“Nii-chan? You ok?” said a very familiar voice snapping me out of my daze

“Yuito?”

“Akkun, you made sure we packed up everything right? We have a long drive home so make sure you don’t get anything mixed up with Junichi and Hayato-kun” said…Mom?

“Uh…yeah” I muttered in visible confusion

“You look exhausted…You know what? I’ll do the driving this time so you can get some time to relax in the back. Why don’t you get in the car? I’m sure some time with Tada-kun would cheer you up”

“Huh?!”

I get into the right backseat of my car only to find him waiting there on the opposite side

“Oh, ho, ho….Misuzu-san in the driver’s seat this time? Good to know I don’t have to be afraid from my life on the trip for once” he said

I couldn’t even look him in the face and was looking down, as I was conflicted on what was real and what was not. Taking note of this, he leaned into my line of sight.

“Akio? What’s up? The Kanie’s trauma catching up to you?” he said

I tried to answer as shorting as possible

“Nah, just the fatigue catching up” I said softly

“I hear that, especially with Yuito and the Kanie demons making our lives much harder. Well, if you need anything, I’m right here”

Moments after, Mom took reigns of my car with Yuito calling shotgun

“Alright boys, quite a way to go before we are back home, just let me know if you want me to make a stop”

He raised his hand at the back in excitement

“Oh, oh, Misuzu-san. Could we stop by a ramen joint before we head back?”

“Ramen? Didn’t you boys have way too much to eat already?” she asked turning back towards us

“Yeah, but we never had ramen in Shizuoka, and I’m sure it would wake Akio up too”

“Hmm…alright then” she said while turning back towards the road and readying the car.

I was still not myself as deep down I know something is not right here

The trip back started, and his attention was shifted towards the ones in front

“Yuito, you are going to have a lot to answer for when we get back home for all your stunts with Mai and Meguru-chan” he said while grabbing my brother’s head from the back seat and dragging his knuckles on his head

“Tada-nii…I give up…I give up” Yuito said while clearly enjoying the moment

“Boys, please…I’m driving here. Don’t make too much of a fuss till we stop”

They both agreed reluctantly

This was wrong. There is something off here, but I can’t put my finger on what it is. But that feeling is strong enough to not allow me to enjoy the trip back. And just seconds later, my suspicions were proven right

I instinctively stretched out my left arm to catch his blade right before he stabbed into the seat and I could tell from his surprised reaction, he wasn’t expecting it.

“I’m done with you trying to torment me. I am done….You hear me?” I said sternly while making eye-contact with him”

I reached for my blade and tried to finish what I couldn’t before, but I got stopped in my tracks by a sharp pain in my head that distorted my vision. I fell onto the ground clutching my head. It was like someone changed the channel into one filled with static on a vintage TV but in my brain. The scenario of our journey back from Shizuoka was gone, and what I was witnessing right now was a haunting screech in my head and where all the colors were shifting moment after moment. I was talked to by a voice, it was very familiar, but it was not his

“To think you figured it out. Guess your former reputation was not for show after all. But where did that lead you in the end” it said

I try to put my words together through all the pain and distortion “Show yourself…. you coward!”

“Hmph….In due time. Breaking you will prove…very enjoyable”

And just after he said that my vision turned black and it was as if I was falling. I couldn’t see or feel anything. All I could was hear his final words

“Will you survive till our next meeting? How many more will be dead by then? I’ll be with you every step of the way…..Calamity”

My darkened vision started to turn into a blur and I was starting to recover to my senses slowly. Only for a faint voice to call out to me.

“Nakamura-san….Nakamura-san” a voice said while lightly tapping on my shoulder

I immediately came to my senses and concluded that I had dozed off on the job…. Here’s hoping I wasn’t getting fired

“Aya-san? Oh…. Thanks for waking me up, didn’t mean to take a power nap there” I said following up with a nervous chuckle.

