[10:00 O’clock. 21st November, 2109.]

  With her hand resting on her knees, Yamada was struggling to catch her breath. Her shinai lay next to her, she was feeling the burn in her muscles after a long sparring session with her friend Goro. Goro seated behind her was also having trouble breathing. “That session was good.” He said, wiping the sweat from his forehead with his sleeve. “You’ve improved a lot lately.

  At the compliment, Yamada grinned. “Thanks. I’ve been practicing a lot lately.” She said, her hand going to her hair tying it in a bun, her long purple hair now resting on the back of her head.

  Yamada looked around the kendo training grounds, she couldn’t help but feel depressed. In Japan, Kendo was once a popular sport, but with time it was becoming rarer and rarer to find schools teaching it. Many of the older ones had shut down, leaving only a handful remaining.

  Despite this, there was still a small but dedicated student body that came to train at this particular school. Yamada and Goro were two of the more serious students, both having been practicing kendo for over 5 years now, but given just 2-3 years more and this dojo was about to be shut down too. The dojo was in a rather rough state. The walls were bare and the paint was chipping away, revealing the crumbling plaster underneath. The mats on the floor were worn out and frayed at the edges,.and the shinai lining the walls were old and splintering. There was a strong smell of perspiration and old sweat, and the windows were dirty and in dire need of cleaning.

  “You know, it’s really sad to see how much kendo is struggling nowadays.” Goro said, as he picked up his shinai and began inspecting it for any damage.

  “Yeah, I know. It’s a shame, because kendo is such a beautiful sport. But I guess people just don’t have the time or the interest in it anymore.”

  “It’s understandable though. With all the new technology and distractions people have nowadays, they just don’t have the attention span for something like kendo.” Goro said, as he replaced his shinai back in its rack.

  “Even I sometimes don’t feel like coming to train”

  “I know what you mean. There are definitely days when I just want to stay home and binge watch a show instead of coming here to train...speaking about training, let’s have one more match before we call this a day.”

  “You really can’t get enough, can you?”

  He picked up his shinai again. “Alright, one more match it is. But I’m warning you, I won’t go easy on you this time.”

  Yamada picking up her own shinai. “I wouldn’t have it any other way.” She said as she got into her stance, ready for the match to begin.

  They both stood there for a moment, each sizing up the other. Then, without warning, Goro charged forward. They had been doing this so many times that their style had become rather similar, Goro mostly relying on speed and agility while Yamada was more defensive with the use of tricks and feints.

  He swung his shinai at her.

  Yamada ducked under the attack. She darted to the side, bringing her own shinai up to block Goro’s next swing.

  The two of them fought back and forth, each trying to gain the upper hand but then something happened.

  A sudden burst of pain shot through her head, making her stumbled and her vision blurred and black dots began to dance across her field of vision.

  Yamada stumbled, her foot caught on the edge of the mat. She lost her balance and fell, her shinai slipping from her grasp. Goro could see an opportunity, so he raised his shinai, ready to strike.

  But just before he could swing down on her, Yamada raised her hand, signalling for him to stop. “Time out!” She called out, still trying to catch her breath as her vision slowly returned to normal.

  Goro paused, confusion on his face as he lowered his shinai. “Are you okay?”

  Yamada sat up, her hand still on her head. “Yeah, I’m fine. Just got a sudden headache.” She said, trying to brush it off.”It’s nothing serious.”

  Goro looked unconvinced. “Are you sure? You don’t look fine. Maybe we should stop for today.”

  Yamada waved him off. “No, I’m fine. Really. Let’s just finish this match. I don’t want to end it on a loss.”

  Goro looked even more concerned. “Yamada, seriously, maybe it’s bett—”

  Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  But Yamada cut him off. “I’m fine. I can keep going.” She insisted, even though it was clear that she was not fine. “fine, whatever you say.”

  Yamada stood up again, suddenly she was feeling much better. Better than she had ever felt before. Much stronger too. Her senses seemed sharper, more precise. She could hear the beat of Goro’s heart, she could smell the sweat on his body, she could see every pore on his face.

  She picked up her shinai, holding it with a new found confidence. “Okay, let’s go again.” She said, her eyes fixed on Goro.

  “Ready.”

  And with that they clashed once more.

  This time, something was different though. Yamada’s movements were even more fluid and graceful than before, her shinai moving almost on its own, perfectly blocking Goro’s every swing and then she swing an attack on Goro, it hit his hand. His bone broke.

  Goro let out a cry of pain as his shinai fell to the ground, and he clutched his hand, which was now bent at an awkward angle.

  “Goro!” Yamada dropped her shinai and rushed over to him. How did his hand break..was she that strong?

  Goro’s face was contorted in pain, his eyes squeezed shut. “My hand...I think you broke my hand.” He said through clenched teeth.

