Iruma, Saitama Prefecture,

Japan.

05: 45 am, Monday 6 th April 2043.

Within a dimly lit room, Mato Suzuki took off his Virtual-Gear helmet and looked at the familiar painting on his ceiling. A pair of crossed swords stabbed into the soil overlooked a vast forest range. The blades gleamed imposingly as they caught the rays of a setting sun.

“I see. It’s over, huh?” Suzuki muttered with a sigh. He closed his eyes and gave the pre-programmed command. “Erase.”

Suzuki opened his eyes three seconds later, and as expected, only one sword remained. Suzuki sighed and got off the bed, dark eyes dim with dread toward the new day. Less than five seconds out, and he already regretted his decision to quit ‘King’s Journey.’ However, there wasn’t much he could have done as the situation was out of his hands.

Razznik’s final battle marked the end of King’s Journey.

Genaco Incorporated, the company behind King’s Journey, was closing its servers at 7:00am, in preparation for a new game they tagged Live No Evil, which would launch later in the day at 6:00pm.

“TV On,” Suzuki ordered, and the 40” flat screen mounted on the opposite wall turned on. As always, it was tuned to G1, the prime gaming channel network in the world. Suzuki always found it funny how these network channels kept managing to crawl back to life despite the odds. Two decades ago, Television Networks found themselves at risk of extinction as ratings steadily declined. Millennials just did not resonate with their content, preferring the ease of watching videos on a streaming site.

Sports channels were the only channels that managed to keep high ratings. Other channels frantically searched for a way to catch up or at least cut a slice of the digital market for themselves. It was at this time that someone took notice of gaming’s ever-increasing demand on video streaming sites and the seemingly unstoppable growth and success of Esports.

The Network Companies suddenly had a crazy idea. Why not create a few channels dedicated to this little market? See what happens. No one expected the resounding success that followed. Rabid fans happily bought subscriptions to the different networks to support the progress of their favorite Esports teams. In response to this unprecedented move, the networks began to promote even more gaming content.

Drama and movie channels showcased staged stories within games, complete with voice actors. Sports channels fought over exclusivity for different esports, and some channels went as far as to dedicate everything to gaming content alone.

Genaco Inc’s gaming channel, G1 used to be ‘just one of the channels.’ However, as fate would have it, its total exclusivity over King’s Journey, the world’s first ever virtual game, after its release launched its status to the number one gaming channel overnight. The gaming channel made stars out of dozens of gamers and changed the public’s perception of gamers as a whole.

Gaming was no longer a career path to be scoffed at. Little children in kindergarten often put down ‘Professional Gamer’ as their career choice.

Suzuki walked over to a treadmill located next to the entrance door and started his morning run.

“I’ve got to say Tomeo-chan, that fight was I-I-I- Incredible! I got goosebumps! Look, look the goosebumps!”

“Chills! I got chills Naosuke-kun! I thought my life was over when Razznik glared at me!”

“Ah, I know what you mean! But, Tomeo-chan, you did die though.”

“Huhuhuhu, Naosuke-kun you scrub. Everybody died, but I made sure to punch him once!”

“Uwah! Seriously!?”

“He blocked it though.”

“Hahaha, that’s more like it Tomeo-chan! I almost thought you were better than me.”

“Omo.”

Anyone who watched G1 was familiar with the broadcasting duo of Nashi Naosuke and Yanase Tomeo. The dynamic duo’s over-the-top reactions and playful banter while reporting King’s Journey related news made them one of the most popular presenters on television. Their ratings were consistently high, and they usually headlined important gaming events.

It was only natural that they would be in charge of the end-game event. ‘Ballad of the Demon King’ was the most significant gaming event in the history of gaming. Over two million accounts had logged on to participate in that glorious activity. Most programmers in the world were still scratching their heads in wonder over what the hell kind of servers Genaco used that could handle that kind of information overload in a small space.

Suzuki could already guess what the two were going to talk about over the next couple of minutes. The game footage would take some time to process and edit even for the efficient Genaco Gaming Division so these two would hype the crowd with Razznik’s past exploits and provide some background for the final fight.

