"The story goes like this." Akio said to Himari.
****4 months earlier****
At the American Airlines Arena in Miami Florida, the finals of the annual archery tournament is about to take place. The year is 2042 and the arena can hold up to 30000 people.
"We're in our final round ladies and gentlemen!" The announcer said with high enthusiasm.
"On this beautiful sunny day we may see our reigning champion little Akio win his 7th consecutive trophy or have his streak ended by the hands of archery veteran Thomas McKnight!" The second announcer said with just as much enthusiasm.
"I'd appreciate it if those idiots would stop calling me that. I'm not an 8 year old anymore!" Akio thought while rolling his eyes.
"Listen here kid! You may have beaten me in the semi finals last year but I'm going to end you here and now!" A grown man yelled at Akio.
"You're a skilled archer McKnight. I'll give you that, but you're just not as good as me" Akio said with a cocky smirk.
"I'll teach you how to mind your tongue you little shit!" McKnight replied with a very enraged facial expression.
They both began intensely staring at each other like the bitter rivals they are until the announcer told them to take their positions.
"Now for those who are new to this tournament and don't understand what's going on. The rules are simple. Each contestant has 10 arrows and 30 seconds to hit all 10 targets as accurately as possible. Hitting a bulls-eye equals 10 points, the points of hitting anywhere around the bulls-eye varies depending on how close the arrow is to the bulls-eye and missing the target completely is 0 points. If you somehow fail to shoot all 10 arrows within the 30 second time frame then you are automatically disqualified. The contestant with the most points wins." The announcer explained.
"Another day another win." Akio said feeling very sure of himself.
"We will begin with Mr. McKnight!" The announcer said.
McKnight slowly walked up to the shooting range and soaked in the cheers from the crowd.
He picked up the quiver with his 10 arrows and waited for the announcer to ring the bell for him to start.
"3, 2, 1"
**BEEEEEEEPPPP**
McKnight smoothly pulled the first arrow out of his quiver and hit a bulls-eye on his first target. Same with his second, third and fourth, but then he was off on his 5th and missed the bulls-eye by less then an inch. After missing the bulls-eye you could see the confidence being drained from his body as he missed the 6th by less then an inch once again, then missing even worse on his 7th. He hit two more bulls-eyes on his 8th and 9th targets but then missed by less than an inch once again on his 10th.
The timer stopped at 27 seconds and the fans in the crowd started cheering.
McKnight looked at Akio with the eyes of someone who already knew they were about to lose. Akio just kept his cocky smirk, walked to the shooting range and waited for the targets to get swapped out with new ones.
Once the targets were replaced Akio picked up his gear and took a deep breathe.
"3, 2, 1"
**BEEEEEEEEPPPP**
Akio pulled out his arrow and shot quickly. He ran across the designated areas one by one with ease. Each time shooting his arrows with speed and point blank precision. By the time the timer sounded, all arrows hit bulls-eye and there were 15 seconds left on the clock.
"Quickdraw strikes again ladies and gentlemen! I repeat quickdraw strikes again!" The announcer yelled.
Quickdraw was another nickname given to Akio after his 3rd title run. Through that whole tournament he beat his opponents by 20 seconds or less with great accuracy. After that year he kept getting faster and more accurate.
Akio walked up to McKnight and looked at him with a face that can only be described as "Didn't I tell you I was going to win?". McKnight looked to the ground with a face of frustration as Akio walked passed him.
"You just wait kid, I'll get you one of these days! You hear me!?" McKnight yelled.
"Yea yea whatever old man." Akio said in a nonchalant manner as he kept walking to the scoreboard.
**SCOREBOARD**
____________________________________________________________
Contestant: A. Takahashi
1st Target: 10
2nd Target: 10
3rd Target: 10
4th Target: 10
5th Target: 10
6th Target: 10
7th Target: 10
8th Target: 10
9th Target: 10
10th Target: 10
____________________________________________________________
Contestant: T. McKnight
1st Target: 10
2nd Target: 10
3rd Target: 10
4th Target: 10
5th Target: 9
6th Target: 9
7th Target: 8
8th Target: 10
9th Target: 10
10th Target: 9
____________________________________________________________
WINNER: A. Takahashi
____________________________________________________________
"Well if you didn't know yet, you know now! This years winner, for the 7th year in a row is Akio "Quickdraw" Takahashi!" The second announcer yelled with great enthusiasm.
The crowd started screaming but Akio was shutting out the noise trying to find the only two people he cared about in that arena. After looking around he finally locked eyes with his father who's grey hair made it easy for Akio to spot him. Asahi Takahashi, his proud father was giving him a thumbs up and to his right was Akio's lovely mother, Naomi Takahashi giving Akio her usual warm smile.
They all met up outside of the arena after Akio's winner's ceremony and after getting the hugging and congratulations out of the way, they left the premises so they could celebrate at their favorite ice cream cafe.
On the walk to the cafe Asahi complimented Naomi's beautiful curly brown hair as a gust of wind passed by. She just kept smiling and thanked her husband for the compliment.
After finishing up their ice cream ceremony they began walking to the bus stop with nothing but smiles on their faces. Until a suspicious looking man bumped in to Asahi and whispered "Give me all your fucking money and no one gets hurt". Asahi saw the man pulling out a weapon and instinctively grabbed his arm. They then began scuffling and Asahi started looking at Akio at the same time as if he were signaling Akio to do something. Akio then caught on and tried to take and Arrow out of the quiver on his back. With his hand on the nock of his arrow which was still inside of the quiver, he became nervous. Thinking the man would surely kill them if he missed and even feeling a bit of nauseous thinking about hurting someone else with his arrows. While Akio was busy hesitating the man dropped his knife and pushed Asahi to the floor, but while being pushed, Asahi grabbed the assailant's mask and pulled it off.
The assailant started panicking and pulled a gun out of his jacket. Naomi screamed which scared him and he started firing shots in all directions. Akio dropped to the floor and closed his eyes praying he wouldn't get hit. When he opened his eyes he saw his mother's lifeless body on the ground next to him and his dead father in front of him. The assailant had a horrified look on his face as he realized what he had done. He dropped the gun and ran off leaving Akio on his knees with his mother's blood spread from the sidewalk to the road.
"Mom get up, stop playing around! It can't end like this!" He screamed as tears started rushing down his face.
"You guys can't leave me here all alone!" He said as he covers his tearing eyes with his bloody hands.
The police show up at the scene to find Akio sitting in a puddle of his mom's blood with bloody handprints over both his eyes as he cried.
They took him back to the precinct and left him in an interrogation room by himself so he could gather himself before he spoke to them. After realizing what just happened, the 7 time archery champion changed forever.