Ran Sumeragi found himself lost in thought admiring the bright blue sky, sitting on the sloped hill near the school’s waterfront next to his friends Kanata & Hideyoshi.
Their Summer had ended in the blink of an eye. The sweet smell of girls’ perfume filled the Air. The exchange of stares between the female & male students incited the beginning of a new exciting year at Kanagawa High School.
“How was your summer Ran? Did you meet any sexy girls?” Kanata Asked. His eyes glimmering with excitement.
“No, just the usual job search I’m afraid.”
“What about you Hideyoshi?” Kanata asked.
“Studying like always, I’m going to be applying for college soon. You should be more considerate of your future too, Kanata.”
“Hey, you should loosen up a bit more Hideyoshi. We’re not young forever ya know. We should enjoy life now while we’re still young.”
Kanata was well renowned as the school's pervert, but he had a strong spirit and outgoing personality. Whereas Hideyoshi was much different. He was known for his quirkiness and tidy attire, he took his academics more seriously.
While Ran was very much different from the two. He was strong-willed, average in most things but more importantly. He held a magical connection to the galaxy. He could sense things that most people his age couldn't.
“I wonder, out there…does another world exist? If so, how exactly can I get there?” Ran whispered to himself as a gust of wind picked up, blowing his hair & the school girl's skirts.
“A world far beyond this one…”
He wanted to escape his current circumstances to live a much more fulfilling life compared to the one he was living now. He desired it so badly that he grasped at the sky hoping for such a dream from afar.
In this world, someone of his status had little to no opportunities. Ran lived a life in poverty and only managed to get into the school with the help of his aunt Makisae, who currently lived overseas.
Ran was a very tall Japanese boy standing at six foot two inches. He was considered above average in that alone, his looks were not anything special but he was handsome. His hair was burgundy & his eye color was purple—a very eerie ominous color that looked as if he could see into other realms. Ran also wore an all-blacked-out school uniform with a red tie & white dress shirt.
Ran’s grades were exceptional, he wasn’t considered anything like a genius. Instead, he was a delinquent and would often get into fights with other male students; primarily a group of guys who would always hang around Shinnosuke Enoshima. They would insult him and talk about him behind his back, spreading rumors across the entire school of his impoverished life.
“Those guys from before really pissed me off. One day I swear I’ll make them acknowledge me.”
Ran didn’t enjoy fighting, but he felt the need to stand up for himself. Most importantly he wanted to prove them wrong. If only there was some kind of way.
“Ding!…!” A notification popped up on his phone. Ran reached for it and opened it in curiosity for what it was. His eyes pulsed with intrigue before being met with disappointment. Ran had received a letter of rejection for his recent job application.
“Damn it…I’ll never find a job at this rate. What’s the point in even trying if all of my applications keep getting rejected? I’ve had enough!” he thought. Ran placed his phone down and sighed. His facial expression changed to frustration.
Ran was rejected from every job that he applied to. He felt as if nothing ever worked out for him. Even his life up until that point was met with misfortune. For instance, Ran’s parents abandoned him and his younger sister Yuri at a young age due to not being able to afford to take care of them. They were discarded like trash & were lost-forgotten. Also, his younger sister Yuri was met with the fate of developing an eye disease that impaired her ability to see.
Her older brother Ran wanted to do everything for her, but most of the time he felt completely powerless. The operation to cure her Rare disease cost nearly 1 million dollars. Even if Ran worked endlessly for the rest of his life, he would never be able to acquire the money. There was no one that he could turn to or ask for help. Ran felt like he was her only hope to live a good life, to be able to see again. Also, Ran himself wanted to escape poverty, he hated the rumors that plagued every school he attended, the looks, and snickering. He wanted it all to end.
“Guys look!, here comes Rena Kanagawa at Seven O’Clock!!” Kanata shouted. He got fired up at that moment. “When are you going to finally give up Kanata?” Hideyoshi replied. “Huh?… The Princess?” Ran asked.
