen behind, the government's idea seemed to be to place the JSDF in various locations as a preventive measure to quickly suppress riots in the event they occurred, but many people opposed the first JSDF public security deployment since the war. The figures of people marching while holding placards saying "Resurrection of militarism!" around the Diet and JSDF bases were projected on the TV.
"I don't think so. Rather, I think we need to devise countermeasures with the momentum of closing the country."
"Closing the country?"
"Well, even if not to the point of closing the country, Japan is surrounded by the sea. If patients are to come, they have no choice but to use ships or planes. Due to the development of means of transportation, overseas travel has become possible to go anywhere immediately, but to put it the other way around, there is also the possibility that patients of infectious diseases could immediately spread to countries around the world at a time like this. In fact, the occurrence of riots has been confirmed even in Britain, which is separated from the continent by the sea. America has closed its border with Mexico, but riots in major metropolitan areas are still being reported. However, the possibility that these are riots caused by long-standing black discrimination issues or poverty cannot be ruled out."
"Is there a possibility that patients have already come to Japan?"
"I don't know, but the possibility is thought to be high. However, there are still many things unknown about this virus, and it's not even clear how long the incubation period is. If it's something that develops in a few hours, it will develop during travel by plane or ship, but conversely, if it takes several days to several weeks, the infection will expand throughout Japan before we know it. In Western cases, the incubation period doesn't seem to be that long."
"Then, what are the measures we can take?"
"First and foremost is to avoid panic, and next is to not go outside as much as possible. The government is also calling for people not to go out for non-essential reasons, and measures such as restricting gatherings and closing schools are being taken in various places. I would like the citizens to keep calm actions in mind."
Avoid non-essential outings, huh. That's an impossible story.
In fact, both Dad and Mom are out for work, and if I look out the window, the figures of salarymen heading for the station are on the road. Due to the expansion of riots in Europe and America, stock prices have plummeted, the yen is being bought and the euro sold, and exchange rate fluctuations in units of ten yen are occurring overnight. Dad's company has many transactions with foreign countries, and because of that, intense work had been continuing for several days. Even yesterday, he came home later than usual and left early today. It seems people who felt anxious are rushing to the bank where Mom works to withdraw their deposits.
And shopping must be done too. Even though it's a school closure for infection prevention, there are idiots playing around outside. I was also invited to play yesterday, but I declined to watch movies.
The TV changed to the weather corner before I knew it, and footage of current Shibuya was shown. The people walking the scramble crossing that represents Shibuya were as many as I always see on TV. Even if there are people who feel anxious, adults have no choice but to go out and work.
Well, it won't be a big deal anyway. Telling myself that, I set one of the DVDs I'd rented plenty of yesterday into the player. I'll be a high school senior in a few weeks anyway, and entrance exam study will start and I won't have time to rest. Before that, I must enjoy this holiday that has suddenly cropped up to the fullest.
After a few seconds of loading time, along with the rhythm of drums, the famous movie company logo shaped like the number 20 was displayed largely on the screen. Before long, when the main part of the movie started, the infectious disease spreading in Europe and the anxiety for the future had all blown out of my head.
I'm waiting for your opinions and impressions.