Believe it or not, there are only two things that are true in this world.
One is birth.
It's the start of everything.
A scream. A breath. A body that doesn't know the world, yet is forced to live in it.
From that moment on, we begin to write a story we never agreed to start.
And the second truth—
Is death.
The end of that story.
No matter how long we delay it, outrun it, deny it—death always finds its way.
Everything in between is uncertain.
Love, happiness, suffering, even the meaning of life.
They shift, evolve, vanish.
But birth and death? They don't lie.
They are the only constants.
The strange thing is, most people spend their entire lives chasing meaning in the middle, pretending the end doesn't exist.
Some say ignorance is a bliss.
Not knowing when you are about to die gives you the freedom to live your life as you prefer.
Though some might disagree saying that if you know when you are going to die, you can do things you wouldn't have done usually to die without any regrets.
Both the arguments are equally prudent and can't outdo each other, NORMALLY.
Well, as for me....
"Good morning everyone. We have a transfer student joining us today."
The announcement from the homeroom teacher of class 1B made a buzz around the classroom.
Not because transfer students was new to them.
But, they were surprised at the fact that it was an odd time of the academic year to transfer.
Usually, students transfer at the starting of a new academic year to be able to cope up with the curriculum from the start.
But the students of first year had their final exams just one month away.
The teacher, a middle aged lean man, probably in his mid 30s, was totally nonchalant about it though.
"Enter."
He instructed, as a male student standing just outside the classroom entered.
A lean figure, average height, shoulders shrugged and slightly unattended hair, entered the class.
His appearance was not that unique because you can always find 5 to 6 students, with the same style of dressing in each year of any high school in Tokyo.
He stood at the podium, next to the teacher and looked at the classroom with eyes that seemed to be uninterested of n anything.
As the teacher gave a light pat on his shoulder, he gave a slight nod, to affirm his sign to introduce himself.
The students in the class also were not much interested in his introduction after they saw his appearance too.
"....My name is Yuuya Kasuragi..."
That was all he said.
The teacher waited for him to say anything else, but realising that his introduction was over, he told him where his seat was located.
"Well then, sit at the left corner at the back near the door. A seat has been arranged for you."
Left corner near the back door, exactly opposite to the window seat.
He walked calmly and took the seat assigned to him.
Then the entire class focussed on the subject their homeroom teacher was teaching.
Of course they were.
Not only because the final exams were coming up in just one month.
This school of Tokyo is a prep high school.
Hence, results are expected from its students.
So, there is a long standing rule of this school that if any student in the class scores below 60 percentage of total score in their final exam, the entire class would be held back a year.
That's also one of the reasons why students were not much thrilled to see a transfer student just one month away from final exams.
The transfer exam isn't that easy to clear, so the transfer student must have been smart enough to clear it.
But the fact that he has to cover up everything according to their standard curriculum in just one month, which took them one whole year to complete, also remains.
It wouldn't be a stretch to say that some of the students might really hate the idea of his transfer.
Because, if he can't score enough, then the whole class would have to repeat a year, which was yet to happen in the entire history of this school.
Well, the students would definitely protest, and demand a slight change of rules.
As the homeroom teacher's class ended and he started to leave, the class representative a blonde haired girl, with perfectly proportionate figure stood up.
"Excuse me, Okabe-sensei."
Shinji Okabe, the homeroom teacher of class 1 B turned towards her, with a knowing expression.
"What is it, Fujiwara?"
"Um, exams are just around the corner, and getting a transfer student at this point...what should we do about The Rule?", she asked.
"What do you mean by what should we do about The Rule?", the teacher asked.
"I mean, it would be unreasonable tactics expect Kasuragi kun to cover everything up and appear on the exam in just one month, don't you think?"
It was completely reasonable, and her classmates followed her suit in agreement.
"Oh, about that, I have already talked with the principal about it, and he said there wouldn't be any revision of rules at all."
"Whaaaaaaaaaaaat?~", everyone shouted as the class became chaos filled.
***
Yes, the transfer student is me.
I was also not thrilled about this transfer, but it was unavoidable due to various reasons.
I had already expected backlash from my classmates, but that doesn't concern me anymore.
More like nothing really concerns me anymore since that incident.
Classes continued without much happening, except the occasional stares from my classmates filled with a mix of various emotions.
But as the lunch break started, a collective gasp was heard among them, as a rumor seemed to have spread like wildfire during this short period of time.
It was spot on, as I discovered when someone shouted 'Murderer' in my direction during the lunch break.
The rumor went like this:
Apparently, the transfer student was involved in a murder as he had been taken by police and the school he was attending had expelled him after knowing about the incident.
I felt a bit nauseous and stepped out of the classroom to find an isolated space, and ended up inside a bathroom.
It wasn't unexpected.
But they were too blatant, showing their hostility towards me, so I can imagine how would the rest of my high school life would be like.
I washed my face and looked at the mirror.
There was the familiar holographic screen in front of a corner of my eyes.
It showed nothing but a timer countdown.
648::40::02
648::40::01
648::40::00
648::39::59
.
.
.
Second by second the timer was counting down.
What is this you might ask?
Well, it would be better to say it rulewise.
So, Rule No 1 of DEATHSENSE :=>
(The Deathsense activates randomly during sleep.)
The user will dream of their own death with full sensory details: exact time, place, cause, and condition, along with a timer of days remaining on a holographic screen only visible to the user during their conscious state.
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Author's Note:
If you like the concept, please comment down and add it to your library.
Next chapter : DeathSense
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