“You don’t have to feel bad. You were up all day…..I was wondering if you needed any help” She asked with a gentle tone

“Nah, it’s fine…I’m pretty much used to this. I don’t recommend leaving the house though, I might be on watch but even I can’t be ready for everything” I replied

“You’ve done this a lot? Protecting people I mean” She asked while sitting on the crate in front of me

I chuckled and exchanged a glance “Promise you won’t freak out? This is my first time even doing a job in here, never mind protecting someone”

“That’s hard to believe, as much as I have seen you work, you look like you know what you are doing. And Tada-chan called you a legend so I assumed you knew him back in the real world as well”

I told myself that I wasn’t going to get personal with them, but I guess I have to at this point.

“Yesterday was the first time we met actually…And as for how he knows me, I used to be a part of one of the top teams in CG’s professional competition”

“CG?” she asked

“It’s short for Cyber Grounds…it’s the name of the game we are in”

“Oh…I see” she said with a downtrodden voice as if her confidence in me dropped

The fact that she didn’t know what CG meant means that she wasn’t someone who had played the game as it was called that even by the most casual of players. It was a given she would be familiar with its full name as that is what it is advertised as and considering how much of a global phenomenon it had become in the past 10 years. Right before everything happened, if one hadn’t heard of the name CyberGrounds, it would be fair to assume that they weren’t living on the same planet as everyone else.

“Aya-san, if you are worried about me not being able to keep ya’ll safe, I’ll have you know that I-” Just before I reassured her, she cut me of loudly

“It’s not that Nakamura-san, it’s just that…. I’m confused and afraid and I don’t know what to do. I didn’t want this. I don’t mind if I die but I can’t live with myself if I lose Tada-chan or Yuri…. Our youngest, Hachi, he didn’t deserve what happened to him. He just went out of sight for a moment just to get his ball and he was murdered in cold blood…. I don’t even know why Tsuneo-san would even do that”

That caught my attention immediately as I remembered a crucial detail about this whole thing

“I was told that he was a friend of yours?” I asked her looking straight at her

“Tsuneo-san was one of my oldest friends, he was a part of our group. Till he murdered Hachi in cold blood. I don’t even know why, and you have no idea how frustrating that is.” She said, squeezing her hands while tears were leaving her eyes and hitting her lap.

“Actually Aya-san, I know exactly how you feel,” I told myself. The confusion, the anger, the regret, the overwhelming sense of sorrow but the worst of it all is that indescribable gnawing in the back of your head that tries to work out what, where and when it all went wrong. I lived through exactly that and those are things that I will never forget.

“What am I even doing, we are already scared and depressed as it is, and I don’t want to bring it down even more. I’ll be indoors if you need anything Nakamura-san” she said before getting up to leave. But I had one more thing in mind that was bothering me

“Aya-san….One more thing I want to ask. Why do you call him Tada-chan? I thought that was his last name.”

“Oh….I was married before. But he was taken away from me a week after….mugging gone wrong. I kept his last name as a memory. I never changed it from Aya Fujisaki, if you were wondering” She said and continued her way indoors

Keeping a name for a memory of a one who had passed. The more I talk to them, the more I find myself alike them. Aya-san disappeared into the building, leaving me to take care of what I initially thought was a problem. I waited for a few seconds until she was far into the building and acted

“If you are done listening in, why don’t you show yourself already?” I said audibly to the figure hiding around the corner across the building.

You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

While I was expecting an attack, but one almost half my height slowly inched himself around the corner.

“Yuri-kun? I thought you were in bed”

He still slowly moved towards me looking down. He wanted to tell me something but was constantly tripping over his words. I didn’t force him as I personally know how that feels, but I didn’t want him sticking around where he could get easily shot for taking him time to find the right words

“You might want to head inside; your mom would be worried sick if she sees the room empty” I said while walking towards the building. But from how desperate he was to get my attention, I assumed that he wanted to talk to me alone. He called out to me but was struck in anxiety moments after.