Suzuki was the last person on the earth who needed more information about Razznik. He picked up a pair of headphones that hung on the treadmill and drowned himself in OSTs from his favorite anime.

Exactly thirty minutes later, Suzuki stopped his run and started a set of body weight training consisting of squats, planks, handstands, and push-ups among others. These took up another thirty minutes and Suzuki, drenched in sweat, took off his headphones. As he expected, Naosuke-san was still promoting the upcoming the highlight show.

“...Fans from all Over the Globe gathered for this event, and it is rumored to be one of the Greatest in the history of Virtual Gaming! Join us at Genaco at 7 a.m as the Scariest, Craziest, Wildest fight you’ve ever laid your eyes on is brought to your TV screen. Remember, you saw it here first at G1!...”

They sure worked fast. Suzuki mused as he walked into the shower. Their speed did not surprise him. The company stood unchallenged at the top of the gaming industry because of their enthusiasm towards gaming. From the CEO down to the mailroom, every employer Suzuki met in the past three years genuinely loved games. Unlike most infamous gaming companies, Genaco Gaming was a gaming entity first, and a company second.

Some theorized that the only reason Genaco Gaming did not adopt the predatory practices of other companies was because of the staggering financial prowess of their parent company, Genaco Inc. Their claims did have a grounding in reality.

In 2024, Genaco Inc, the multi-billion dollar Japanese, food manufacturing company suddenly came out of the blue with a new power source they dubbed ‘Nesla coils.’ The coils were powered by a new element supposedly synthesized by a Japanese scientist at one of Genaco’s labs. The coils could generate near unlimited power, and the company had chosen to name them after Nikola Tesla, the man who envisioned a world powered by free energy.

Contrary to what they expected, Genaco Inc found themselves ostracized by the world’s top electronics companies and governments as no one was able to reverse engineer the technology behind the coils. No one was stupid enough to rely on a source of energy that was monopolized by a single company. Who knew just what kind of crazy prices they would be forced to pay?

Even the leaders of Genaco’s home country, Japan released an ultimatum that it would not be allowed to trade any further if it did not reveal the secret behind the Nesla Coils. Capitalism was good and all, but nobody wanted one company to have the power to hold the entire world hostage whenever they damn well pleased.

Many predicted Genaco Incorporated would fold after this. Who cared how great their creation was if no one would buy it? The world was ready to play the waiting game until the company chose to share the secret behind the Nesla Coils.

No one anticipated Genaco Incorporated’s counterattack. The company ignored the world and decisively relocated its entire company to Nigeria, Africa. They made deals with governments to built massive Nesla Coil-powered plants designed to provide unlimited energy to their countries. While the power plants were in the works, Genaco began production of their own electronics. These included televisions, mobile phones, fridges and much more, all of which were powered by the inexhaustible Nesla Coils. These products were then exclusively sold in Africa.

The citizens of these African countries barely knew what it was like to have constant energy. Electronic products that could basically last forever were like manna from heaven. The company’s products sold like hotcakes, and they often found themselves falling behind the demand.

To remedy this, Genaco partnered with some small electronics companies based in Africa. Since the big boys of the world refused to play ball, it was more than happy to raise centurions of their own from scratch. These small companies had nothing to do with those top names around the world. They happily accepted Genaco’s offer!

With these electronics companies under its belt, Genaco was like a tiger that grew wings. They solely focused on the production of the coils which they sent to their subsidiary companies to install in their products. These products were then gobbled up by an insatiable market.

It did not take long before citizens of the 1 st world countries took notice. Millions of tourists and volunteers arrived in Africa every year. These people bought the products and brought them back to their countries. They would then boast to their friends and families who in anger, attempted to order these products for themselves, only to find out that the products were exclusively sold in Africa.

The world was not ready for what happened next. For the whole of 2024 and 2025, the number of flights leaving and entering countries around the world tripled in size. What was even more shocking was that most of these flights were not to other 1 st world countries but to Africa of all places.