Ran’s attention was pulled towards the Princess like a magnet, and not just his but everyone at the school’s waterfront. The Princess’s real name was Rena Kanagawa; “The Princess” was an alias students at Kanagawa High School called her. Rena herself took a liking to the name & made it part of her image. It lived up to her name considering that everyone worshipped her. She was practically a celebrity.
Speaking of image Rena was insanely attractive for a Japanese girl; her figure was voluptuous and she stood at five foot-six inches. Her jet-black hair was leg-length and her breasts were rather large. Her bangs were long and she wore a pink hair clip on the right side of her face that pulled some of her hair to the side, to bring more attention to her beautiful blue vibrant eyes. She was stunning.
Rena walked with a couple of classmates of hers. She was surrounded en masse by swarms of girls. They adored her. She was everything that male and female students aspired to be. Elegant, Sincere, and most of all rich. She was not alone. Most of the students at Kanagawa High School came from wealthy families; everyone except for Ran. Ran was very below average due to not having the support of his parents.
“Hey Rena, can we all go over to your house today? It’s been a while since we last saw your sister; she’s so adorable!!..” a girl said. “It’s fine and I don’t mind.” Rena giggled. “Rena do you think you can get me a job at your family’s firm?” a girl asked. “Sure,..I’ll see what I can do, but no promises,” Rena replied. “Wow thanks, Rena. You are a lifesaver!” a girl said.
Rena and her friends walked by. One of them noticed Ran at the time and chuckled. She tried to snicker behind Rena. “Hehe… isn’t that Ran Sumeragi-the boy who barely got accepted to this High School. Rumor has it that he’s poor. He’s so weird don’t you think? I’ll never understand why those guys hang out with him all the time. He’s a total loser.” Girl 1 said. “Really?… I heard the exact opposite.” Girl 2 tilted her head in puzzlement. “What?…” Girl 1 asked. “Well, his parents acquired wealth and left him and his younger sister to live a better life. At least, that’s just the rumors. Anyways, isn’t it sad? His sister is very ill and she needs very expensive surgery but no one can afford it.” Girl 2 said.
After the girls passed by giggling and sneering, Rena glanced behind looking at Ran in the distance. Her facial expression was curious. She felt sort of concerned about his situation while walking with her friends.
“Dude, I would so totally kill to have a girl like that in my life,” Kanata said. “Really? I don’t think she would go for a guy like Kanata. You’re way too immature…Girls of her status would need someone on par with her prestige.” Hideyoshi replied. “Come on Hideyoshi, stop killing my vibe man. A guy can only dream, right Ran?” Hideyoshi turned to Ran who was staring at Rena. “Eh?… Ran, do you have a thing for Rena-Chan?” Kanata asked. “No not really, she’s not my type. I just haven’t paid much attention to her until now.” “Well, just so you know some guys from my summer school noticed her going out with this one guy. He’s supposedly super rich.
His name is Shinnosuke Enoshima.” Hideyoshi said.
“The Enoshima family!?…No way?… Are you being serious? Haha…Damn, what a lucky dude.” Kanata sighed. His facial expression changed from happiness to feeling down.
“His Net worth is surprisingly lower than hers, it is around $5,000,000 or so I believe. Rena’s Net Worth is a whooping $10,000,000” Hideyoshi replied.
“No way are you serious!?… They’re worth that much!!?” Kanata shouted in disbelief. The idea of a person being worth that much almost sounded unreal.
Rena’s family, the Kanagwa family, was loaded with money. The entire school and city were owned by them. They held more influence and power than any other person in the entire region. Rena’s mother and father were hard-working and grew their wealth over time at such a young early age, due to having such pure talent. Rena had also taken up some of her parents’ traits most people at Kanagawa High School were exceptionally gifted students, everyone but Ran. Ran didn’t possess any unique skill or talent other than being able to cook, but he was still learning.
Ran’s original plan was to finish his last year and graduate while hoping for a decent-paying job. He wanted to attend college but the acceptance rates were simply too low & he couldn’t afford it. His grades weren’t all that great and it would be a hassle keeping up with all of the more naturally gifted students.