I walked up to him and squatted down so he would feel less threatened. “Hm? What’s up?” I said while putting up a cheery face. “Take your time, I’ll be here” I said to reassure him and to lower his tension

The logical thinker in me told me to not keep him exposed for any longer, but my conscience was saying otherwise. The fact that he was fighting his fears just to talk to me was a fight that I wanted to help him to win, so I waited there, patiently…. And finally, he did it

“Nii-san, c-could you help me…to s-sneak out and…v-visit my brother’s grave” he said avoiding making eye contact with me

“Sneak out? Yuri-kun I won’t be a part of that, if anything happens to you-”

“Please, Nii-san…. Hachi was with me moments before he passed. I didn’t even get to see him….Dad just told me what happened and I had to accept it. I just want to see him, just a few minutes and that’s all I need. I’ll even listen to every word you say ” He looked at me moments afterwards and had a terrified look on his face. He was afraid that I would rat him out to Aya-san. From what I’ve seen so far, he is always timid, even around his parents, but him not stumbling over his words right now shows how badly he wanted this… a part of me understood what he felt.

This was risky for me to even consider, he’s just a kid without any experience to defend himself, and if anything was to happen to him under my watch, not only will I not be able to look Aya and Tadano-san in the face, but it would be another failure that I wouldn’t be able to live with….But how would I feel if it was me who needed help to see my family’s grave?

“How far is it?” I asked, looking around. As far as I’m aware, Tadano-san will not return till the end of the day, and Aya-san will be busy with her own chores inside.

“It’s a twenty-minute walk north. Right edge of that large barrier over there” he said, pointing at the most vibrant sight for all who live in the upper sector, the gates to the silver layer. Even being this far from the walls, the sights of the north side were completely overshadowed by its massive presence. A twenty-minute walk on the main street is the same as asking to be attacked, and I didn’t have the option to lead him from high, as the chance of him slipping and falling was high. And right now, I could only think of one solution for this.

“Okay, so here are the rules, we’ll get there in ten, and you’ll have fifteen minutes with your brother. Once we are there, you do not lose sight of me. You try anything funny; I drag you back here and tell your mom about this. You understand me?” I asked and he responded with a very noticeable nod.

“So, hop on my back” my suggestion caught Yuri off guard, and he appeared confused

“You want fifteen minutes with your brother, this is the fastest and safest way….Well come on, your minutes are burning” And in an instance, Yuri got on my back

“Now, hold on tight, and let me know if I have to turn somewhere”

He does exactly that and holds on. I carefully ascend to the roof and traverse the roof, sticking to the innermost edges of the triangular roofs to stay out of sight from the people below on the main street. Yuri weighed barely anything, and it was much easier than the time I had to make a mad dash for it back on my last day in the lower sector. Beating my own estimated time, we made it to what appeared to be a cemetery. The walls were high but not as high as the walls leading to the silver barrier, the gates were semi-open, and we went inside. The moment we entered, a console popped up for both me and Yuri, where we could search for who we were looking for, and it would guide us to them with what looked like a flashlight, pointing towards the direction where they lay in rest. While Yuri jumped the gun and started going ahead, I went ahead and searched the names of the ones who I had lost, and as expected, there weren’t any matches. But what I didn’t notice, being distracted by the console, was everything around me.

In common knowledge, a cemetery is where the dead are buried. But here, it seems that proves different. Countless bodies of people, lined up in the straight pose. But what was the most noticeable was how each body had a flower growing out of them, it looked like a large violet, but it was red. Each flower varied in size and in length on each body. Some were bright red but small and had a short stem, while others were larger, darker coloured and longer stemmed. The longer stemmed flowers seemed to be on decomposing bodies, so it was fair to assume it symbolizes how long it had been without them.

Yuri seemed to be more unfazed than me in this labyrinth of remembrance and mourning. I followed him through the maze of flowers to whom he wanted to see. The moment I lined up alongside Yuri, the words ‘Hachimaru Tadano’ appeared in front of my vision. The flower that came out of his stomach barely had a stem at all, the flower was tiny and had a mix of bright red with white patches on it, the blood on his neck where he had been stabbed had dried up, just like the visible wounds on everyone here. While many buried in cemeteries are ones that had died peacefully and naturally, I was willing to bet that none here passed in either form. In front of the memorial of the brother he lost, Yuri collapsed to his brother’s grave and he looked pained.