The Nigerian government could not believe their eyes as the number of tourists skyrocketed to the millions in less than a year. The government realized this was a chance of a lifetime. They partnered with Genaco to launch a complete restructure and beautification of the country.

The entire country felt the change, and its citizens began to walk with their pumped chest. Where they would have once marveled at a foreigner, the citizens now saw them so frequently, they shed the inferiority complex they once suffered under.

Nigeria was not the only country affected by this change. Genaco rapidly expanded and opened branches in several other African countries, bringing with them tourists and rapid development in these countries.

In February 2026, Genaco commisioned the first Nesla-Powered Plant in Nigeria. The plant generated over 200 Gigawatts of energy, enough to not only power the whole of Nigeria, but some of its neighboring countries too. It was a frightening amount of energy that chilled the world to its core.

The massive energy provided by the coils rendered oil-generated energy obsolete overnight. Even worse, following this, Genaco released a press conference stating that they sought to improve the world by promoting clean energy. Unfortunately, many countries blackmailed their company into revealing the secret behind their no.1 product, the Nesla Coils. They lamented that this was the reason they had resorted to selling their products exclusively in Africa as it was the only region in the world that did not force unreasonable tariffs on them.

Genaco then revealed that in a few years, Nesla Coils could provide enough energy to power the entire world for eternity. However, it would only happen if the citizens pushed back against their countries.

Citizens of these 1 st world countries were already pissed off because of Genaco’s exclusivity to Africa. This announcement sparked a burning rage in their hearts! How dare they! These fucking leaders always thought of their pockets! Governments all around the world were bombarded by their citizens, and soon they could only reluctantly surrender to Genaco’s demands.

Dozens of oil-producing countries lost their primary sources of income overnight, leading to global unrest that nearly culminated in a world war. Several terrorist groups and spy agencies targeted Genaco’s headquarters in Nigeria, but the country’s security had drastically improved over the past three years. All attempts failed miserably.

These six months were tagged “The Energy Wars.”

Luckily when things were at the height of madness, in August 2027, a weapons manufacturing company in U.S.A revealed their latest invention. It was the first ever mobile-suit to grace the world. It was bulky and slow but possessed the power of several tanks and armor as strong as a bunker’s wall.

The most important factor, however, was that it was powered by the Nesla Coils.

The world’s powers realized that while they had been trying to stop the production of the Nesla Coils, the sneaky U.S.A had already stolen a march on the future arms race. The war ended almost as abruptly as it had started.

The countries fell over themselves to purchase all the Nesla Coils they could, then devoted their precious time and resources to an annual stick measuring contest in a ‘friendly’ expo.

With all borders reopened, no one could stop Genaco’s rise. Within two years, the company was valued at three trillion U.S dollars on the stock market. Its owner and C.E.O, Jediah Kaguya Minako was awarded a Nobel Prize for his role in saving the world’s energy crisis. The crazy C.E.O was not satisfied and proclaimed the company would be building a space station as his next project, and also find a way to fix the world’s trash problem.

Genaco Inc’s financial prowess allowed them to quickly build new divisions to focus on different products. Some of these divisions included the food manufacturing and gaming divisions whose headquarters were stationed in Japan as a sort of peace offering to the country.

This diversity paid off in November 2031, when a Russian scientist in one of their Russian research branches invented the first, true-immersion virtual-reality machine. It was a massive, fridge-like device which required its users to lie in it. It was dubbed ‘Virtual-Drive.’

The product was costly, and only had a few programs installed at launch, but it still sold out within moments! No one cared that the device was only a few activities like skiing, football, fencing, and skydiving. They were so blown away by the liberating feeling of controlling a perfect, athletic body in these worlds.

Old men and women with more money than seconds to live rushed at these products. They happily relived a time when they were younger and more vibrant! Genaco continually made improvements to their virtual worlds until it all culminated in the breathtaking release of King’s Journey in 2038, accompanied by a much cheaper, consumer-friendly, streamlined helmet that they dubbed, ‘Virtual Gear.’

