Everyone who worked at the mansion came to his grandma's funeral. That was when Akira learned the whole truth. He remembered sitting in front of Ito's family grave in a state of shock and despair when the owner of the mansion where his grandma used to work came up and kept a reassuring hand on his shoulder.
Akira looked up, dazed.
"We have met once but I don't think I've introduced myself properly. I'm Kenji Yamamoto," the young, lanky guy said. "Your grandmother worked for my family... Had been working at my house even before I was born. You can say she practically raised me too. She was a family. In a way, we are brothers."
The sun was swimming right below the horizon. The sky was purple and was losing light real fast. So, Akira couldn't tell if this Kenji guy was joking or being honest.
"I've decided to take care of you until you finish your studies," Kenji went on. "After all, she was working day and night to make sure that you finish your education. I can't have her effort going to waste."
At that moment, Akira knew that this guy was serious. "If you really cared about her, then why didn't you help us when she was alive?" Akira asked in a quiet voice.
"Your grandma was a woman of honor," Kenji said. "I did propose to care for your education. But she refused."
Akira felt like the guy was speaking the truth. Granny Yua was a tenacious human. "Then, I'll keep her honor and won't take any help from you," he said.
Out of nowhere, Kenji grabbed his collar and pulled him up. "You little shit now is not the time to be cocky. You have no idea how cruel the world is..."
"Don't get me wrong," Akira said, grinding his teeth while tears welled in his eyes. "If my grandma wanted me to finish my studies, then I will finish it. If she wanted to do it without outside's help, then that's how I will do it too."
Kenji sighed and released Akira's collar. "You can come to me whenever you want. She was a woman of honor, but that didn't mean she would shy away from taking help from others." He paused. "There was one more thing I wanted to tell you."
Akira looked up at him. "What?"
"I wished I was not one who told you this, but since Aunt Yua is not here, I'll have to be one to do it." He took in a deep breath. "Your parents are alive. They didn't die in a private plane crash. They just handed you to your grandma and ran away."
Akira blinked. He had been crying all day long. He didn't think his body would be able to produce any more tears. But they did. He felt them sliding down his cheeks. "I had figured that," he said. "Cause I don't think my family ever owned a private plane." That line made him laugh.
Kenji stared at him for a moment and joined in.
When they both had stopped laughing, Akira, sniffing, said, "You forgot to tell me one more thing."
"What?" Kenji asked.
"Though my grandma was a white liar, she was still an awesome woman." He wiped at his running nose. "She deserved better."
"I--" Kenji paused and slowly smiled. "You bet."
"And I don't think the world is that cruel of a place," Akira said. "It got people like you."
Kenji didn't say anything for a while. Then, a minute later, he said, "We should get going. It's getting dark out here."
Akira nodded, got up, and glanced at his grandma's grave. You definitely deserved better, he thought and balled his fist.
***
"Don't you want to find out about your creators?" the green lady's voice ran through Akira's body tagging him back to the present. "Don't you want to meet your creators?"
"I think by creators, you mean my parents..." Akira said. He had forgotten about her and the fact that he was floating in space. "If you mean my parents, then yes, I want to learn about my parents." He and Kenji had tried their best to find something about his parents but had failed miserably. It was as if they disappeared into thin air without leaving any clues or records. "It's true," Akira declared. "I want to meet them and... and I want to knock their teeth out. They abandoned me. Those bastards. They are the reason why my grandma suffered. YES, I WANT TO KNOW WHERE THEY ARE."
"I can tell you everything about them," the green lady said. "But you'll have to complete my quest. The stone that you touched earlier was made by my brother. There are nine of those scattered across the galaxy. Find them and bring them to me. You'll have to be physically present with me... So you'll also have to find me along with the stones."
"Wait! I'm not actually here with you?" Akira asked.
"Also, I will suggest that you don't mention me or the quest I have given. The world doesn't see in the good light. I can't keep you here any longer. Your body is in danger."
"Wait. What do you mean by my body is in danger?"
But she didn't reply. She just flicked her finger, and Akira again found himself standing before the spherical spaceship. He touched his arms and shoulder to make sure that he was really there. "Where is that weird-looking rock?" The rock was no longer floating over the sphere.
Akira searched around, but it was too dark. He decided to search inside the small spaceship. That was when he found the cat.
"Huh? Where did this guy come from?"
The cat didn't move at all. It just lay inside the ship.
Akira was checking for the cat's pulse when something landed in front of him with such a force that Akira was sent flying across the clearing.
"What the..." Akira moaned in pain. Somehow he had held onto the body of the cat.
Akira, coughing out soil, sat up, and tried to look through the thick cloud of dust. Something huge was standing before him. Though looking at the silhouette, Akira could still tell that thing had three thin but extremely long legs, and it was taller than the trees around him.
The enormous monster raised one of its long legs and brought it down hard. If Akira hadn't rolled away in time, he probably would have gotten a big hole in his stomach. The roll saved him, but he didn't dodge the attack completely. The monster's pointy leg did manage to scrape the side of Akira's stomach. The pain swelled through his body, and it made Akira realize that all this was not a dream. The green woman and her quest to find the nine stones made by her brother was real.
This was how Akira got himself in this mess. The monster had raised its another leg and had again tried to put a hole in Akira's stomach. But before that could happen, Akira somehow managed to get up, ignored the excruciating, and ran for his life.
But that running had been futile. The monster had now found Akira's hiding spot.
"Damn..." His vision began to blur again. Guess he had lost too much blood. He heard the three-legged monster lumbering in his direction.
Time to run again, Akira thought and stood up, but his leg gave away, and fell to the ground. "Too much blood..." he muttered as gravels in the soil dug into his cheek. The thing with the spindly legs loomed over him. The monster raised its leg, and Akira braced for the pain and the eventual death.
Guess this is it for me, Akira thought and stood up. He could now forget about collecting stones and finding answers about his parents.
Suddenly, a slashing sound rent the air. Akira opened his eyes and saw the back of someone with short shoulder-length hair. The monster's legs had been sliced clean, and it was not tumbling away, crashing into the trees, uprooting plenty of them, raising a good deal of dust clouds.
The person who had saved Akira turned away from the fallen monster and began examining Akira's wounds.
Akira strained his eyes, trying to see his savior's face. The person who had saved him and had sliced the monster's legs was...
"... n-new girl?" Akira muttered and passed out.