A Storm

Day after day passed and it turned into a week. Aoki was still on his bed, weak and tired of everything that was around him. He had become pale and skinny due to bad dieting. He lost all his muscles he worked hard to get, he rarely ate food. The only two times he ate was die to his father but after those two times he didn't care anymore

His negligence towards the system's daily task cost him both the weakness due to fatigue transfer, and also made him lose some stats, but still none of those bothered him

Aoki got up from his bed and walked around his room heading towards the door. He picked up the bag with his phone and camera inside. He places them on the table where his desktop was and beside the desktop was the chocolate box he had bought for Hana, the medical personnel in charge of Hana said it was the only thing she owned

Aoki chuckled a little and opened the box, there was a piece of paper inside and a bar of chocolate under it, the paper was stained by the chocolate but still one could still see what was written on it

It was a letter from Hana as it stated. Aoki carried the box of the remaining chocolate to his bed and sat on it and began reading the letter.

Letter of Apology to Riku Aoki

"Ki-chan I don't know where to start from but I have to start from somewhere either. Firstly, How was the match? Did you play well, I hope you were the MVP if not you have to buy ten boxes of chocolates if we ever meet again"

'What's your deal with chocolate' Aoki chuckles as tears began to drop from his eyes

"The thing is I wanted to apologise for everything Ki-chan, I wanted to apologise for coming into your life, for making you waste your money getting me chocolates and finally for leaving you behind, I'm really sorry I've cost everyone around me nothing but pain and it hurts me also but I can't stop. I want you to move on Aoki, life's journey is all about singularity so I want you to move on and continue doing what you love the most, I saw the way your eyes shone brightly as you were talking about your first match, so I want you to continue to play football, if I was ever born again I'd love to meet you and love to do what you love the most, I love you Ki-chan so please move on"

Aoki sobs as he gently folded the paper, he opened the box and collected the chocolate and ate, with every bite he remembered something Hana.

Minutes passed and Aoki's door clicked open, from the dark room Aoki emerged his mother's sad face was the first thing he saw and all of a sudden a strong sense of motivation hit him.

"My son" Aoki's mother sobs and hugged him tightly "Go wash up, I'll get your food ready"

Aoki had finished, taking his bath and eating. He decided to head out and finish his daily quest. Just as he was getting ready, the doorbell rang and his mother went to answer

"Son, some people are looking for you" His mother said with a shaking voice

Aoki walks towards the door and opens it. Two men om black suit were in front of him and behind them was a black car with tilted glass even if you tried you won't see what was inside

"Please don't be afraid, the chairman wants to speak with you" One of the men points towards the car while the other went to open the door

Aoki enters the car and both men stand outside guarding the car. Inside the car was the old man from the hospital that day but Aoki didn't recognise him because he didn't see his face.

"We meet again Aoki-san" The man said

'Again??' Aoki thought and made a quick scan at the man face but couldn't remember when or where he had met the man "Sorry but I don't have any memory of you" Aoki said

"Yes yes, much expected, because compared to when we met, you look sane now"

"Is that so?" Aoki was quite shocked

"So I'll introduce myself first, I am Mizunoto Daiko, Mizunoto Hana father" Daiko said

"Hana-chan Father huh? But she never spoke about her parents'' Aoki strokes his chin

"Well….That's because she didn't know her parents" Daiko stuttered

"Yeah…that works too, or maybe she didn't accept her parents" Aoki said making the man shake in shock, Aoki noticed Daiko sudden behaviour "I was right too" Aoki teases the

"Well…."

"As you can see I wanted to go somewhere, so I'll take my leave…" Aoki opened the door and left the door

The man looked at the ceiling of the car and let out a sigh

A week passed and Aoki was finally back in shape, he hadn't gone back to school yet, he focused on getting fit before going to school. Most times Eita and Hanko visited but Aoki avoided them, he wanted to show them a difference, he wanted to show them that he is better than before.

Among those that visited was Daiko. Daiko visited regularly, sometimes even went to Aoki's school, Aoki managed to avoid him but sometimes Aoki was caught but he always ran away.

At last Aoko finally decided to give in, he accepted Daiko's, they set a venue and time for the meeting and some other criteria.

And the time for the meeting was next tomorrow being Tuesday. When asked why Aoki set the meeting on that date he said "I have somewhere to go, I won't be around" Aoki lied.

The truth is he made out last week to get back in shape, and next week to test out his Job Class, so Aoki decided to perform the Job selection today being Sunday, then run a quick test on Monday and thus place the meeting on Tuesday.

Before performing the Job selection he made necessary preparations, "Mom I have an online prep class this night please don't come into the room" he asked politely but yet sounded somewhat rude

"Hmmm…sure" His mother answered

"Even you dad"

"Rebellious stage huh??" His father said "Not like I have any of my stuff in your room"

"Thanks dad, thanks mom" Aoko said and dash into his room for more safety measures he locked the door and closed the windows he was now fully ready

"Open status" Aoki said blue light covers the dark room, his stats displayed on a holographic board in front of him

NAME: Riku Aoki

LVL: 18

CLASS: ???

