Tick-Tock-… Tick-Tock-… the sound of a wall clock ambiently fills the room.

A man in a suit quietly and comfortably sits on an armchair, as he flips through the files clipped onto his file folder.

In front of the man in a suit, is another man sitting on the back of his desk looking at the man with a suit with a smile. Patiently waiting for the suited man to speak.

The suited man then closes his file folder and puts it on the table in front of him. The suited man blankly stares at the man sitting in front of him “…I’ve seen your CV mister Haiko Kyouske… And I truly am impressed at what has been stated. Not just from what was already written but also from the reviews from your past clients as I have been told…”

The suited man crosses his arms and glances at the office of the man sitting in front of him named Haiko Kyouske. He sees all the awards and certificates Haiko has earned throughout his life from varying professions and works.

Haiko smiles and relaxes his arms onto his desk. “I do always try to keep up to my word every time I fulfill a request. Should the need for me to do anything extra or necessary, lies whether should it benefit the client’s needs… Which as I’ve have done multiple times most of the time ends with everyone leaving with a smile!” Haiko chuckles, “Oh, and I don’t charge for the added service. Don’t worry! My price stays the same no matter what service I’ve been requested to do…” Haiko says warmly with a smile to the suited man.

Haiko jolts as he remembers something to say, “But! Do keep in mind, I don’t and surely won’t do anything that will lead to any illicit behaviors…” Haiko quickly says.

The suited man nods, “…My request wouldn’t lead to any of that”

Haiko smiles, “If you say so! Now, do tell me… What exactly am I needed for…” Haiko looks at a note placed on his desk, “I’ve been noted in advance that this was a matter about a relationship with your partner... Correct?”

The suited man nervously nods, “Y-yes… She’s a childhood friend of mine who I’ve been with since the day I could remember…”

Haiko grins, “Lucky lady…!”

The suited man blushes, “So, what I need your help with is about…”

* * * * * * * * *

Haiko and the suited man discuss their plans for a few hours, as the clock reaches around past noon. They finish up with the final details.

The suited man coughs, “…then that should all be it. Should you need anything more, do contact me around the time I’ve given you…” as the suited man says to Haiko, he stands up and gets ready to leave. Grabbing his coat from the coat hanger near the door.

Haiko smiles as he finishes jotting down the last details for the request. “…I’ll keep that in mind! And do feel free to contact me anytime if you need anything…” Haiko says to the suited man.

The suited man opens the door and looks back at Haiko. “Of course, I’ll leave you to it then…” He says to Haiko as he closes the door behind him and walks down the stairs.

Haiko waves at the Suited man as he leaves. Then opens a drawer on his desk and takes out a large leather journal. As he opens it, each page is filled with details of every request Haiko has done. He looks for an empty page to write down.

As he finds an empty page, he speaks what he writes down. “Title… Operation Sneaky Proposal… Notes… the lucky lady is a graduating college student and the man to be is a businessman acting as a father figure to her after being separated from her original family due to reasons preferably not told to me…” Haiko stops for a moment as he leans back and thinks. “An age gap like Aunty and Uncle huh… *chuckles* Well compared to them these two aren’t a hundred years apart!” Haiko says with a smile on his face.

Haiko grins as he continues to write, “Spicy details… the current relationship is at a Girlfriend and Boyfriend phase, for at least five years now… Keeping it a secret from everyone… the goal is to prepare a very special yet simple gathering that Mister shy guy will use as a way to announce their relationship with their friends and propose to the lucky lady…” Haiko stops writing and smiles as he plays with his pencil.

Haiko ponders as he glances at the journal in front of him, playfully lifting up the pages. “…I really need to upgrade my stuff. Maybe buy one of those Pro Tablets I’ve keep seeing kids’ these days use… Or I could ask Uncle to give me a prototype of the one he’s making…” Haiko says to himself as he closes his journal and looks at the clock.

Haiko then looks outside from the window behind him and sees hardly anyone outside. Haiko sighs, “Guess time to close shop for now…” as he says he takes his journal and places it on a leather strap pack and heads out the door, making sure to lock as he leaves.

As Haiko reaches the outside front of the building, he locks its doors and then turns to the right and with a couple of steps turns to the right again, and enters the house just beside the building he’s working at.

Haiko grabs the mail on his mailbox before He opens the door to his house. As he enters, he removes his shoes and wears his slippers.

Haiko then daintily acts excited, “I’m home!” then he speaks in a feminine voice. “Oh! Welcome home dear! Do you want something to eat? A bath? Or…” Haiko acts blushingly. Then stops as he thinks clearly as he lives alone and embarrassingly laughs at himself.

Haiko heads to his kitchen to look inside the fridge, but to his dismay, all he could see are a bottle of drinks and a half-eaten sandwich. He picks up the sandwich and takes a sniff at it before deciding to throw it to the bin.

