Akira, a 34-year-old man, entered the room with fear, guilt, and sadness weighing on him. He was in a combat suit but had no visible weapon.
"Akira, your next mission is…" As the man in front of Akira spoke, Akira lowered his head, preparing to do something that he hated but was unable to avoid again.
"…to kill Haru Haruka, the fallen beauty."
Upon hearing that, Akira's eyes bulged in shock, and a surge of rage exploded inside him. When he saw the serious man in front of him smirk, Akira understood. That man had no further use for Akira.
Without saying another word, Akira quickly walked out of the room, his face boiling as he walked through the corridor. When the lift opened, there was a man inside. Akira went in, and the lift closed.
The man gently held Akira's shoulder and pressed lightly. "Hey, I know what kind of order he gave you this time. Why don't you fulfill my wish if you decide to…" He stopped midway.
"Shinichi." Akira turned to see Shinichi, who got frightened and took his hand away.
"Ok, ok. I won't force you." Shinichi had underestimated how enraged Akira was. Unable to let go of Akira, Shinichi took out the locket around his neck and gave it to Akira. "Then at least keep this with you as my memento." Akira took it and chained it around his neck.
A few hours later, inside the National Player Association, an employee suddenly stormed into an office room, where a woman was sitting in the boss seat and quickly said, "Team leader Haru, Hoshi…he is in the abandoned building outside Wasaku Park."
The woman stood without delay as if she had been waiting for that moment. She flew from the window, breaking the glass as she launched herself into the air. Within minutes, she reached the building.
She slowed down and stopped in front of Akira, who stood on the top edge of the building, facing each other. The woman's face was full of concern. "Aki, stop, please," she begged, with every bit of shame on the line.
"Why don't you use your strongest skill to force me to talk to you, Haruka?" Akira provoked. It seemed they were in similar situations many times before.
"You know you are not supposed to call me like that." Haruka's heart got crushed, even though it was already broken and had turned to powder long ago.
She blindly pulled a sword out of thin air, believing his words, and put all of her mana into her skill, thrusting through Akira's heart. The attack went through Akira's heart.
At once, Haruka lost all of her strength and stopped floating, catching Akira, who was about to fall. Both fell to their knees. Tears started to run instantly in her eyes, like the blood flowing from Akira's heart.
No words came out, and she lost her voice, unable to make a sound, crying.
"I am…cough," Akira coughed blood. "Sorry, Haruka." He tried to lift his hand to hold her face, but his vision became blurry.
**Stimulation finished.
Erasing player memories
Error …unable to erase…**
"...ki…Aki…" He heard a voice, which gave him inspiration to open his eyes with all his efforts. As he opened them, he saw a blurry blue color.
"Aki, hey Aki. Wake up." As he heard, recognizing those words and voice, he apologized. "I am sorry, Haruka." And his eyes opened.
He saw a 17-year-old girl in front of him with a blue sky background. His eyes pumped tears as he was taken aback by the scene unfolding in front of him.
He was lying on a 17-year-old girl's lap, with him being a 17-year-old boy. Both were in school uniforms on the school rooftop.
"You just called me Haruka. You know you are not supposed to call me like that, right?" She wiped his tears gently, wondering why he was crying.
Akira was trying to cope with the situation as it suddenly changed.
"Did you skip lunch to sleep here? It seems you had a nightmare." She patted his head to calm him down because he looked very confused. He was looking left and right.
"Haruka." He called her out again, which ticked Haruka off, and she suddenly switched from soft to violent and smacked his head.
"Do you want me to repeat myself? I said you are not supposed to call me like that." She yelled, suddenly becoming a demon. This caused a big bump on his head, and he got up with all his dizziness gone.
But he quickly hugged her, making her fluster. Her cheeks became red while she became more confused, switching back to softness.
Ruka, Ruka, Ruka." He called her quickly with her nickname, hugging her even tighter.
'I came back in time,' he thought, with no bounds to his happiness, but Haruka didn't see his expression as he was hugging her.
"What got into you? Is that nightmare that scary? Didn't you say only girls cry? Why are you crying?" She tried to be sarcastic to remove him from that trance, but it didn't work.
'I got back in time. Her hair is 3 times bulkier.' He stroked her hair.
Then he released her and caught her face and squeezed her cheeks and touched all over her face to see if it was real. 'She was just 34, but she had wrinkles all over her face because of me, but now she is just a beautiful 17-year-old girl.'
Then he caught her waist with both hands to check her muscles. 'She is not malnourished either. She is fit. She is eating well.'
"Hey, where are you going to touch me next?" He heard angry Haruka and took his hands away. "Did you only realize now that you are in puberty?" She started to complain. "You always train your body to be fit and force me to join you, forgetting all about youthfulness.
Wait, are you trying to use me as a scapegoat to repel those girls trying to propose to you every weekend? I am saying, that's not gonna happen."
'Geez! Should I make him date some girls? This is a clear sign his dormant puberty might burst at any time.'
'I don't know how I came back in time, but I am going to change my life this time, and Heavenly snakes, I will destroy you.' While he was thinking, a flick came to his forehead, which was Haruka.
"What are you thinking?" She asked curiously. "You stopped speaking."
Akira smiled with a smirk face and said, "I am thinking, what if I can't find someone more beautiful than you? My baseline beauty standard became your beauty, so anyone less can't get my attention." She was surprised and confused.
She never saw him speak in such a manner. He used to ignore almost everything and only spoke about how to keep a healthy body and mind. Those words made her blush though.
"Is that why you never got a girlfriend?" She knew he was just joking around. "So what is that make you cry?"
"I will tell you later; there are more important things to do now. What is today's date?"
"November 12th."
'It must be 2025, so the game will descend in 3 days; I have to be quick.'
"Ruka, you go to class. I need to say something to my parents."
"I will come with you."
Akira got confused. 'She is not worried about skipping class? Although it will be useless after 3 days, I thought she would ask for a reason.' Only then did he realize. At that moment, he wanted a baseball bat to beat the shit out of himself.
'I forgot. I totally forgot her childhood personality. I remember now. I am a scumbag; I even forgot about our childhood. But that won't happen this time.
She always followed me, even when I forced her to run long distances and exercise every morning. She gave up on going out with her friends to exercise with me and help me in my studies.
And don't mention all the things she sacrifised to chase me after I became a criminal.'
His heart became heavy thinking; when Akira touched his chest, he felt something and knew what it was. It was the locket that Shinichi gave. 'Why is this here? If this is here, then this must be the reason for my rebirth.'
"Are we leaving?" Haruka asked. She was curious about what Akira was thinking with such a serious expression, but she also understood he didn't want to be asked right now, so she stayed silent.
When they tried to leave the building, a teacher saw them. "Hey, you two, why are you leaving school?"
Akira just walked without response, and Haruka followed him.
"Hey, I am talking to you two." He tried to catch them, but they both ran away.
"Sigh! Kids these days, I have to call their parents."
"Ruka, you get changed and come to my home." Akira left her at her house.
Ding
"Coming." A woman's voice came while Akira waited in front of a house.
The door opened, and Akira quickly hugged the woman.
"Aki, why are you here? Did they leave the school early?" The woman asked, also confused about why her son would hug her suddenly.
"Mother, call father and ask him to come home quickly," Akira requested, feeling the warmth of his mother. 'My mother. She is so beautiful. She was on her deathbed before.'
She was confused as to why he would call her mother.