Compared to everyone at Kanagawa High School, Ran and his friends were social outcasts. Women did not dare speak to them or approach them. In the past, Ran had many crushes but they were all unrequited loves, they were one-sided. Ran had never been loved back before, not that it bothered him or anything. But it did hurt his self-esteem. Ran started to think lowly of himself as if he wasn’t good enough. He felt inadequate to most people at the school and occasionally conversed with Kanata & Hideyoshi.
Ran picked his phone up, noticing the time.
“Oh, crap! We’ve been sitting here for so long that I forgot the time. My little sister is gonna kill me!!…” Ran hurriedly stood up, grabbing his shoulder bag.
“Huh? What’s wrong…did you have to be somewhere?” Kanata asked.
“Yeah, My sister is expecting me. I’m sorry, but I’ll catch up with you guys later!” Ran replied while climbing up the sloped hill, running off through the schoolyard.
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“Hah…Hah…Hah…” Ran said panting, struggling to catch his breath.
After running nonstop for 20 minutes to the other part of the district for Middle Schoolers,
He stopped in his sister’s middle school schoolyard. He must’ve run at least 2 miles within that time frame. His body was completely exhausted.
“Man…I hope I made it in time,” he said.
Ran slid his phone out of his pocket to check the time.
“Yep, I’m dead…”
Ran was late but didn’t spot his sister. He looked around the schoolyard and couldn’t find her. He wondered where she could’ve run off to. Was she with her friends? Or was she still waiting inside?
“Ah, Yuri!… There you are.” Ran noticed that she had been sitting on a bench by herself. Her ears picked up the sound of his voice, and she responded in excitement.
“B-brother!…what took you so long!?”
Ran walked over to her.
“Ah, I’m sorry Yuri. I was caught up with a couple of friends at school.”
“Friends…heh I didn’t know my big brother had friends. Geez, well I hope you didn’t get into any more fights.” She pouted.
“Yuri, that’s not what happened. I promised you that I would never get into any more fights again. Things are different now. Also, why aren’t you with your friends?”
“Because I decided to wait for you here, dummy.” she pouted, puffing her cheeks out.
“I’m sorry for keeping you waiting, let’s head home.” Ran grabs her hand & helps her up off the bench.
The young girl was Ran’s younger sister Yuri Sumeragi. Yuri was thirteen years old. She attended classes at Kanagawa Middle School. It was last year there and she was pushing very hard for her brother, despite being partially blind. Next year she would be able to attend high school, she was catching up to her big brother.
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Although she was fragile, Yuri was a very strong girl. She was partially blind and was unable to see things due to a deadly disease. She carried a walking stick with her, it allowed her to walk and have a better sense of her surroundings. The doctor said that eventually, her condition could get worse and that if she’s not treated soon she may never see again at all. The worst-case scenario is that she could die if her condition accelerates past that.
Ran couldn't let Yuri’s condition get worse; he needed a way to get her treated before things got worse.
Yuri’s appearance was identical to her brother’s, they were twins. Her hair was also burgundy and she had blue eyes, along with a petite body. Her voice was rather squeaky like that of a mouse. She was a kind and gentle soul, Ran felt like god had cursed his entire life, and was even taking his sister’s vision away. Time was running out.
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Ran and Yuri arrived inside their run-down apartment. It was a very old building compared to all the others in the same complex; it had been the cheapest in the entire complex. The walls were cracked, floorboards were broken, and there were water leaks in various places. Their apartment needed serious work. It was a cheap place that their Aunt Makisae rented for them to stay until Ran could find a way to get a job. Makisae was a very distant relative as she did not live in Japan; she stayed overseas but would often send money to the siblings. Due to unforeseen circumstances, she hasn’t been able to check up on the two. Aunt Makisae was the only family that Ran and Yuri knew of. Their mother and father abandoned them years ago and have not yet spoken since.