Haiko then checks the notes stuck on the fridge reminding him to go get groceries. “Ah… I do need stuff for the babysitting work tomorrow…” Haiko grabs the note stating the children’s favorite food and places it on his leather strap pack’s pocket.

Haiko then heads back to the front door, grabs an umbrella and his keys. As he then heads out to the supermarket nearby.

Haiko walks and stops by the sign in front of his building. “E.L. Private and Personal Helpers…” Haiko says to himself solemnly. “Well… only ‘helper’ now…” Haiko meekly chuckles as he continues to the supermarket.

/=/ /=/ /=/ /=/ /=/ /=/ /=/ /=/ /=/

As Haiko continues to walk to the supermarket, he keeps getting greeted by the people who pass by him as he’s well known around the area. Thanks to his work.

Crossing the train tracks towards the shopping district, Haiko stops for a moment at one of the stalls he’s made himself a regular too.

A Burly-Man stands at the stall, smiling as he sees Haiko come by. “Yo kid! What’d ya need today?” the Burly-Man asks with a beaming smile at Haiko as he stands in front of his stall.

Haiko greets the Burly-Man nicely and begins choosing specific ingredients.

The Burly-Man glances at Haiko, “Ey kid, you’ been eating well? Ya seem a bit skinny since the last time I saw ya…” the Burly-Man says to Haiko concerningly.

Haiko laughs, “Really? Guess it’s just been a busy month that I hardly notice…” he says as he gives his picked-out ingredients to the Burly-Man as he then checks his muscles.

The Burly-Man clicks his tongue and chuckles, “Ya should know to take a breather from time to time!” he says as he uses a scale to weigh the ingredients Haiko picked out.

“I do… from time to time…” Haiko says thinking to himself. He then shrugs, “It just comes in the family, I guess. Besides I like working, besides I get to have some unique and interesting days!” Haiko says as he grabs some money off his wallet.

The Burly-Man sighs, “Yeesh… Can’t argue with that I guess; yer parents are sure to be proud of ya’ knowing you’ve been keeping up the family business! I can hear them just bragging about ya now!” the Burly-Man boisterously laughs, making Haiko chuckle thinking about it as well.

Haiko grins, “I bet they are…” he says solemnly and with a smile while looking at the sky.

The Burly-Man smiles and then jolts as he remembers something, “Oh! Give me a sec!” the Burly-Man then takes something at the back of his stall and puts it on a separate plastic bag. Handing it and the bag with Haiko’s picked out ingredients to Haiko with a smile on his face. “Take these green apples, my son got for me coming from the city! I’ve tried some myself, and I can say they sure taste amazing!” The Burly-Man says to Haiko excitedly.

Haiko takes both the plastic bags while also giving his payment, and looks at the Burly-Man skeptically. “You sure?”

The Burly-Man smiles, “Yeah! Just consider it my thanks for that time ya helped me, now go get already!” says the Burly-Man chuckling happily.

Haiko chuckles and smiles, “Alright, thanks for the apples then!” he says as he leaves and continues to the supermarket.

/=/ /=/ /=/ /=/ /=/ /=/ /=/ /=/ /=/

Shortly before reaching the supermarket. Haiko passes by the park.

Haiko glances at the park looking for someone but ends up seeing only kids and adults hanging out. Haiko shrugs, “Guess he ain’t there yet…” as he continues onward.

Reaching the supermarket, he waves at the guard posted outside as he enters. Quickly picking out the things he needed and grabbing a box of cooked Chicken Nuggies, so he calls them, at one of the stalls inside the supermarket along the way.

Haiko then heads on back, again passing by the park. This time Haiko smiles as he sees a familiar face.

An old man wearing a black fedora and a distinctly decorated Sunday best clothing. Sits on the park bench smiling and watching the children play.

“Yo! Fedo Jii-san!” Haiko calls out to the Old-Man smiling.

The Old-Man turns and sees Haiko approach him. He raises one of his hands in a gesture to say hello.

As Haiko makes it towards the Old-Man, he sits next to him and places his box of Chicken Nuggies and Green Apple in between him and the Old-man. While his groceries on his other side.

Haiko then grins, “You know Fedo Jii-san… It’s a crime having to target children, best you hold back if you don’t want to be called a child predator…” Haiko jokingly says as he takes a bite on a Chicken Nuggie.

Before Haiko can bite his Chicken Nuggie, Fedo Jii-san clobbers Haiko on top his head with a blank smile on his face. “And I hear people should respect their elders…” says Fedo Jii-san as he picks up a green apple from the plastic bag.

Haiko rubs his head and laughs, “Hey, it’s my job to treat everyone fairly!” Haiko shrugs and smiles. “So, watcha doing today Fedo Jii-san…” Haiko says as he takes a bite on his Chicken Nuggie.

Fedo Jii-san smiles as he observes the people at the park. “Just enjoying the view of youth being happy and free, as the old man I am… Unlike someone I know who prefers to waste his life for others rather himself…” Fedo Jii-san says bluntly to Haiko as he bites on his apple.