The Virtual Gear together with King’s Journey blew every other virtual game out of the water! Its sales passed surpassed seven million in two days, as the entire world focused on this incredible hallmark of genius computer engineering.

Genaco Inc once again proved why it was the world’s top rated company. No others could begin to compare.

Brrr! Brr!

A sudden outburst of a mix of anime and game battle music roused Suzuki from his daydream. He got out of the shower and cast a curious glance at the wall clock hanging over his reading desk. For some reason, he felt like had spent much longer than usual in the shower. The clock confirmed he had only spent ten minutes, and he chalked it up to the first day of school nerves. Suzuki ignored the ringing phone and took his time dressing, knowing the caller would keep calling till he picked it up.

Suzuki was soon dressed in his school uniform, a white long sleeve shirt on navy blue pants and his personal touch; a white hoody. Suzuki ensured his sketchpad and pencils were in his schoolbag then slung it over his shoulder. Satisfied with his preparations, he finally picked the call and braced for the enthusiastic voice on the other end.

“Mato-kun! That was brilliant! We got so much footage from your fight!” An enthusiastic voice boomed through. Luckily, Suzuki had expected this and placed the phone far away from his ears. The passionate voice belonged to James Shouyou, a half-Japanese half-American who also happened to be the C.E.O of Genaco Gaming and Entertainment.

Suzuki, though, knew him as the annoying man who had scouted Razznik three years ago. At that time, Suzuki and Razznik struck a broadcasting rights deal with Genaco’s Entertainment Division. Genaco gained the exclusive rights to videos of Razznik’s fights and epic quests in return for a significant sum of money.

Suzuki was only fourteen at the time of the deal, so his adoptive parents were put in charge of the revenue. A significant portion of those funds went into purchasing the new duplex they lived in, and some were used to buy the smart-wall on Suzuki’s ceiling.

To this day, Suzuki had no idea exactly how much he was worth. This house was enough of a landmine as it was without him poking the hornets’ nest. He planned to keep his head down until his 18 th birthday which coincided with his graduation from High School. He would pack up and find his own place then.

“You’re noisy James-san,” Suzuki said and shook as he walked down the staircase to the kitchen on the ground floor.

Pictures of a loving family of four hung on the walls. A 5”7 middle-aged man with a pair of stern, almond-shaped brown eyes, a small nose, and a cleft chin stood next to a beautiful beady-eyed woman with a softly shaped jaw and a stubby nose. Mato Suzuki stood on one end of the picture, while his twelve-year-old younger sister, Akio Rie stood at the other end.

Mr. and Mrs. Akio was famous in the neighborhood for being the perfect, loving couple, but a flash of hatred temporarily crossed Suzuki’s eyes as he glared at the couple’s picture. Eventually, he removed his gaze and walked to the kitchen.

Suzuki could not help but recall his birth parents who died in a car accident when he was twelve years old. They were not the best parents a child could ask for. His mother’s terrible bi-polar personality meant Suzuki did not know whether he would be kissed or punched at any given moment.

Suzuki’s father was not the abusive sort, but he was married to his work and never returned home for weeks. During the rare occasions that he did, he would spend most of his time with his wife, and all but ignore his son. In perhaps the most twisted version of parenting Suzuki had ever heard of, his father enroled him in martial schools so he would get used to being beaten.

Suzuki’s sacrifice was necessary for his mother’s sake, his father had promised. Perhaps that was the moment something in Suzuki shattered.

However, even compared to Suzuki’s birth parents, Mr. and Mrs. Akio were the worst type of scum. At least his parents loved each other and him in their own twisted, misguided ways.

Mr. and Mrs. Akio hated each other’s guts. They argued and insulted each other all the time, and it was clear to Suzuki, even at a very young age that the only reason they kept him around was for the foster money.

Suzuki’s birth father might have been a shitty dad, but he did carefully plan for his son’s future. He bought insurances and kept savings which were to be used to at least complete his son’s education if anything should happen to him.

The Aiko’s were the lucky family to win that Jackpot. Suzuki’s father was apparently wealthier than he let on because the amount he left behind was more than enough for Suzuki’s education until he graduated from the University.

