Yuki Kimura went to her office in the hospital; she works in one of the most prestigious hospitals in the city of Kyoto as a pathologist. Through much dedication she managed to become head of her department and have a great influence within the hospital.
As in every morning, arriving at her office with her coffee in hand, she sat near her desk and looked at her phone for the latest news of the day before getting down to work.
TODAY; 5/2/2042
“UN announced the end of most armed conflicts.”
Thanks to the collaboration between the more than 100 countries that form the UN, together with independent organizations, it has been possible to deal with armed conflicts between nations, after the announcement of their possession of artifacts considered as… (read more)
"Natural energy is a reality all over the world."
Due to the recent turnaround of the now public company Anderson Robotics, advances in the use of renewable and environmentally sound energy technologies have increased, thanks to the company's new president, Edwin T. Anderson, whose proposals… (read more)
“The Doomsday Clock has been set back two hours.”
The acclaimed symbolic work called "Doomsday Clock" has announced that its current position will be two hours before the apocalypse due to social, economic and political reforms in recent years. This represents a huge relief when compared to its announcement of only 20 seconds before the end of the world in the year 20…(read more)
Yuki felt a small drop of happiness; knowing that the world is at peace didn't bring extreme happiness like a gift or your personal achievements, it was more like a feeling of "everything will be okay" running through her body.
But work has to be done, so she turned off her phone, turned on her laptop, and started working; adding and crossing things off her calendar, making her appointments for today.
Although it was exhausting to spend all day on the go at the hospital, Yuki completed her work without wasting a single second, using each of the extra working hours productively, ending the day exhausted in her office, turning everything off before leaving.
"Enough for today", said Yuki in the solitude of his office.
While she was sorting her things, her phone vibrated. Yuki picked it up, turning it on the first thing she saw was the good news around the world that she saw out of the corner of her eye this morning, she didn't pay so much attention to them as she focused on the "new message" notification.
Tojo (東条): Hey hey Akitsu remember there's a meeting tonight, I spent yesterday afternoon drafting the guy's story for you (゜ε゜)
Yuki replied to his club partner that it wouldn't be long before he arrived at the mansion, so as soon as she turned off his phone, she went straight to his car.
On the way crossing the new streets of Kyoto, Yuki appreciated the new buildings that were constructed, the architecture was striking and replaced the worn-out buildings of yesteryears.
Yuki made a quick stop to see a new building raised by that famous robotics company, she didn't understand exactly how it worked, but that building absorbed sunlight to distribute it throughout the city and at night it used enough backup power to still function.
This world had changed a lot, wars stop, and every human being gives his grain of sand to improve this world; Yuki also didn't know why.
Maybe because the right people occupy the right positions, or because of a series of coincidences, or maybe they all woke up and realized the harm they were doing.
Peace finally came after that long storm, thought Yuki.
After a long journey, he was finally able to reach his destination, within the quiet, wooded mountains was the hut of a very old style, one that had almost disappeared in Japan. On the doors of its entrance were engraved the kanji 石榴倶楽部, had arrived at this week's meeting of the Sekiryu Club
It's been two years since she joined this club by taking the place of the former Akitsu. How she got here is a long story full of stress, fear, pressures; a story that Yuki doesn't want to remember. So once again, as it was already tradition, Yuki opened the door and Akitsu entered the hut, eager for tonight's pomegranate.
Akitsu was greeted by the host, who was an elderly man, the oldest of the group. As far as Akitsu knew, he held a political office, though she didn't know which one exactly, but in the times they have spoken, the old man always treated her politely and kindly. He held Rokkaku's position.
They both greeted each other with a bow and talked about how each other's day was. While they were talking, they went to the room reserved for the meetings of the club where the other members were.
Rokkaku sat at the head of the table, while Akitsu sat at the sides of the table next to Tojo. Tojo, a woman who was wearing normal office clothes and had a relaxed countenance, passed about three sheets of paper that had the full story of today's pomegranate to Akitsu. She thanked her, Akitsu always asked this favor from Tojo because of her talent in writing, she always managed to contrast that realistic touch that Akitsu liked in the stories.
The minutes passed, Rokkaku thanked the presence of all the guests and the food was served, while Akitsu ate she read the story of the person who was now on her plate. Ever since she was a child, she would read the books over and over again while eating dinner; it was her way of releasing stress, sometimes she said herself that she did it to get into character when a food scene was described in the book.
When she entered the Sekiryu Club, she never thought that reading a person's life story would fascinate her so much. Their mistakes, their victories, their learnings, and all that to end up on a plate in front of her.