Next to the door was an Old red bicycle their Aunt bought for Ran. The red bicycle wasn't used often because Ran preferred to walk most of the time. It was a decent-looking bicycle, nothing too special. Ran had a thing for Motorbikes, they were something that he could only dream of in his current circumstances. He already had a license and wouldn't mind owning one someday.
“Yuri don’t worry I’ll set this down for you,” Ran gently takes his sister’s bag, putting it away for her.
“T-thanks Ran… you’re very helpful,” she smiled.
“Hehe,..it’s nothing,” Ran smiled.
Seeing Yuri happy brought much joy to Ran. He found value in helping take care of her in any and every way possible. Ran would cook her favorite meals for her, although he was very bad at it. She respected his thoughtfulness.
A couple of minutes later, Ran whipped up a meal for his sister using whatever was left in their fridge. There wasn't much food left, just a couple of ingredients & his favorite drink-Ramune. The Original Flavor to be exact, he was crazy about it. Whenever Ran and his Yuri would go poking around the shopping district, he would buy cases of it at a convenience store not too far from where they lived that sold it. In fact the convenience store only sold that one specific flavor.
Her favorite dish was Yakisoba noodles.
“Oh my god!…is that Yakisoba!!? It smells so good!..” she screamed in excitement. Her nose was like that of a cat, she could smell food from afar with ease.
“Of course, anything for the world’s greatest sister,” Ran nodded, placing a pair of chopsticks & food down in front of his sister.
“Thank you for the food!”
Yuri clasped her hands together, then split the chopsticks in half.
She didn’t hesitate to chow down into her favorite dish.
Even while being partially blind, Yuri was able to use chopsticks and eat. She had gotten used to her disability with lots of practice.
While Yuri chowed down, Ran sat down getting lost in thought again. His mind started drifting away from the moment.
“I don’t know how long I can keep doing this. At this rate my sister’s disease could get worse, but if so…what do I do? Even if I do work hard to change the situation it won’t change anything. There’s no way I can afford that much money,” Ran clenched his fist. Feeling useless in the situation and the possibility that his sister may eventually turn completely blind.
“Ran, what’s wrong?… you’re not eating?” Yuri asked.
Ran snapped back into the present.
“Oh, well I wasn’t that hungry. Don’t worry about me, Yuri.”
“Brother you don’t have to worry that much about me, I’ll be fine. Even if I do lose my vision that won’t stop me from loving you as a sister,” she smiled.
Ran felt as if his skin was picked by a needle; his sister’s statement sort of made him feel relieved but sad at the same time.
“Anyways how has your job search been coming along? Have you found anything at all yet?” Yuri asked.
“Well-not exactly. Sorry to tell you the truth but I’ve been rejected back to back these past couple of weeks.”
“I see…well you should stop beating yourself up over it. I’m sure you’ll find something eventually. Who knows what it will lead to?” she clapped her hands together to cheer him up. Ran did his best to support his sister, but it was only fair for her to do the same. She didn’t want her brother to always feel sad and beat himself up over their situation.
“You know what? I heard that a place was hiring from a friend of mine. She said that her sister needed help cleaning an old Observatory Lab…sadly it’s a one-time job.”
“That’s such a shame. How much money is she willing to pay?” Ran asked.
“Well from what I remember One Thousand Dollars.”
“N-no way you can’t be serious. That’s so much money-seriously. Maybe I can get behind this,” Ran thought.
For someone of a poverty-stricken lifestyle that much money was almost alien to Ran. The fact that someone was willing to pay that much blew his mind away, but even though it was not the kind of work that he liked he made up his mind.
“Alright sis, I will give it a try.”
A surge of fire went off in his heart, igniting his drive once more.
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Saturday arrived. Ran was finally accepted into a job after endlessly searching nonstop to make ends meet. The job Ran took on was located at the Kanagawa Planetarium Library. It was the one Yuri recommended that needed help.
There wasn’t a work uniform or anything of the sort, so Ran dressed casually and wore a black T-shirt, brown pants & Black shoes. While on the job he couldn’t use his phone, so he wore a gray watch on his right wrist instead to tell the time.