The greedy Mr. Akio got used to the good life and began to slack off at work. He eventually got laid off due to his increasingly sore attitude. At this time, the lawyer representing Suzuki’s father’s will revealed that there was a clause that stated that if the family in charge of Suzuki did not have a stable job, the firm would take over the accounts and fund Suzuki’s schooling.

Although Suzuki’s father did indeed plan things well, he did not account for his decision impacting Suzuki as terribly as it did. Mr. Akio blamed Suzuki for the loss of his job and the free money. He saw Suzuki as a sneaky, ungrateful snake who wanted to keep all the money to himself. It did not take long for these verbal abuses to turn to physical violence.

Mr. Akio was quite careful. He only hit Suzuki in places clothes would cover. The family had an image to preserve after all.

In response, Suzuki endeavored to reduce the amount of time he was in the same room as the abusive man or he might end up accidentally murdering him. Suzuki eventually found solace in street-fights and online gaming. His gaming career started on a computer he salvaged and rebuilt from the junkyard. Suzuki then saved up on Genaco coins from the company’s different online games and finally purchased a Virtual Gear and King’s Journey two years after its release in 2040.

For the first three months, Suzuki barely made enough in-game coins to keep up with the monthly subscriptions. However, that all changed when Razznik defeated the King of Giants. The battle put Razznik’s name in the air. Soon enough, James approached Suzuki and his parents for a business deal. Before he could even consider the terms, his guardians eagerly accepted on his behalf.

Suzuki did not really care about the money. That was not the reason he started gaming in the first place. Suzuki never asked for a cent, hoping the new cash would bring peace to the house, but the couple only found new reasons to argue. Ms. Akio blamed her husband for not bringing in any money and called him out on living on a child’s income. Mr. Akio, in turn, took out his frustrations on Suzuki.

“Suzuki! Are you ignoring me!?” James' voice cut Suzuki out of his murderous reverie, and for once he was thankful for the older man’s never-ending enthusiasm.

“What do you think?” Suzuki coldly replied while he prepared breakfast for the household.

“Tch. Still as rude as ever,” James admonished, but his playful tone revealed his true feelings. “We sent the payment to your account as usual, with a bonus for Razznik’s excellent acting! Sent shivers down my spine.”

Suzuki shook his head. This time, there was no acting involved. Razznik had lived his last moments as himself without thinking of Suzuki for even one moment. “I have to go James-san.”

“Ah, sure sure,” James said. “When you return to the virtual world, call me. I am sure you will have more awesome adventures to share.”

“A man your age should not say awesome, James-san,” Suzuki chided and cut the call in the middle of James’ astonished gasp.

Suzuki finished preparing breakfast, laid it out on the table and packed two lunchboxes for himself and his pseudo-sister. He placed his lunch into his school bag and put his sister’s in the fridge. He made a quick check to ensure he didn't forget anything, then walked out.

Suzuki shook his head as he came across several virtual-reality posters and ads on his way to school. The technology had taken over several facets of society. Businesses used it to conduct long-distance meetings, and the military used it for training purposes. Unfortunately for Suzuki, schools were exempted from the virtual world by law. Holding classes for children in university and below online was illegal.

It was 7:35am by the time Suzuki left his home, and all he could hear were people chirping non-stop about the ‘Demon King.’ Suzuki guessed the show must have finally begun its broadcast. It made sense they would target 7:30 as this was the time students would start their preparations for school.

“Let me go! Do you know who I am!? I’m a level 340 Assassin! One swipe and you’re dead!”

Suzuki looked up and saw a man being held down by the station’s security guards.

“Uwah. That’s bad. So Parallel is real?”

“I don’t know.”

“I heard it only happens to game addicts.”

“Hehe, I heard it’s a government gone wrong.”

Suzuki ignored the gossip and boarded his train. Parallel was indeed a phenomenon that worried the gaming community. The number of cases was indeed tiny, affecting only about three percent of the population, but it had dire effects. Mild cases of Parallel could lead to contractees temporarily being unable to differentiate between the virtual and real world. Some cases had recorded severe side effects like memory loss and complete personality breakdown.

