Madoka groggily woke up to the sound of his alarm going off. His body ached, feeling like it was being consumed by invisible flames. Worst of all, he was exhausted.
He rubbed the sleep from his eyes as he got out of bed. Looking around as the strange feeling of Jamais vu struck him.
Looking at his alarm clock he saw that it said it was Thursday. His eyes then drifted to his desk, which was covered with his school text books, and his laptop which remained opened to a page about brain damage for a science report he was in the process of doing. Nothing out of place there.
Once he was satisfied that nothing was out of place. He grabbed his phone from his bedroom. Checking to see if he had gotten any new messages, seven new messages sat on his notification bar.
But when he opened the app to see what he had received. Seeing that they were yet again blank messages. From an unknown number. A total of seven.
Strange, he could've sworn he had his anti-spam settings on.
"Madoka! Breakfast is ready! Come eat it before you're late for-!" The voice of his sister rang out from outside of his room. Her voice drew him away from his phone. Waiting for his sister to finish what she was saying. But she never did.
Frowning. He opened the door looking down the hall. Noticing that the power was off. Normally at least a hall light would be on during this time of the day.
"Sis! The power seems to be out!" Madoka called out from down the hall. Only to be met by silence.
Slowly. He made his way down the hall, deeper into the darkness. Away from the light.
"Naomi!" Madoka called out once he got closer to the top of the stares. Staring down into the black abyss. Feeling a certain sense of dread beginning to blossom in his chest.
Then the power turned on. Temporarily blinding him as the lights assaulted his eyes.
"Sorry! I was figuring out which switch I tripped on the circuit breaker!" Naomi's voice called out from downstairs.
Taking a calming breath. He waited from the dread-like feeling to melt away before calling out to his sister.
"I'll be right down!" Madoka called out. Going back to his room to get ready for the day ahead of him.
Once he was bathed and dressed for the day, he made his way to the kitchen. Where a plate had already been prepared for him. Staring down at it, he muttered a small thanks under his breath before digging in.
After he finished eating, Madoka had just finished putting the dishes away when Naomi entered the room in a hurry.
"Running late?" Madoka asked his sister who was quickly digging through the junk drawer like she had misplaced something.
"Yeah! I gotta get to the market, they have a special edition Sailor Moon bento that I want to try to get!" She said with a small grin on her face. "I think imma get lucky this time."
"If you say so." Madoka said with a shrug, grabbing his bag following his sister out of the apartment. Going about his normal everyday life. Attending the same stressful classes, dealing with Yuichi's antics, and coming home to deal with his sister's beer fueled rants about the religious undertones of Evangelion. Everything was as it should be. Repeating in a cyclical cycle, with the only difference being the number of messages he had in the morning. Was decreasing.
Walking through the streets with Yuichi. Madoka yawned as the day's lectures ran wild in his head, all crammed inside haphazardly fighting to be remembered.
"So. How many energy drinks do you think we'd need to study for the test?" Yuichi asked in a sing songy voice.
"We shouldn't need much, you've been doing the homework and studying right?" Madoka said with his arms behind his back.
"Not as much as I should've! I was too busy playing video games." Yuichi sighed. "Oh if only life were a video game, then I could cheat and save scum my way to straight A's"
"That'd require more effort than just studying. Wouldn't it?" Madoka asked. Watching as Yuichi slowed, thinking about what was just said.
"I hate you." Yuichi sighed in defeat.
"Don't worry man, I'll help you study." Madoka said, patting Yuichi on the back. "Buuut, you have to get me some Soba."
"I knew there was going to be strings attached!" Yuichi yelled in protest, livelier than he had been before.
"You'll study on your own then?"
"If it means not having to fork over soba to you. Yeah!"
Madoka sighed, shaking his head in defeat. He really didn't have the energy for this, especially when he had such an important test coming up. But he was only hanging out with Yuichi at this point, mainly at his sister's request.
"If you don't take time for fun, you'll become burned out for sure!" She had said the night prior when Yuichi had asked to hang out.
"But seriously man, are you good? You've seemed out of it for a few days." Yuichi asked suddenly. Catching Madoka off guard with the question.
"I haven't been sleeping well." Madoka admitted. With each day that passed, the harder it had been to fall asleep and to stay asleep.
"The stress getting to you too man? These teachers have just been brutal making each test harder and harder. They really need to take it easy on us." Yuichi said tangentially.
"Yeah, they have been." Madoka agreed. Rubbing his face as he felt another wave of exhaustion wash through his body. Making his movements feel even more sluggish. It was aggravating each time he moved his legs and arms, with each movement having about a second delay. Or at least that was how it seemed. "I think I may need to head home."
"As much as I hate to agree, I have to agree." Yuichi said, patting Madoka gently on the shoulder. "We can split up at the fork if you want."
"Yeah. That sounds like a good idea." Madoka said, nodding slowly. Beginning to go down the path that would lead Madoka home.
As he walked through the sparsely populated streets, which was an unusual sight. It was almost like the world around him was slowing down. As if the earth was continuing to rotate, and move around the sun. While what remained on the surface seemed to stand still, or lag a few seconds behind.
Even the birds that were highly active during this time of day were unusually quiet, and the further he walked down the street. The more it seemed to stretch on and on.
Rubbing his eyes, Madoka blinked several times to see if his eyes were playing tricks on him. It was after he did that, that he noticed he was at a shrine.
He stared at the wooden beams, and the stone steps that led up to the shrine that was easily a couple hundred years old. At least, that's how old he remembered it being. He had been a child when he was told the age of the shrine during a golden week some years ago.
Maybe all of the weird things he had been experiencing today was due to a spiteful deity, or some yokai. Or maybe it was his mind telling him that he needed to take some time from school. Whatever it was, he knew deep down that paying his respects to the shrines deity would help alleviate some of whatever was plaguing him. Or at least, that was his hope.
Walking up the steps Madoka was surprised to see that there was someone else by the main building. From the looks of it, it was a girl who went to his school as well. The only other person he had seen so far today.