The Kanagawa Planetarium was open all the time, so other people took tours inside, but unfortunately, Ran was told to work in the back rooms where all of the old storage was.
“W-what the hell is this?…you’ve got to be kidding me.” Ran was once again met with disappointment in his life. He was tasked with the job of cleaning up what appeared to have been a room full of a thousand books that were dusty and out of order, piled on top of one another. There were cobwebs all over the place and the light was very dim. It gave Ran the creeps.
“This place is such a mess…why would they leave it in such a poor state?”
The case of bad luck followed him to a new job. His facial expression went from being happy to being shocked. He could remember the look on the female manager’s face.
“Not a lot of work my ass…that damn woman!”
“Well…I guess it’s better than nothing.”
Ran decided to suck it up and just get the work done, the faster he finished the quicker he would be able to leave.
He picked up all of the books, dusted them off, and organized them all on the shelves in alphabetical order.
“Interesting, a lot of these books are really old, like they’re older than me.”
Once Ran finished that task, he moved on to disposing of box storage that was no longer any good. The planetarium was very old and had never been cleaned out thoroughly until now.
He opened up the storage boxes and pulled items out that weren’t useable anymore.
“My god this is so much stuff, it’s like the universe hates me or something.” he thought.
Ran saw a box sitting far in the corner that looked odd. The box itself was very rugged and was covered in dangerous tape.
“Dangerous huh? Then why put it here? Isn’t it weird to leave something like that around here? Maybe it’s by mistake.” Ran picked up the box and opened it checking what was inside.
“What is this thing?…it looks like some kind of bracelet,” Ran observed the look of it-it looked like a normal old bracelet to him. It was her-black but was very faded. The shape of it was Circular. It looked like it was for a girl.
“If I gave this to Yuri she would probably like it. It might look cute on her. Besides it’s not like anyone needs it anyway.” Ran thought.
He stood up sliding the Black Bracelet onto his wrist, and then immediately disposed of everything else. Once he finished up with the work for the day he went into the front rooms looking for the manager.
“I wonder where the manager ran off to?”
The female manager from before had left early in a hurry, instead, a girl approached Ran from behind unexpectedly.
“Hello, are you Ran Sumeragi?”
It was the girl with a familiar face from a couple of days earlier that week. Ran turned around only to find himself standing face to face with the Princess from his school, Rena Kanagawa. He was shocked to have been in his presence, as she had not spoken to him until that very moment.
Ran had never seen her before outside of school, she was dressed much differently. She wore a casual work outfit, a gray dress, and a black undershirt with buttons. Complemented by dress shoes. Her attire was more formidable than Ran’s. Her outfits outside of school were way more expensive and lavish.
“Y-yes, but who are you?”
“Rena, Rena Kanagawa. It’s a pleasure to meet you. please forgive me if I startled you. The manager told me to bring you your pay for today. She had business to attend elsewhere, sorry for the inconvenience.”
Rena tilted her head to apologize.
“I see. Well, It was a pleasure meeting you.”
“Thank you very much for your hard work, Ran.”
Rena handed over the cash envelope to Ran.
“Well, anyways I’ll be off now, see you soon?”
Rena turned around and left the room, her walk was very mysterious yet she oozed confidence. Some like Ran had zero chance with a girl like Rena.
“W-what the hell was that about? See you soon. Why was she so nice to me?… I don’t think I’ve ever spoken to her before. Yet, why does she look so familiar?”
The image of a childhood friend from long ago that resembled Rena popped up in his mind. It was as if there was a core hidden memory that Ran had forgotten about, but it was still too blurry to tell.
“No, maybe I’m just imagining things.”
Ran shook his head in doubt.
He then left the Planetarium with the pay that he had earned for the day. Ran was in a better mood, he was looking forward to giving his sister the bracelet he had found & he was excited that he finally earned quite a sum after enduring a dry spell for a couple of weeks. Ran believed things were changing for the better, one step at a time, but fate had other plans.