None of these had anything to do with Suzuki. His gaming character was completely separate from his real-life personality. There was no chance he would ever be affected by the disease. More importantly, after a few stops, everyone on the train forgot about the man with Parallel and returned to praising Razznik as they streamed the highlights on their phones.

Suzuki plugged in his earphones and listened to his unique mix as the world zoomed by. At his stop, Suzuki got off the train and leisurely strolled to school. He arrived at the school gates at 8:00 am, thirty minutes earlier than he was supposed to. This had become a habit he had subconsciously formed to avoid walking alongside the student horde.

As usual, Suzuki met a familiar figure standing at the school gate, straight, long, black hair fluttering lightly in the spring wind. The fair-skinned teenage girl, tagged as the most beautiful woman by the school’s horny teenagers had her gaze trained on the approaching Suzuki. Indeed, she was the ideal woman for many of these guys. She was tall, athletic, and adequately endowed. Best of all, she always exuded a cold, majestic, aura that made her seem unapproachable to the general public.

Suzuki’s fingers tapped his school bag as he resisted an urge to draw her picture right there. Instead, he raised his right hand and greeted, “Good morning, Yumi-kun.”

“Don’t call me kun!” Adachi Ayumi admonished with a roll of her eyes. “Yo yourself. I am surprised you made it to school today.”

Suzuki’s brow rose. “Is there any reason I wouldn’t?”

Ayumi brushed her hair. “I was certain you would be curled up in a ball on your bed crying.” She raised her hands as she mocked, “It is not every day you lose fifty-percent of your friend base.”

This time, it was Suzuki who rolled his eyes and walked up to her. “Are you sure you’re not the one who was crying? Look, your eyes are still red.”

“R-really!?” Ayumi questioned in panic and took out her phone. She was about to turn on the camera when she saw the terrible, mocking smirk on Suzuki’s face. “Y-you! I’ll kill you!”

“You can try,” Suzuki welcomed.

“Hmph. Not interested,” Ayumi violently refused. She suddenly went quiet, and the sound of fluttering leaves filled the air. Ayumi whispered in a heavy whisper, “So, he’s really gone.”

“Yeah,” Suzuki confirmed. “He won’t be coming back.”

“I see,” Ayumi murmured. She bowed her head to hide the tears that formed in her eyes and placed a clenched fist on Suzuki’s chest. “You must promise you will not forget him.”

Suzuki sighed and placed his hand on her head. “Don’t worry. I couldn’t forget even if I wanted to.”

“Good,” Ayumi confirmed and wiped her eyes. “The students will be coming soon. You should go to class. I still have my duties.”

“Yeah, Yeah, Student Council President-kun.” Suzuki waved away Ayumi’s protest and walked into the building. “See you after school.”

Suzuki’s slack-off time did not last long. It was the first day of a new session, and all students were forced to attend the dreaded morning assembly.

The morning assembly was like every one before it, bland and tiresome. It dragged on forever, but soon Suzuki was free from the torture and in class for homeroom. His homeroom teacher that year was Ms. Homuri, a voluptuous brown-haired lady in her late forties (though she would deny that ten times out of ten), who taught English. She had so many rumors flying about around her, some bad some good that he had chosen to ignore.

After the obligatory greeting, Ms. Homuri quieted down the class and prepared to give her opening speech when the overhead speakers blared loudly, “Eh... Mato-kun, Suzuki Mato-kun, please report to the Principal’s office. I repeat Suzuki Mato-kun, report to the Principal’s office.”

Perplexed by the call, Suzuki got up from his seat.

“Uwah, it’s Mato-kun.”

“Do you think he got into another fight?”

“I heard he beat up Rimu High’s boss by himself.”

“Seriously? What a delinquent! What’s he doing in our school?”

“His folks must be loaded.”

