Chapter 1:

The fireworks burst into a plethora of colours. Each explosion caused subsequent smaller explosions which lit up the sky with disappearing diamonds. The small lake in the horizon reflected the bright colours causing an even more intimate atmosphere. Faces filled with awe littered the crowd watching the fireworks. Everyone watching were either with their friends, family, or a lover. It was the ‘end of spring break’ festival.

To Kazu Tomoe, this was just a sign of his last year in high school. He had a letter in his hand reading, “To Kazu Tomoe”. For a moment, he stared at it, not moving or looking away from it. Then, his arm lost its strength and his eyes turned towards the stars. The sea of stars make the fireworks feel lonesome, he thought.

Scrunching up the letter, he put it inside his pocket. He walked away from the forest path back to the noise of the crowd.

“Kazu…” the boy looking to be about the same age as him stared at him. He was out of breath from running. After catching his breath, he said, “I owe you one.”

The boy ran along the forest path, disappearing into the darkness. Kazu coughed violently as he held his chest in pain and gripped the scrunched up letter. He walked away from the entrance of the path, ignoring the crowd and the beautiful explosions of flowers along the sky.

His violent cough continued, but soon enough, his pained expression disappeared. People steered away from him when they met him in the sidewalk. They feared for their lives, thinking it was a contagious disease. But when they got near him, their eyes turned to remorse when they thought of avoiding him in the streets. Instead, they gently bowed and then went on to continue their walk.

Upon reaching his destination, a doctor greeted him. He didn’t show any emotion. Instead, he read the thick sheets of paper he held on a clipboard without uttering a word.

“Tomoe-kun. It would be best for you to stay here until-”

“No… One more day.” Kazu turned away breaking eye contact, “Let me have class tomorrow. Just… one more day.”

The doctor sighed and put the thick report to his side, then bowed deeply to Kazu. On the other hand, Kazu left the hospital. This time, he headed back home. As he left the hospital, drops of blood silently blossomed along the white floor. He covered his mouth while coughing as he left the hospital, and his hand became soaked with blood.

“Is Tomoe-kun not staying?” the nurse came up beside the doctor.

“Clean up the blood.” The doctor clenched the report he held and walked away from the scene like he was running. He stared at the report one more time, then gave a deep sigh as if his expression condoned a regret. His name plate near on the side of his chest read “Kurou Tomoe.”

***

Kazu stood in front of the window and opened it to let the morning sun light the dimly lit room. He grabbed the handkerchief on his study table, putting it in his pocket for later use. Even though the new sunlight poured into his room, it did not make his mood any brighter. Looking at his watch, it was now time to leave. It’s when normal high school students would leave he thought.

Exiting his room and descending the stairs, there was no sign of anyone home. However, there was a letter and a small lunch box on the small table just by the foyer.

Have fun at school - Mom

A weak grin escaped his face when he read the letter. He folded it and put it in his pocket, then to put on his underused shoes. Kazu exited the warm, loving house that raised him. The neatly kept grass and the laundry hanging outside made a calming noise as a persistent wind combed through the blades and pushed against the clothing. He opened the gate, its creaking complaint attracting the stares of other students already on their way to school.

“Good morning” said a student who passed by his house.

He replied back with the same phrase, then walked the same way the students were heading. Along the way, the students’ expressions turned blank when they saw him then greeted him with a polite bow. However, he only returned a weak bow to anyone who greeted him.

—“Tomoe-kun.”

A familiar voice came from behind. He turned his head around in a rush, but no one was there. The sudden turnaround attracted stares from the other students walking along the path.

Was it my imagination? he thought.

He arrived at school and quickly went to his designated class. He sat at the edge of the 2nd row from the blackboard, near the door. The seat beside him was still empty, it was where she would be. She was someone who gave him hope: hope to live on, hope to continue living for the next day and the day after that.

“Hey, did you watch last night’s episode? What did you think of it?”

“Isn’t the episode quality going lower and lower… it’s turning out pretty bad.”

“That’s right, that’s right! It’s like they want to kill off everyone.”