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By the time Ran exited the Planetarium, the sun was beginning to set. The sky had turned orange as the sun began setting on the horizon.
“Well, there goes my entire day.”
He couldn't believe that he spent the entire day working. He was tired, but most of all hungry. He hadn’t eaten anything since the day previously.
“Grrr,” his stomach growled.
“I’m so hungry, I could eat just about anything.”
Before heading home while Ran was in the business district, he decided to head over to a small cooking stand. He could smell the aroma of the food; it brought such great pleasure to his senses. The last time Ran treated himself to such tasty food was a long time ago, and it brought back great memories.
“Hello sir, what would you like?”
“One order of Takoyaki, please.”
“That will be $5.25.”
“Here you go.”
Ran reached into his pocket, giving the man the money. Ran hadn't been eating properly due to desperately wanting to hold onto money.
After a couple of minutes, Ran’s order was finished. He found himself sitting near the waterfront at a small table outside the cooking stand near the shore. He could see the entire ocean from his view, with bright light appearing all over the scene.
There were other people out and about, having fun. There were couples as well, walking up and down the walk path. Ran sort of felt isolated from everyone. Deep down inside, he wanted a girlfriend. He had never had one before, and Rena was sort of in his mind. He wondered if maybe he would see her again. After gobbling down his food, he felt stuffed.
Ran then stood up and threw away his food in a plastic trash bin.
“Hahhh…I feel relieved. Maybe I should bring Yuri to this place.”
“I’m sure she would like it.”
“If only there was some kind of way to save her, damn it. If only I could go to another world and make things better. She doesn't deserve that,” Ran tilted his head down, reminiscing about the situation he was still stuck in.
As Ran tilted his head upwards, a sharp pain struck through his left arm. He began to scream in pain, gathering the attention of a few people around him. They all thought something was going on with him. Some people even thought he was crazy.
Once the pain stopped, the Black Bracelet began to flash repeatedly.
“What is this?...why is it flashing?”
It was as if the Bracelet served as a beacon for something that was coming. It was some strange device from another world.
“Lockdown Mode Engaged!...Activating World Reboot System!”
The bracelet on his hand sounded. The voice was that of a woman. Ran had no idea what the hell it was, but it freaked him out.
“Come off!...damn it won't budge!”
He tried to slide it off, but it was locked in place tightly around his wrist. There was no way of ever removing it. It was sealed on permanently.
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Name: Ran Sumeragi
Player Number: 99
Age: 17
Height: 6’2
Blood Type: O
Weight: 160 LBS
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A Blue Colored UI appeared over the Bracelet registering all of Ran’s data. It seemed to know everything about him. From his Date of birth to his age and height.
“What? why is it registering me to something and how does it know my name? It practically knows everything about me. Just what is happening!?”
A dark shadow appeared over Ran as a gust of wind picked up in the area. Ran looked upwards, noticing a pitch-black cloud above him that was spinning with an ominous energy around it. It hovered above his body. The black was somehow drawn to his location by the black bracelet around Ran’s wrist.
“W-what the hell is that!?…” Ran asked.
An aggressive black hole spawned out of thin air above his location, in the shopping district. It grew at a rapid speed as if it was devouring earth for an energy source.
“Is that a black hole!? Where the hell did it come from?” Ran asked.
Ran then took off running desperate to escape, as fast as he could. While running, Ran could feel his body getting light. It was as if gravity started disappearing from his feet, or rather the entire earth itself.
“My body. Why am I getting lighter? No, I’m being sucked in. That damn black hole is going to kill everyone including me!”
The Black Hole began sucking up everything from Earth, including people, cars, and homes. Ran grabbed ahold of a tree, struggling to hang on.
“No, Damn it!… I don’t wanna die! Please!!. There’s so much I have left to accomplish…so I can’t possibly die!!”
“No!!… Yuri!!!…” were the last words Ran Sumeragi whispered before being pulled by the incredible force of the Black Hole. Ran and the earth itself disappeared from that world. Leaving not a single trace of human life behind in the universe.