Suzuki ignored his gossiping classmates. He left the classroom and made his way to the Principal’s office, wondering what the problem was this time. Out of respect for the school, the young man stopped challenging other schools in the district to fights. In fact, he traveled all the way to Kawagoe for his last match.

Could it be that someone in Kawagoe recognized and subsequently reported him to the school? Suzuki refused to believe his luck was that shitty. Suzuki knocked on the Principal’s door, and after he was granted access, he walked into the room.

The principal was a tall, greying man in his fifties with a face that was always smiling. His office was lightly decorated with a sparrow on the desk and some weird excuses for art hanging on the walls. On the opposite side of his desk were two chairs for visitors, and at the center of the room sat two sofas facing each other, with a glass table in the middle.

The sofas were occupied by two generic men in black suits and matching glasses. Only douches and government agents wore black sunglasses indoors, and something told him it was the latter.

It gave Suzuki the creeps.

“Ah, Mato-kun,” his Principal, Daichi Keisuke greeted, as he walked in. “These gentlemen are here to see you.”

“Nice to meet you,” Suzuki flatly greeted flatly. Generic #1 and #2 picked up on his tone.

“I see high school kids these days do not accord their elders with respect,” #1 said as he stood up and stared Suzuki down.

Huge! Suzuki thought as he took a step back so he would not have to strain his neck. Standing at 5”10, Suzuki was by no means short. In fact, he was on the tall side for a Japanese teenager. However, this man stood two heads taller than him.

Suzuki, unfortunately, was born with a stubbornness in his blood that landed him in trouble all the time. “I believe I greeted you,” he said, as he returned the glare. “You called me here. If you do not have anything to say, I will return to class.” Suzuki turned and walked to the door.

“Ah, about that Mato-kun,” Daichi said rather nervously. “You do not go here anymore.”

“What?” Suzuki whirled around, disbelieving his ears. “What do you mean by that?!”

“You are coming with us,” #2 said, and the voice caused him to raise an eyebrow in question. He took his glasses off, and Suzuki realized ‘he’ was actually a ‘she.’ Still generic though, with the short black hair and suit.

“What are you talking about?”

“Your guardians already signed guardianship over to us,” Generic #2 said, holding up few sheets of paper which he snatched and scanned through.

Unbelievable! They had really sold him out after everything he had done for the ungrateful wretches. One last year. That was all the time they had left over him, and the wretches had cashed in before their favorite purse walked out of their lives.

“This cannot be legal!” Suzuki yelled in protest and tossed the papers back at #2.

“I know you are shocked, but calm down and let me explain,” #2 said in an attempt to soothe his anger, but the young man was having none of it.

“I’ve heard enough,” Suzuki said, and turned to open the door, but #1 grabbed his shoulder. Suzuki’s hand paused over the doorknob. “Get your hands off me.”

“I cannot do that kid,” #1 replied with a smug look. "Now just listen to the adults a-!”

Suzuki suddenly bent forward and kicked #1’s ankles out from under him. #1’s words froze in his throat as Suzuki caught him over his back. Suzuki grabbed the older man’s collar with his left hand and placed his right hand on the man’s midriff. With a loud grunt, he tossed the larger man over him.

Bang!

#1 unceremoniously slammed against the door and crumbled to the floor.

“I warrrrrr... ” Suzuki stuttered and fell to the floor as fifty-thousand volts of electricity messed up all his voluntary skeletal muscles and knocked him out.

“W-was that necessary?” Daichi asked nervously cleaning the sweat on his face with a towel.

“He was reported to have extreme anger issues,” #2 replied holstering her stun gun. “Do not worry. Your school will receive healthy donations by tomorrow.”

“Y-yes,” the principal stammered.

“Get up,” #2 said to #1 who stood up angry and embarrassed over what had just transpired.

“Damn kid,” #1 spat as he picked Suzuki roughly and tossed him over his shoulder.

“Package acquired,” #2 said to someone on her earpiece, and the trio exited the school via an unmarked van waiting nearby.

Somewhere in the building, Ayumi’s brows furrowed as a terrible feeling clogged her heart. It was similar to when Razznik passed. Like she had just lost something important…