“The best parts of course are the dragon lady hehe.”

Kazu listened in on some random conversations around the class

riiing…. riiing...

“Alright, everyone get into your seats.” The teacher glanced at the empty seat. “Mizuhara is absent today huh. Alright, let’s start the class.”

***

Morning classes ended. Everyone stretched their arms as they hurried on towards each of their cliques. Kazu stared down at his desk examining the cracks, blemishes, and markings on it. It was worn out and old. It was a contrast to his underused new looking clothes. Even his bag looked like it was bought yesterday.

Even this desk has lived longer than me...

He took out his lunchbox and opened it. Slowly, he started eating. Almost half of the lunch hour passed. His lunchbox still had most of its contents.

BANG!

The sliding door opened with a force that alarmed everyone in the room.

“Kazu!” The trespasser roared in anger as he walked up to Kazu’s desk. The other students tried get in his way, weary of his hostile pose. Soon enough, his expression calmed. Kazu stood up and came closer.

“You already know what I’m going to say. She...” Kazu turned his head down to the floor. “Someone like me should just quietly disa-”

“No!” the boy shouted. “We’re best friends right?” Tears started running down his cheeks but his voice stood stern. “So what if the doctors told you that?! Right now, what’s most important for her is to be beside you! Don’t you understand that?”

Kazu’s fists tightened.

“You changed everyone in this school! You can’t say no one here is your friend… we do that because you asked us!” The students let go of Jun.

“Look at Hiragi” he pointed at a girl on the edge of the class “If it weren’t for your help, her mother would’ve died”

“What about Akira?” Jun, again, pointed at a different student, but this time, it was a boy who had held him back. “If you didn’t help him, we would’ve still thought he was a thug. But you know, he’s actually a really hard working guy with an unlucky face.”

“Kazu!” the sweet pitched voice interrupted the classroom. It was a student from the back of the class. She held her head low with a red face and big enough glasses to cover her expression. “If it weren’t for you, I would still be a shut in!”

“The girl who sees you as the world is out there right now.” Jun’s said as a tear run down his cheeks. “Please Kazu, go to her. Otherwise… everyone in this school you touched with your kindness, we’ll never forgive ourselves.”

Kazu turned his head back up seeing everyone’s attention on him. Many of the boys and girls had teary-eyed expressions as they looked back at Kazu.

“Alright.”

His friends wiped their tears away with smiles on their faces as Kazu walked out of the open door. At first, his steps were slow. But by the time he reached the front door of the school, his pace couldn’t be called walking anymore, not even running—he was sprinting.

The last of the falling cherry blossom leaves filled his view. The scenery of the alleys changed one by one, blurring as he ran down hill the school sat upon. Passersby would give him weird looks wondering why he was running but he gave them no mind. Kazu let the wind, and gravity taken him as he struggled to go faster still.

At the foot of the hill stood a house. He stood in front of its small gate looking at the window with pink curtains covering the room. Upon opening the gate, Kazu’s reached up his hand to his chest, clenching it while he tried to catch his breath. Weakly knocking on the door, he didn’t know whether she heard it. At this point, the pain became unbearable, and he collapsed on the floor.

“Kazu…?”

The door creaked open and the girl stood in front stared at Kazu. Her signature chestnut hair flowed along the breeze of the wind. Her thin, delicate arms drew away the hair disrupting her view. He coughed, covering his mouth with his left hand while his right still clenched against his chest.

“Kazu?!” She knelt on the ground.

Turning around Kazu’s body, she moved away his hand covering his mouth. Blood dripped down the corner of Kazu’s lips.

“This is bad. We need to go to the hospital.” In a swift motion, her hands reached to her bag taking out the cellphone. The strap on her phone held a small locket. Kazu smiled and grabbed her hand with his right to stop her from calling.

“It’s fine.”

“But-”

“...Aiko...” Kazu drew her closer to an embrace. “I’m... sorry. I-...”

—Kazu’s body went limp.

