Prologue

"I'm a normal guy, I never think I'm not… no… that's not true.

I think very often that I am not a normal guy, it is others who put it in my head, they treat me differently ... I am the emblem of diversity ... for others and I never knew why ... but sometimes things change, looking only ahead ... "

I was thinking: "I am at dusk, after a long walk, as usual, I am returning home. Sometimes I thought it was stupid but I always have a pedometer with me, I like to know how many steps I can take, how far I can go, even without having a goal. My father gave it to me on my 13th birthday and I started using it a year later, the day before my 14th birthday ... on that day my father died in a car accident.

My schoolmates find it odd that a 16-year-old boy is constantly looking at a "stupid" pedometer ... but to me it isn't. It's the only thing that gives me security, knowing what I can do, how far I can go. There is a name written on the pedometer. Satsu Yokinawa, naturally that of its owner, which would be me. I've never looked for trouble, so why does everyone I know avoid me? Of course, I don't go out much and I'm a bit introverted, which is why I could be considered a hikikomori, that is, a person who is always locked up at home and does not have a social life, but when schoolmates invite me to go out, even if with a bit of nervousness, especially if I am in contact with girls, I do it, I don't care what they think of me, I try to never know, otherwise I should change myself. "

"Ahhhh, another theft?" I heard police sirens in the background and a shot in the distance.

I got a slight headache and put my hand on my forehead. As soon as I did, my mind was induced to a kind of forced thinking. I saw everything black and only a low river just ahead of me was recognizable. After mirroring myself in it, I saw various blurry images appear like shards of glass. Most of these were dark or represented strange dark purple shapes. A war, death after death. Blood. Ice that froze everything. Fire that burned everything. A figure with horns and red eyes. Something bright, very bright. Some kind of ... crystal. Then, a strange column ... of darkness. It looked like the apocalypse.

I went back to reality as if nothing had happened, perhaps because my brain had not readily noticed what happened or I didn't believe it was simply real.

"I should get away from this road, it could be dangerous." I said in a low voice.

Not even time to finish the sentence and they heard fast footsteps getting closer and closer. A guy and a policeman come out of a street running.

"What the ..." I said surprised.

"Stop!" the policeman yells at the alleged thief.

"What should I do, I can't move ..."

The policeman took the gun, aimed and fired but the thief missed. I was on the ground but felt no pain. I could see the sky, red with fuchsia streaks. I brought my wrist to my face, discovering that the bullet had lodged in the pedometer.

"Damn."

I didn't hear anything anymore. I got up, but ...

"What the hell is going on? Why is everything stopped? "

I saw the thief in front of me and the policeman with the gun pointed, all still. I had an expression that showed my confusion perfectly well. I took a step forward, trying to get out of my paralysis, slowly.

From that moment on, it would be worth taking every step, counting every step.