Normally, Akitsu felt a mixture of respect and admiration added with motivation along with an inner peace, but this time something felt strange, it wasn't because of the story or that she felt sick somehow; it was something more like guilt, Why guilt? It's not that she felt bad for having eaten people before, it's more that she saw it as an honor.
Akitsu finished her plate and the ones after that, she tried to hide her confused expression, almost none of the other members noticed, except Rokkaku.
The meeting was over, it was already past midnight and the ten members of the club were leaving one by one. Akitsu stayed a while longer to help clean up with Rokkaku; this was normal since she felt she had to thank Rokkaku in some way for offering his old hut for the meetings.
They never talked about very relevant topics other than work and dinner that night, but this time Rokkaku wanted to ask her a question.
"Was there a problem with the food today?"
"Of course not, Mr. Rokkaku, besides the story I read was very touching," Akitsu smiled nervously.
"Don't worry Akitsu, it's not the first time I see that look in this club, may I know what ails you?"
"It's just that… I…" Akitsu didn't know what to answer. She thought about it all night, and she thought she had the answer to the cause of her doubts; but still the answer might disrespect everything the club and Rokkaku stand for, she wouldn't allow herself to say that.
Rokkaku for his part had an inkling of what was going on, so he invited her to the dining room, while he prepared some tea to talk more quietly.
Akitsu, already with tea in hand, tried to explain his thoughts in the most respectful way possible.
"I was thinking about something during dinner, at first I didn't know what that feeling was until I realized it was uncertainty, I don't know if you know about the good news that has happened all over the world."
Rokkaku nodded his head.
"Well, the thing is, I was watching a lot of that news this morning and at first it didn't mean anything, but when I tasted the first mouthful of that pomegranate, I just… Is it okay to do this?"
Rokkaku remained expressionless.
"I- I'm not saying we're the bad guys or…”
"Akitsu calm down, I'm not angry, it's normal to have those doubts," said Rokkaku trying to calm Akitsu down. "Please explain why you feel guilty."
Akitsu took a big sip of his tea.
"Everyone is doing their part to improve the world, this society is not the same as the one I was born into, and I am grateful for that, but, shouldn't the Sekiryu Club try to do the same? Stop eating people and concentrate each of us for our part in improving the world."
Rokkaku sighed and exhaled.
"You are not the first one to tell me these thoughts, the flourishing of this world is not something so easy to ignore."
"So, what do you think, should the Sekiryu Club still be around?" said Akitsu.
"The club is already older than any of its members, it has gone through many times and conflicts and changes, but it has always remained standing for only one reason, do you know what it is?"
Akitsu did not know how to answer.
"Calm, regardless of whether we eat human flesh, everyone has a way to calm their mind. Some with games, some with arts, some choose forbidden things or familiar things. The point is that everyone needs that soothing in their lives, and for ten people from Japan, this club is our soothing.
"I understand that, but still, we are not giving any benefit to the world."
"Akitsu, the soothing doesn’t have to give any benefit to others besides you; that would be more work, and even if that were so, all of us in the group in our work help the world. To each his own, you are a great doctor, I try to keep things calm in the politics, Tojo is always looking for ways to improve the work in his department.
Akitsu went blank, in his mind he was analyzing Rokkaku's words, looking for comfort as more doubts arose, his sentences seemed frenetic but with a calmness in his way of speaking that confused her.
"This also happens with foreigners and famous inventors, they all have their soothing, I'm sure some much more secret than this club and that's okay because in the end those soothing are key piece to create this world.
Rokkaku drank the last of what was left in his cup of tea, Akitsu was so focused on the speech that she didn't even notice when he had started drinking.
"Still, if this doesn't convince you…" Said Rokkaku regaining Akitsu's attention. "You can leave, no one is stopping you".
"Really?"
"Of course, I have already told my thoughts to many people with your doubts, some leave and look for a new soothing, others fail to find something that calms them like this and end up returning or being consumed by their work, but at the end of the day this is all under their own decision."
Akitsu wanted to say "yes" or "no", but she had a lump in his throat, he was trying to let it out, but he didn't even know what to say.
Rokkaku let out a dry laugh.
"Ah, I'm so sorry, I think I made you dizzy. You were looking for answers and I filled you with doubts," he let out a small dry laugh again.
At the end, and being already three in the morning, Akitsu decided to go back home, thanked Rokkaku for his time and then left the cabin.
Yuki got into her car tired, she thought of every night where she had come to this club, she thought of all the things she overcame thanks to this club.
In the end, she just sighed and started her car.
She just wanted to calm down.