“I’m sorry Hachi….I’m who convinced you to come along for this. You didn’t deserve this” he reached in and gave his younger sibling one last long hug before setting him down, and he unsettlingly moved back to his original pose.

“Nii-san, can I have a moment alone please?”

“Alright, but I’ll be where you can see me….Let me know when you are done” I said and moved away from him, while taking a moment to fully process the existence of this flower field where the dirt was the once living. I look around me, and behind me, all that lies are rows of bodies.

Men, women and children, whose lives were cut short by this sadistic experiment, even in a moment where I had the time to myself to think, I still cannot see what Izanami Sato would get out of this. We live in a day and age where a crime committed results in a lifetime of suffering for everyone close to you, what could possibly push one to orchestrate such an act, knowing fully well that the psycho index would end up making his life more than miserable if he ever got caught. But my biggest gripe is how he convinced someone who was dedicated to prove that system wrong, to join up with him. A sentinel he was called…how could anyone stand and watch what’s happening here.

While most of the cemetery looked the same, what caught my attention was a family grave, where they were joined by their hands. But that sight triggered something I wasn’t expecting. A sharp pain in my head caused me to clutch my head in my hand following flashes from a scene from where I had no idea of when or where. It flashed in and out for split seconds at a time, but I was able to make out some details. The orange glow of a raging blaze nearby, bodies that looked more slaughtered than murdered, and loud weeping, I had no idea what any of these meant, but the pain and the flashes stopped after a few moments. I didn’t know if I screamed due to the pain, but I could only hope that I didn’t attract attention. And the moment I snapped back to my senses, nothing had changed. I looked at the flower coming out of the body and suddenly felt a strange attraction to it in front of me, and I reached my hand in to touch it, only the get interrupted by a voice I was instantly alarmed by

“It’s called a Scarlet Glaze” the voice said

I turned to face the voice, and it came from the one I was supposed to be safeguarding the Tadanos from.

“Think of it as a Lycoris, but its properties are more fascinating. It doesn’t grow in dirt, but on dead bodies. It symbolizes that as much as dirt is common in the world, so is death….you can’t beat it, and it happens to everyone whether they like it or not. The more time passes, the more the flower grows and just like blood, the darker it gets. And just as the host’s body fully expires, it falls and starves” He gets closer to me step by step while explaining, until he is only a couple of feet in front of me.

“But you know the most interesting part of it….It’s that it forms a seed for another flower, but it consumes the flower from the inside to form. You’ve ever heard that flowers reproduce with other flowers so they can evolve…..These don’t. It just happens to show how no matter who and what changes throughout time, death never changes. Because it’s already at it’s peak form…it can’t evolve to anything more” he said, finishing his analogy

Judging from how straight-faced he gave that analogy, I didn’t even have to doubt he was not right in the head….I was on full defense, I slowly backed up towards Yuri and I managed to notice something in the process that he pointed out moments later

“You don’t have to worry, this is a neutral zone. Cyber-shielding is thicker here and Cyber-Gear doesn’t materialize, I cannot hurt you even if I wanted to….And before you say I followed you here, I was here much longer than you two. But this gives me a chance that I never thought I could have

I managed to back off towards Yuri and get him behind me to safety, but the man was following close, not letting me increase the distance.

“You see, I was curious after yesterday. Strength in numbers right now is the most guaranteed way of winning any fight right now. Many haven’t gotten used to it down here, so they are easily intimidated and beaten down if they try anything….So even as a gun for hire, how did you manage to take out three of us. And then I remembered something, you didn’t arm yourself through your inventory, those were your Cyber-Gear. Kunais and a short blade, and then it reminded me that I’ve seen that gauntlet of yours somewhere. And to think the formerly defamed hack was the one we were up against….Am I right on the money, Absolute Zero-san” he said confidently…as much as it hurts me to say it, he had hit the nail on it’s head.

