The usually beautiful starry sky was nowhere in sight. The world seemed to have been bathed in darkness as weather forecast failed to preview a cloudy sky and heavy downpour, the water from the rain washed away the streets below before going into the drainage gutters into the sewers. The weak light of the lamp posts were the only source of light in the dark streets, even then one' vision was greatly limited due to the strong winds and downpour. 

In a crude looking apartment that been worn out through the long years it stood, there were some sounds coming from third door on the second floor. Inside was a young man fidgeting around from the chill cold of being wet while hurrying himself to lock the door and rush to the bathroom, he was wet from head to toe from the rain, his clothes stuck to his body and made him shiver even more. The first thing he did on reaching the bathroom was turning on the electric heater, the cheapest one he could afford, and crouched down next to it. His expression finally relaxed when feeling the warm current blow by the electric heater, bringing some needed warmth to his body. Slowly undressing he took no time to jump into the bathtub and taking a hot shower, washing away all the dirt and oil of his hands, the dust of his cut short hair, and, finally, massaging his whole body for a much deserved relaxation for his tense and stressed muscles.

As he dried his hair with a fresh, out of the closet, white towel, he put on his glasses with a black frame and selected the app he used for reading manga. It was one of the few enjoyments and hobbies of his harsh and rough life, it helped him relax and unwind after another day working at the factory. Taking a look at his body and life, he couldn't help but sigh in exhaustion. He was going to be 27 years old in the following month, had been working through his entire life so that he and his brother could live with a roof on top of their heads and have something to eat during the meals. It all started with the plane crash their mother was in. It was an awful, terrible disaster where the lives of everyone riding it were considered to be lost.

Everything went down the hill from that moment forward, their father, due to depression and grief, started to heavily drink alcohol everyday, even refusing to go to work and simply stayed at home sitting on an armchair looking over the television while barely supporting a beer bottle with the tip of his fingers. It eventually led to him getting fired from his job, starting to consume drugs on a regular basis, and ending up with their father dying of an overdose, leaving two children alone in the world to fend for themselves. 

Their current little condo wasn't located in a good district, but it was everything they could afford. It had two bedrooms, a bathroom, and a living room/kitchen combined. They were only able to enjoy such small luxuries due to the efforts of him working numerous jobs, and even his younger brother pitching in and helping him as well with saving money whenever it was possible while also working on the weekends. 

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- "I need to go to sleep. I only have 4 hours before going to work at the coffee house.", Rubbing his eyes in exhaustion, he tried to motivate himself to not give up and simply laid there reading. He especially enjoyed action and sports manga, one of the new he started to read a few weeks ago, that quickly made his way to be one of his favorites, was Bungo. It was a sports manga about baseball in japan. 

Just as he was getting out of the bathroom, he suddenly jolted at a sudden sound coming from his bedroom. He thought for a second that it must be his younger brother, but he quickly dismissed it from his mind as his younger brother should know that if he caught him awake at this time of night, he would get the scolding of his life.

- 'The door is locked. Could they have come from the window? Or.... no.', He was about to check the sound while thinking of what could have happened, when something hit him in the back of the head and his vision slowly darkened.

His last thoughts were of his young brother and that he prayed for him to be at least safe and sound, it the last hope he had and it was as small as a grain of sand. 

- "... w-what is this? Where am I?"

Just as he was expecting to wake up on the floor at home, bleeding to death, or in the hospital, his new surroundings came as a surprise to him. It was complete and absolute darkness there was nothing in sight with a  feeling like he was floating in the middle of some sort of liquid, but one could breathe somehow or, at least, didn't felt that suffocating feeling of being deprived of oxygen. He couldn't understand for the life of him why someone would steal from them. They had nothing in their house that could be considered to be remotely valuable. They had no money to waste on jewelry, their phones were still flip phones, while their pc was a fixed one and an old one to boot. 

- "God.  Please... my little brother."

He didn't care one bit about his current situation. He could be at the bottom of the ocean, in space, or, even, dead, the only thought on his mind was that of his brother' safety. It felt like his blood was boiling at the simple thought of laying his hands on the guys that did this. One thing he was sure of. He wouldn't be merciful if such occasion landed on his lap, he would make sure that they wouldn't be able to walk or breath, depending on his mood.  

- "Where the hell am I? Could it be that this is the afterlife?"

Knowing that there was no use crying over spilled milk, he tried to understand the place he was in. There was nothing of note that helped understand. The only explanation he could think of was that this obscurus and lonely place was the afterlife. This wasn't everything, he was also feeling weird. If only there was a presence of some light, even a weak one, would help him tremendously. 

- "What is that?"

At that moment, a light started to emanate in the distance slightly blinding him, reacting instinctively he attempt to cover his eyes with his arm only to not work, and the light slowly increasing in intensity. It didn't end there, a burning sensation washed over him like a wave, it was almost as if the sun had suddenly woken up.

- "Now I am certain that I am dead.", Although it hurt like hell, he forced his 'eyes' open and saw the current condition he was in. It had no resemblance to that of a human body, it more felt like an ethereal white form with a human shape. 

- "What the hell? AH!!!!", The pain from his 'eyes' was nothing in comparison to what followed as a wave of heat washed over, making him feel like he was just hit by a wave of hot lava. Under the excruciating pain he was going through, he couldn’t even realize the fact that he was slowly dissipating into small specks of light.