Haiko wryly chuckles and sighs, “Yeah, yeah, I get it…” Haiko says as he raises his hands in surrender.

Fedo Jii-san smiles and looks at Haiko. “How are things going on for you? Last time we met you told me you had to teach some martial arts for some kids, and at the same week you had to work on fixing the neighborhood antennas, thanks to some kids, which you also willingly had to find rather than asking the police, that’s been knocking them over…”

Haiko ponders, “Hmm… Nothing new… Oh! But I do have a job about something similar to Auntie and Uncle’s situation. Been asked to play cupid on that one, and besides that. I have some baby-sitting duties for a couple of days, picky eaters apparently”

Fedo Jii-san sighs, “So, another full week?” as he says he takes another apple as he finishes the first one.

Haiko chuckles, “You know me, always have room for anyone in need!” Haiko says with a grin.

“But never doing anything for himself…” Fedo Jii-san bluntly says with a smirk. “That’s why some people worry about you…” he says as he takes a bite of his apple.

Haiko shrugs, “If others are happy, I’m happy. If you need anything you can just ask, is the least I can do for all the things you helped me with! Remember if it wasn’t for you and uncle, I wouldn’t be able to do the things I can today!” Haiko happily says.

Fedo Jii-san ponders and smiles, “I’ll take you up on that…”

“Oh? You planning on doing something?” Haiko asks curiously. “Keep in mind, I don’t do anything illegal though, so if you can’t hold off your desi-” before Haiko could finish Fedo Jii-san throws a fully eaten apple at him.

Fedo Jii-san ignores Haiko jokes and just smiles and leans back. “I’m just planning on visiting an old flame of mine…” he says as he looks at the sky becoming darker and slowly showing the stars.

Haiko jolts, “Are you ok? Are you sick or something?”

Fedo Jii-san laughs and waves his hands. “No, I’m not sick. I’m just going somewhere for a bit…”

Haiko sighs in relief, “Well, if you say so… Guess we won’t be seeing each other much until then huh…” Haiko says as he mimics Fedo Jii-san in leaning back and looking up at the sky.

Fedo Jii-san laughs, “We’ll see…” as he says both he and Haiko laugh together. As they continue to chat until the stars in the sky and the moon shines up high.

* * * * * * * * *

Haiko lived his life as usual. Working under his uncle, under the line of being a life aid for others. An entirely self-proprietary work, that only needs someone with the ability to do much of anything or adapt to any situation as they need be.

On a certain day on one of Haiko’s rare free days, having nothing scheduled. He passes by the supermarket again and was just on his way home.

Haiko sees the barriers for the train crossing path go down, but he also notices a familiar old man standing on the tracks. Seemingly unable to move.

Haiko sees the train coming, and quickly without thinking. He jumps over the barriers and quickly pushes the old man off the tracks. But as h1e sees, he instead is on the tracks and is about to be hit by the incoming train.

Haiko, for a brief moment, seemingly as though time has stopped. He sees a bright flash of white light. He can only see a white plane in front of him, slowly fading to black as the ear-piercing sound of the train slowly comes back.

As the darkness envelopes Haiko, he thinks to himself that he just died. Haiko laughs in disbelief but slowly comes to the realization of what he knows is the truth.

Haiko solemnly says his peace. As he monologues to himself as he seemingly feels like floating on water in the darkness, “Guess that’s one way for me to go… Helping others out…” Haiko chuckles. “I guess it wasn’t much of a surprise…” Haiko sighs.

Haiko ponders, “Think Uncle can do something about this? Nah… I’m probably scattered to bits…” Haiko shivers as he thinks of it.

Haiko aimlessly stares at the darkness. “Wonder if Fedo Jii-san made it? Thinking about what he said…”

The voice of Fedo Jii-san echoes inside Haiko’s head as Haiko remembers. “Just enjoying the view of youth being happy and free, as the old man I am… Unlike someone I know who prefers to waste his life for others rather himself…”

Haiko laughs, “All for others and none for myself huh… I think I had a good life, a few regrets here and there. Like having a girlfriend and stuff… but as long as people smile, I’m happy… At least now I can see mom and dad…” Haiko slowly lets himself drift as he makes peace with himself.

As Haiko drifts into the darkness, a loud voice echoes somewhere in the darkness. “Ain’t you a sweet boy!” the voice laughs as it says jokingly.

Haiko jolts and tries to find where the voice is coming from, but he only sees all of a sudden, the entire scenery starts to shine brightly white. Haiko notices orbs of light surrounding his now shapeless body.

The orbs of light bind and surround Haiko, making him unable to move. To his shock, he sees his body morphing and losing some of his arms and legs.

Haiko laughs nervously, “Okay… what’s going oOOONNNN!” as he says Haiko suddenly travels at light speed onto an unknown destination while screaming for his life.