“Kazu… don’t do this… please don’t...” Her words turned into a sob. She continued to dial the ambulance. Each second seemed to last much longer than it did. As she looked at his miserable state, tears fell down her cheeks, dropping on to his clothes. His breathing became slower and weaker each passing minute.

“Kazu… you...you… why!” She cried. “-Ambulance… is coming, so please... we’ll go to school tomorrow, right? Right? Everyone… everyone will… will say ‘hi’ to you tomorrow, right?”

The ambulance arrived and the men, getting out of the vehicle, quickly ran to the two on the ground. They lifted Kazu up into a stretcher and loaded him into the vehicle. She also boarded with him, holding his hands along the way to the hospital.

***

Kazu laid down in the hospital bed with the medical ventilator attached to his face. A doctor opened the door, walking inside the hospital room to see Aiko caressing Kazu’s hand. She sat beside him looking on with worry on her eyes.

“Tomoe-sensei, is he going to be alright?”

He didn’t say anything. Instead, he grabbed a chair and sat beside her to watch his son bedridden with life support. The silence grew louder that not even the equipment noises can drown it out.

“How long does he have left?” she asked again in a toneless voice.

“It’s been quite a miracle he’s lived this long.” he sighed. “Don’t you want to believe he’ll live for another year?”

This time, she was the one that didn’t answer the question. The room turned silent again, then Doctor Tomoe started his hourly monitor check on the equipment. As soon as he was finished, he left the room, signaling a few nurses to remain on standby just in case. He looked back at the two, and pain once again surfaced in his eyes.

Each step was light, his body seeming to float from the ground, as his heart beat fast with weak pulses—he didn't want to accept the inevitable. Unable to withstand the pain, his face, a mask of iron broke, revealing his grief.

“Doctor, how is the Tomoe-kun?” The nurse from yesterday interrupted.

He shook his head and said, “He- I… I don’t think he’ll make it.”

“I’m sorry… Doctor…” The nurse held both her hands up to her mouth. Suddenly, nurses appeared running the opposite direction he was taking. There was only one patient that way who’d warrant such an urgent reaction—Kazu, his son.

He ran with the nurses and asked, “What’s happening?!”

“The patient in room 302 is in critical condition. Doctor, please hurry.”

Appearing in front of the door, the life support monitor was going out of control. Electricity appeared in the room coalescing around Kazu. Aiko appeared to be unconscious at the edge of the room.

“Aiko! Kazu!”

That was when the a circle of light formed below the bed. Piercing brightness filled the room, blinding everyone with its sharp light. For a few seconds, the whole room was white. Until finally, it calmed down; the bright light had dimmed until everyone could see the room.

—The whole bed and hospital equipment along with Kazu was gone.

The room was empty and a hole in the ground let nurses and doctor see the room below. The patient below also gave a confused look.

***

“I have a slight headache…” Aiko rubbed the back of her head where the pain originated from.

“Don’t worry, it’s just a mild concussion. So what happened before I got here?” Kurou asked.

She turned her head down. “…At first, the monitors started making noise. And then I felt something push me away. That’s all I remember… Sorry sensei.”

She pursed her lips when she saw his disappointed face from the side.

“Kazu’s gone. We can’t find him. There’s no trace of him left. Are you sure he didn’t walk away?” The frustration in his voice showed through, causing Aiko to shrink. She shook her instead of giving a vocal response.

Everyone concluded it as a gas leak; an explosion taking the life of an innocent. Only Aiko and a couple of nurses saw the first part of the so called explosion. It was neither a gas leak nor an explosion; instead, it was something impossible. But they could not find a sliver of explanation in their heads.

“Tomoe-sensei, I’ll leave first.”

Aiko left the hospital, not saying a word after her announcement. As she strolled in the veil of night, her gaze turned up to see the ocean of stars. Her side was cold; he would no longer be there when she wanted to stargaze. The times when she’d feel his kindness, when he warmed her heart, she would no longer feel it.

“Kazu… what did you want to say?”

The alleys she weaved through pulled at every chord of her heart. Damaged walls, cracked roads, the neighbourhood that was full of life. She never would have thought that such memories would weigh so heavily.