I kept my silence but right now, my priority was to get Yuri out of here and back to the house. But he kept going

“If you are concerned I sent my guys to the house, I did nothing of a sort. But I will let you know that you got till tonight before I come to his front doorstep”.

I inquired as briefly as possible “To do what?”

“To walk away.” He answered. “As much as I would love to kill your right here and right now, I have bigger priorities than showing where you belong. Right now, I have a bigger fish to fry, Zero-san. And if you keep insisting to protect that sad sack of meat, I can assure your demise the next time we meet. You may be a talentless hack that cheated his way to the top, but you are not going to survive in a fair fight.”

“If you followed my career in such great interest, hack or not, you would know one thing about me” I separated from Yuri for a split second to get up onto his face. “I never back down from a fight, even if it’s me alone against the world”.

“You got till tonight….Pack-up and walk away. You got nothing to gain here” he said and walked away.

I grabbed Yuri by the hand and bolted to the way we came from. I dragged us through the graves to get there quicker but the one’s I displaced in the rush, managed to reset back to it’s original pose moments later. Yuri felt uncomfortable with it clearly, but I prioritized getting him to safety before anything else. I stopped right before the gate just in case there was a sniper waiting for us.

“Get on my back….NOW” I said, raising my tone at the hesitating Yuri while on one knee. It spooked him enough to do what I said without question

He rushed to my back and grabbed on. I used an SP potion to make sure my stamina wouldn't take a nosedive and rushed past the exit to avoid any ambushes. I didn’t want to take any risks and climbed to the closest roof after going into an alley to avoid potential tails. I was tunnel-visioned on getting us back in one piece and to warn Aya-san. I try my hardest to not push myself over the line of panicking, as one bad decision is all I need to get both of us killed.

“Nii-chan, I can’t hold on” said Yuri from my back.

But instead of slowing down, I grabbed his hand tight to make sure he didn’t fall off. As we were getting close, I descended into the alley just to make sure I’d throw the scent off anyone who had been following us from up high. But while I was cautious to the extreme, it was mostly paranoia as during the whole time I was free-running, I sensed no one on my tail….but one thing I’ve learned through most of my life, is that the moment that a problem mostly arises is the exact moment you drop your guard.

While I was sticking out of sight down low, I was distracted suddenly by a call for help very close by. One person was screaming for help while he was getting played with and beaten very slowly by a group. He looked me in the eye, trying to crawl away from his attackers and reached out to me.

“Nii-san, we should help him,” said Yuri from behind me. A part of me wanted to do just that, but for once, I went against my instinct.

I picked up speed and continued, and in less than a minute, we made it back. Yuri got off my back and I started to rush towards the house, but it was clear that Yuri wasn’t pleased about my decision

“You left him to die back there” he said with a shaky voice while rubbing his arm as I had held it too tightly while free-running.

I stopped in my tracks and faced him “It was either him or us…I help him there and either the group that attacked him comes after us or he stabs us in the back. Look you are young, you still don’t-”

“Stop treating me like a child” his frustration was apparent in his tone. “I am sick of needing to be protected just because I’m not an adult…..Hachi got killed because of that, and I don’t want that to happen to me….I don’t want to die, Nii-chan….and I don’t want the people I care about to die in my stead. I can’t fight, but I want to be able to protect myself….because I am afraid to die”

His tone calmed down all of a sudden “Nakamura-san, can I ask you for one more thing. Teach me how to defend myself…. anything, anything that I can use to not be a rabbit asking to be butchered.”

Yuri had completely changed all of a sudden…Seeing his brother one last time, and the clear fear he had felt during the confrontation has turned the timid and mellow kid into one who is committed to becoming stronger. To be honest, I don’t know if that is a good or a bad thing at a time like this

But one thing I do know is that, if I do honor his request, it would take a brick’s weight off the castle on my shoulders in having to worry about someone slipping behind me to kill a defenseless kid.

