The city was fully awake now.
vendors shouting over the clatter of carts, the sharp scent of fried dough from a food stall drifting on the breeze, a delivery bike weaving between cars with a basket full of steaming buns. Izuma and his friends moved through the crowd, their laughter rising above the noise, a small island of normalcy in the endless tide of people.
Takumi nudged Izuma as they waited at the curb, a mischievous glint in his eyes.
"Race you across, Kurushimi-kun," he said, bouncing his basketball from hand to hand.
Izuma grinned, feeling the familiar rush of adrenaline. He shifted his backpack higher on his shoulder, heart thumping in his chest.
"You're on," he replied, voice steady.
Hana watched them, her bike balanced between her knees, a smirk playing at the corners of her mouth.
Ren stood close, eyes flicking between the cars and his friends, always the cautious one.
They waited as the crosswalk signal flashed red, the city's rhythm pulsing around them. Izuma glanced at his friends, noticing the way Hana's fingers drummed on her handlebars, the way Ren's jaw tightened when a car passed too close. Even Takumi, always the joker, seemed quieter than usual, his gaze fixed on the far side of the street.
The crosswalk signal blinked green, the little figure marching forward. For a heartbeat, everything seemed to slow. Izuma stepped out first, the painted lines stretching before him like a promise. He felt the sun on his face, the rough texture of the crosswalk under his shoes, the cool air filling his lungs.
~ Vroom..... VROOOM !
A silver car shot around the corner, engine screaming, tires skidding as the driver fought for control. Izuma heard the screech and what came after—a sound so sharp it seemed to split the world in two.
~ BEEP.... BEEP..... BEEEEEEP !!
He turned, confusion and fear colliding in his chest, his mind struggling to process what was happening.
~ Skrrrrrt... !BOOOM!
The car slammed into him with a force so violent it felt like every bone in his body shattered simultaneously. Metal crushed flesh, the hood folding like paper as Izuma's body was flung upward, limbs twisting grotesquely. His backpack burst open, books and papers scattering like wounded birds. For a fleeting moment, he was weightless, spinning in a dizzying blur of color and sound.
Gravity reclaimed him with brutal finality. He crashed onto the asphalt, the impact a sickening sound of cracking bones and tearing flesh occurred. His head slammed against the pavement with a wet, hollow crack. Darkness flickered behind his eyelids, but when he forced them open, the world was drenched in a nightmare red.
Blood poured from his shattered skull, leaking into his eyes, flooding his vision with a thick, dark haze. The white of his eyes vanished beneath the spreading, pulsating red. Shapes twisted and warped, the world bleeding away into a living horror. His sight fractured into shards of scarlet, shadows writhing at the edges of his vision like sinister phantoms.
A metallic taste flooded his mouth, thick and coppery, mingling with the bitter bile rising in his throat. He tried to scream, but only a wet, gurgling rasp escaped, mingled with the sickening sound of blood bubbling and choking him.
Pain exploded through every nerve ending, a relentless, searing fire that made his eyes jerk uncontrollably. His body convulsed, muscles spasming beyond his control. The coarse grit of the pavement scraped mercilessly against his torn cheek, each breath a ragged gasp burning in his lungs.
distant voices reached him—Hana's scream, raw and desperate, tearing through the chaos.
"I-IZ..IZUMA! NO, nO, No!" Her voice cracked with anguish, each sob a knife twisting in his chest. Her frantic footsteps pounded closer, the clatter of her fallen bike echoing through the silent, blood filled street.
Takumi's basketball clattered to the ground, the sound hollow and surreal in the suffocating silence. His face was frozen in horror, eyes wide and unblinking.
Ren knelt beside him, trembling hands pressing a jacket soaked in blood against the wound. His voice cracked, desperate and broken. "IZUMA PLEASE, ST-STAY CALM, DONT DO ANY... L-LIKE UNNECESSARY MOVEMEN-"
Izuma's vision shattered further, the red haze thickening into a suffocating fog. Faces swam in and out of focus, morphing into grotesque masks of terror and helplessness. Voices warped into distant echoes, fading like whispers from a nightmare.
The blood in his eyes thickened, pooling and swirling, blotting out all light. Shapes dissolved into monstrous forms, the world becoming a living horror of crimson red and shadow monsters. He felt himself slipping, falling into an abyss of pain and darkness.
His eyelids fluttered weakly, the agony dulling but never ceasing. The last sensation was the cold, sticky blood pooling beneath him, spreading like a spreading stain of death, with his last gasp he tries to survive for even just a second longer, this attempt was however, useless...
One last thought raced through his mind.
"I...I WANT...I WANT TO LIVE...."
that however wasn't his decision to make.
Then, without a moment's notice.
Everything fell silent...