  She didn’t know what to do, she wasn’t this strong nor was goro very weak physically, then how?

  “What? No, I didn’t mean to...I don’t know what happened.” She said, her hand hovering over his injured hand, not wanting to touch it and cause him more pain and then and she felt a wave of nausea come over her.

  Suddenly Yamada stumbled and fell to the ground. She had passed out.

  ————————————————————

  An hour later, Yamada sat up, a little dazed and confused as she looked around. Her head still ached a little, and she tried to piece together what had happened. Then her eyes fell on Sachiko, who was sitting on the couch, watching TV and eating some neutri-gel.

  “Sachi...what happened?” She asked, her voice still a little groggy. “How did I get here?”

  “You passed out at the dojo. Goro called me and I came to pick you up.”

  “I....passed out?” Yamada tried to remember what had happened. All she could remember was sparring with Goro, and then everything went blank.

  “Yeah, you just collapsed suddenly. Goro said you guys were sparring and then suddenly you fell and hit your head on the mat. You were unconscious for a few minutes, but then you woke up and immediately passed out again. Goro brought you here and then left to go to the hospital, he had a broken hand.” Sachiko explained, her gaze still fixed on the tv.

  Yamada’s eyes widened in shock. She didn’t remember anything about falling or hitting her head. But that still didn’t explain her suddenly unconsciousness. “How long was I out for?”

  “You were unconscious for about an hour.” Sachiko said, as she slurped some of her neutri-gel. “But don’t worry, I checked on you every 10 minutes. You seemed fine, just a little out of it.”

  “That’s good I guess,” Yamada said.

  She stood up, her legs feeling a little shaky. “I should probably call Goro and see how he’s doing.”

  “your wish,” she said.

  Yamada sighed, glancing over at Sachiko. Yamada felt a pang of sympathy as she looked at Sachiko. She had gone through Sachiko’s neurochip and found out about the illegal activities and murders that Sachiko had been involved in, but Yamada also knew that Sachiko was a victim of her circumstances. Sachiko had been through a lot, and she had only done what she felt she needed to in order to survive.

  It was also true that her entire team had been killed by someone, there weren’t any videos or photos on the neurochip to confirm it but it was true.

  Yamada’ had attempt to look into the details of Sachiko’s team’s death had hit a dead end. She had come across information suggesting that the case had been closed quickly and quietly by a few powerful people from the Kusonoki conglomerate. It was difficult to dig any deeper into the matter, as the conglomerate had significant influence and control over the government and the media.

  Despite her best effort, it seemed that the truth about Sachiko’s team’s death was being kept under wraps.

  Sachiko finished her neutri-gel, she placed it on the nearby table. She then spoke.

  “I don’t like neutri-gel.”

  Yamada looked at her, surprised by her sudden statement. “You don’t? I thought you loved that stuff.”

  Sachiko shook her head. “Not anymore. It tastes stale and flavourless. It used to be better.”

  Yamada nodded. She had noticed that neutri-gel had been declining in quality lately, becoming cheaper but also more tasteless.

  Yamada couldn’t help but laugh a little at her expression. “Maybe you’ve just been eating too much of it. You should try something else for a change, want some of my protein bars? They’re made from ground up insects, maybe you’ll like them.”

  Sachiko made a face of disgust. “Ew, no thanks. I’d rather eat plain cardboard than those bug bars.”

  “Suit yourself. But you’re missing out. They’re actually pretty good once you get used to the texture.”

  Sachiko made a retching sound. “Please, I’d rather eat dirt than those things. Why do you even eat them anyway?”

  “Because they’re packed with protein and nutrition. I need to keep my body in top shape also they’re pretty cheap,” she said, flexing her arm.

  “You’re so weird.” Sachiko said, rolling her eyes at Yamada’s flexing.

  Suddenly, the sound of the door automatically locking broke the silence of the room. Yamada and Sachiko both looked towards the door, their eyes widening in surprise as they noticed the normal light above the door had been replaced by a red one.

  “That’s strange,” yamada said, as she stood up. “Why is the lockdown light flashing?”

  Sachiko also looked towards the door, confused. “I don’t know. I don’t remember the building announcing a lockdown.” She stood up as well and moved over to the door, trying to open it, but it was locked tight.

  Yamada joined Sachiko by the door, also trying to open it. “There’s no way this is a drill, is it?”

  She tried to think of any reason why the building would be in lockdown mode.

  “I don’t think so,” Sachiko said ,her eyes darting around the room. “I didn’t hear any alarms or announcements beforehand. Let me check the news.”

  Sachiko went over to the TV and turned it on, switching to the news channel. The headline on the screen read: “Breaking News: A unknown diseases is spreading all over Japan, Emergency lockdown in all cities and towns in Japan.”

  “What the hell..”