STR: 47

AGL: 39

STA: 57

PHY: 59

SPD: 68

"Nice" Aoki commented with these stats he has solidified his stance in the starting eleven. A note was beneath his stats 'Tap to select class'

He taps on it another window pops up just like terms and conditions when launching a video game

'REQUIREMENTS FOR JOB SELECTION'

HOST SHOULD BE ATLEAST LEVEL 10

HOST SHOULD HAVE AT LEAST 0 OR A MINIMUM OF 3 FATIGUE LEVEL

HOST TO ENSURE THAT HE/SHE IS AT HOME OR A SAFE PLACE

"Hmm? Just three…I meet so" Aoki taps on proceed, another window pops up. A list of occupations pops up. Aoki swipe the screen until stops on footballer

"Here goes nothing" Aoki taps it and another window popped up again "What again"

ARE YOU SURE YOU WANT TO PROCEED

"Yes yes yes" Aoki taps on yes

A bright light emanates from Aoki's body filling the whole room

"Force sleep, what's that?" As Aoki questioned the timer counted down to zero and before he knew what was going on he was sound asleep.

Thirty minutes passed and Aoki opened his eyes. His body was heavy, he struggled to keep his eyes open. Gradually he got up from his bed and walked towards his table and sat on the office chair.

"Why do I feel so tired" he pondered as he scratched his hair

"Open status"

NAME: Riku Aoki

LVL: 17

CLASS: Novice Footballer (Lvl 1)

BASIC STATUS

STR: 47

AGL: 39

STA: 57

PHY: 59

SPD: 68

CLASS STATUS

Pass speed : 68

Pass accuracy : 56

Shot speed : 63

Shot accuracy :71

Shot technique: 51

Dribbling: 48

Dribbling speed: 43

Dribbling technique: 35

Jump: 58

Heading: 61

Heading technique: 43

Intellect: 47

Tenacity: 78

[NOTE: CLASS STATS CANNOT BE INCREASED WITH EXPERIENCE POINTS]

SKILL

Knuckle Shot (lvl 2)

One touch (lvl 2)

Analysis (lvl 1)

Seeing His stats made him lose motivation for a moment, because he has a long way to to go

"Jarvis.."

"Did you change your voice? You kind of sound weird"

"Hmm.. is that so, let me go open" Aoki tries to open the door but then heavy fatigue hits him, almost as if he got hit by a truck Aoki fell on the ground violently and passed out.

Aoki works up with his head ringing loudly, and hurting badly. He managed to get up and tried recollecting everything that had happened.

He got out of his room and had breakfast, his father had gone to work leaving only him and his mother at home.

Aoki rushed his meal and got prepared for his grinding today, his canvas and jersey were all packed and ready for him to leave.

***

The following day, the day of the meeting Aoki and Mr Daiko were in the nearby sushi store, Four plates of fish sushi were the table and Aoki was eating them one after the other

"Nice venue you arranged for our meeting" Mr Daiko commented

"Yeah, I love the sushi here" Aoki briefly said

"Ahem, you know I've been interested in you for some time now Aoki"

"Please don't stalk me, you can be sued for that"

"Nice humour you have" Mr Daiko laughed, after a heartfelt laughter Mr Daiko expression changed

"So back to business, I'd like to know your relationship with Hana?" Daiko asked

"Daiko-san, I really don't get you…" Aoki finished the sushi and cleaned his mouth

"I know I'm in no place to talk because I am not a parent yet, but I feel like you're moving at the wrong direction here, if truly you cared about Hana, then your interest should be were she currently stays" Aoki arranged the plates very well on the table "Thanks for the meal Daiko-san" Aoki said 'Fufu nothing beats free meal" Aoki strokes has he left the store

"Youth these days" Mr Daiko was exasperated. A waitress came towards the table and carried the plates "is this yours sir" She hands Mr Daiko a piece of paper she found under the plates

'If truly you are Hana's father and really interested in her, come to the building beside Kanagawa Hospital Phase 5' the paper stated.

***

As directed by the letter Mr Daiko arrived at the building and the exact location. Shelves were aligned side by side and in each shelf was the Ash of the deceased.

Mr Daiko saw Aoki on sitting on the ground with a box of Chocolate in front of him

"So you came?" Aoki asked, but Mr Daiko ignored his question and knelt down on the ground facing him

"Thank you so much Aoki-kun" He said while sobbing "Thank you for being there for my Hana"

"Here" Aoki offered him a bar of chocolate

"But I don't need sugar…"

"It was Hana's favourite" Aoki interrupted him. Mr Daiko collected the Chocolate and ate it. Tears began to roll down his eyes

"Sorry for showing this embarrassing state" Mr Daiko said

"No, it's the strong ones that cry…" Aoki said and stood up to leave "...You wanted to know my relationship with Hana, we were the family she never had, and I'm glad I played the role perfectly well" Aoki left the place.

Aoki was on his way to the salon to treat his when he felt it, a cold chill ran down is spine

"A storm??" He questioned looking at a clear sky

It was a storm indeed, a storm that only a few selected individuals could feel, a storm that will leave anything it comes in contact with, a storm that will change eras, marking the end of the old sun and the birth of a new one.

VOLUME ONE ENDS