“Alright, I’ll give you a couple of pointers. But that’s it”

He looked at me for guidance and I lowered myself down to his height to start….he unsheathed the blade he had as a secondary and held it tight with both hands. I also learned from this that personal gear also scales according to the size of the player. Back during the normal days, there only used to be 3 body types that all players could choose, two of them weren’t very different from one another in the terms of looks, but the third used to be bigger in stature, which used to easily resemble tank players. But now, we are playing as ourselves, and the enhanced movement we are offered depends on both the type we chose at our character creation, our age and how we decide to condition our body through activity.

“I see you got yourself a blade, so let me ask you a question…If you were to fight me, what is your biggest strength and your biggest weakness”

He was stuck in thought for a second “I can’t think of strengths but… I don’t know how to fight?” he answered.

“Think of something much more significant….something that could decide whether you live or die” I asked again

“Well, I am smaller but that it too obvious” he said

“That’s it….Rule No.1: Never think of anything as being obvious, because whenever someone makes a fatal mistake, it’s mostly because they never considered the obvious. Would you believe me if I said that your weakness is also your strength?”

He looked at me confused

“You are small, that also means you have lesser health and stamina, and if you get caught, you have little to no chance of getting out, if that happens, you are dead…..But, it also means you are more nimble, you are faster and you are harder to catch”

“Never show your enemy your weapon until the very last moment…the element of surprise can win you a lot of fights, and second, never grip your blade with both hands, that’s a sign of panic and desperation, and you never want your enemy to know that you are afraid”

But our session was cut short by a concerned Aya-san

“There you are, Yuri…Where have you been?” she said while storming towards him. Yuri’s tough demeanor switched back to his old one in the presence of his mother, and he started to stumble on his words. But I bailed him out

“We were here the whole time. Yuri wanted someone to play, and I took the time to blow off some steam” I subtly winked at Yuri implying that I got his back, and he started to breathe again.

“I’m ok with you taking some time to take a break Nakamura-san, but please involve my son in it, I don’t want him to get hurt for being reckless. Yuri, indoors now” she said sternly

“We are almost at the end of the game we were playing. Five minutes mom…I’ll be back inside in five minutes, please?” Yuri pleaded Aya-san and he allowed it hesitantly

We waited till she went back inside and I decided to give him the quick crash course.

“Alright so, we don’t have much time…but remember everything I told you?” I questioned him

“Don’t ignore the obvious, don’t be afraid and hide your advantages” he said

“Good, now…Rule No.2: Always bring your enemy down to your level. Easiest way of doing that is attacking their advantages over your….Think of how you could reduce their speed, their strength, their height or their vision.”

“Okay, so we still got a few minutes. I’ll attack you slowly, think of a way to bring me down to your level” I said while getting up

“Ready….Go” I close the distance to him doing a basic grab at a slow speed so he would have time to think and attack

The loss condition for him is getting grabbed, and while it did happen to him a couple of times, he started becoming evasive all of a sudden. Reading his eyes, he was looking for my weakness, and at the last minute, he found it.

He avoided my grapple, lowered himself and dug his knife blade deep into my right calf. The pain made me fall to one knee and he went straight for the killing blow right at my throat. Had I not blocked with my gauntlet, he might’ve drawn his first blood. I used my other leg to leap back on impulse, to put some distance between myself and imminent danger. From where I was, I gave him my nod of approval.

“And that….is all I will teach you….you’ll figure out the rest on your own if you don’t forget. Now go on before your mom finds you”.

With the quickness still in his step, he heads towards the door to head inside. But he had one last thing to say before he went inside.

“Nii-san, after your work is done, I’m sure we would be glad to have you around if you ever need it. And thank you….for everything” he immediately disappeared inside

I chuckled, “Kids these days are something” I told myself. I was left alone outside and just on time as well, as I had to use up one of my few remaining HP potions to heal up the hole he put in my leg. Evening was approaching and there was no telling when Tsuneo and the rest of his group would arrive, so I couldn’t rely on a slow heal. Double checking if the coast was clear, I exposed the wound and heated up my blade with a kunai, and I pressed it hard on the wound and cauterized it on both sides. The pain never gets easier, but it would benefit me greatly in not bleeding all over if I was to fight soon.