Time passed by quickly, and the silhouette of her house became visible. After entering, she did not talk to her parents nor her siblings lounging in the living room. As she ascended the stairs, the clock in the hallway continued ticking, yet the life in her eyes had stopped.

“...Where did you go?”

She dropped herself on the bed, closing her eyes. Upon covering herself with blankets, she opened her eyes to see the moonlight and stars through her window. The stars, moon, and the Earth continued moving, not caring about the events in people’s lives—that was how he described his life. Yet, why did my time stop? she asked herself.

Soon, the stars became drowned in the morning light. A light knock on her door resounded, and the door opened. Aiko knew it was her mom, but she did not turn around to meet her.

“Are you going to school today?” Her mom asked.

“Nnn.” Aiko hummed in a low voice.

When her mom left, she got out of her bed, still with her uniform on. With no smile nor life in her eyes, she stared at the picture of her and Kazu during the class trip. Whispering in a small voice, she said, “You’re out there somewhere. I’m going to find you.”

Aiko descended the stairs and left straight for the foyer. Footsteps from the kitchen approached her direction. Her mom, a woman in her mid 40s, handed her a lunch box, then started to walk back to the kitchen.

“Mom.”

“What is it?”

“Kazu’s gone.” She left without looking at her mom’s reaction, she’d already experienced enough sadness that day.

When she arrived at school, Aiko saw a vase of white flowers on the desk beside her. The atmosphere in the room became dense and heavy. It was unlike the usual casual morning. The silence was heavy, and every student’s attention was focused on the desk with the vase. Aiko forced a smiled as her tears fell from her cheeks.

“Be strong Aiko,” she said to herself. “He’s out there somewhere… we’ll find him again one day.”

***

Conversion started…

0%…

1%...

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.

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All illnesses removed…

2%...

Now entering Planet Ilmaira

Stats page and skills page populated.

Voice command “Status” avaiable.

Voice command “Skills” available.

Acquired Status(es): Artifact Extended Status (In progress/Inactive), Hero Status (Active)

Welcome to Austere in the Asterian Kingdom.

Current location: Ephermal Labyrinth Dungeon, Hall of summoning, Austere Church of Faer the Light God.

Warning: 15/95 hp

What is this? A game?

Kazu opened his eyes in an unfamiliar room. Still lying on the hospital bed, he examined his surroundings. The old machinery behind his bed looked rusted and derelict. The joints of his bed and the metals were all rusted. The blankets on his bed had holes and were dirty enough that each time he moved, dust would fill the air. He got up causing a large amount of dust cloud to fill the air.

Now standing, he looked at his surroundings more carefully. The room was large, it was as if the hall was meant to fit a hundred people. Dim lights hung on the chandelier exposing the paintings on the ceiling. Artistic pieces portraying depictions of war and a single light purging the dark filled the above scenery. Sculptures of magnificent scale and delicacy littered every wall, yet vines grew rampant from the cracks.

Finally finding what he was looking for, Kazu noticed the large door in the middle of the room. Kazu went near it and tried to open it.

This… it’s too heavy.

Kazu’s stomach grumbled in a scream for attention.

I have to get out of here.

Suddenly, banging on the large stone double doors could be heard.

Bang, bang, bang.

Muffled sounds came from the other side, but it was clear enough that they were swords clashing against metal. As fast as it started, the sounds behind the door settled down. That’s when it started; the door opened slowly with a heavy grating sound.

At the first hint of violence Kazu had already hid behind one of the sculpted pillars.

Hide (1) ability learned.

“Mom… dad… if this is a joke… please get me out of here” he squeaked.

############

For anyone wanting to re-read the old version: here

After chapter 17, I think they're mostly outlines. I write outlines before writing the whole chapter. I find that writing outlines makes the writing process go faster (it takes 1 hour to write the story after writing the outline). Usually write outlines while in transit too.

Because of this, I'll delete all the current threads now that re-writing started.

I chose to start in the beginning just because the outlines are done anyways. No release schedule though.