"Aki darling." She grabbed Akira's arm tightly against her chest. "From today onwards, you belong to me."
"Of course," said Akira as if it were a fact. "I will do anything you ask me, honey."
"Then come with me and join my organization; you will be treated well," said the girl, but Akira hesitated and looked at Haruka.
Haruka was neither sad nor happy; she just looked like she accepted it while suffering inside.
"Ruka...I...I have to leave you," said Akira apologetically.
The girl became angry because he was paying special attention to Haruka.
"Akira." She condemned. "I am here but you are still looking at her. Do you secretly have a crush on her?"
"No...no. Honey, you are the only one in my heart, but still, she is my childhood friend. How can I not meet her ever again?"
The girl became very serious; she didn't like his words a bit. "Akira, you only have two choices, either leave her and come with me to the organization or forget about me."
"Aki, I am glad you found happiness, just forget about me," said Haruka trying to hold everything in.
Akira was devastated when he heard that; he lost the will to resist the girl, and she pulled him away from Haruka.
Haruka rolled her eyes while sleeping and woke up slowly. As she opened her eyes, Haruka saw Akira viewing the city from the glass view of the room. He was looking at the night lights of the city with a deep sour expression.
'Why does he have that expression?' She thought as she got up. "Aki." She called.
Akira's expression suddenly became bright as if he found something important while turning to her.
Looking at that, Haruka just remembered what she did in the morning before going to sleep.
She zapped into the blanket and acted asleep.
"Ruka, are you awake?" Akira asked, but she didn't reply. 'She is not sleep talking, right? She got up and went to sleep again; is she acting asleep then?'
'What have I done last night?' She freaked out. 'It's fine to realize I love him, but acting like that right away...why didn't I realize it would be so embarrassing the next day? Although technically it's the same day, that's not the point.
I can't act like I'm sleeping; I should act like I woke up.'
"Mhm." Haruka stretched as if she had just woken up and saw Akira with a smile. "Aki, you are awake already." But this time, she said it as usual, not like last time.
That confused him even more; he was lost for words.
"What's happened? Why do you look so down?" She asked although he had the best smile of his life at that moment.
That confirmed that she saw him with a sour face; maybe she was giving him some space to think what to tell her, but her reason was different.
"I had a nightmare," said Akira, "wait, we slept in the day, so it's more like a day-mare."
"What a coincidence, even I got a bad dream," said Haruka trying to make him feel at ease.
"What is it?" He asked.
She quickly opened the system window and said as if she didn't hear him, "Morning you ascended, guess I will do it now."
She squinted her eyes. "Aki, this happened again. The cost is more than what players posted on the internet."
"If it happened once, it will happen again, don't mind it and ascend."
Haruka clicked ascend. "By the way, what nightmare did you get, Aki?"
"I need to take a bath." Akira took the towel as if he didn't hear her.
Haruka understood he didn't want to discuss it. "Hey, never heard of ladies first?"
She grabbed her towel and quickly went to the bathroom.
After both freshened up, they switched into battle disguises and went out.
"Black, what about level 30 ascension?" Haruka asked.
"Do you mean by the monster material we required?"
When they chose their profession, the system gave the requirements to ascend after level 30.
"Yes, I searched the internet but didn't find any information."
"The mimic monster's lowest level is 50," said Akira, "although they are rare but not unfound. They will come in the second half of the E-rank version. So it will take 14 days at least for them to appear. Each mimic has 200 teeth. As long as we find one dungeon with mimics, we will ascend smoothly."
Every 30 system levels represent one rank. 1 to 30 is the F rank, 30 to 60 is the E rank, and so on. For every 10 levels, a player had to ascend to increase levels again.
Ascension cost crystals but for every 30 levels, players also had to use specific monster materials according to their profession; this was called a major ascension. For every major ascension, another monster material will be added to the cost including the previous monster materials and crystals.
Akira thought, 'We are short on crystals at the beginning itself. Due to the special ascension given by the error message, the cost increased by a lot and it will only increase more.
The 2nd ascension increased all stats by 10; it is the same as the first number 1 rank title. I have to find another way to gain crystals; we can't gather them just by fighting before reaching level 30. What can I do that doesn't put Ruka in danger?'
He remembered the videos. 'Right? Videos. Now no one knows about monsters as much as I do. Why don't I make videos on how to kill monsters and explain their weak points. I can make one video for each monster.
First, do some for free with weak monsters and ask the viewers for specific monsters they want, then we can start charging coins.'
"We should start moving towards Shizuoka," said Akira, "our parents must be getting worried."
"Ok," she replied.
"Then let's split like before," said Akira, and Haruka suddenly stopped sprinting and so did Akira too.
"Something wrong?" Akira asked.
Haruka just thought about it now. 'I love Aki but why didn't I think about his feelings? Did I take him for granted because he is always with me, but this Aki is not the teenage boy I know.'
"White, White. Why are you spacing out?"
She heard him. "Sorry, Black. I was thinking about the route I should take."
"Is that so, you scared me there. Why did you space out just like that? You have to be aware of your surroundings. No need to split, you are acting weirdly, let's go together."
"No, it's fine," Haruka said hesitantly.
"No, I don't feel assured now, let's go." He started to sprint again and she followed.
'I only thought about why I suffered in his futuristic view but I forgot to consider why he left me. I don't know at what time his futuristic view started but I am guessing it is the same as when he woke up.
17 years old is the time when boys start to think about having a girlfriend. Although Aki didn't have a girlfriend, I must have made a lot of jokes about getting a girlfriend; I even did that in the past few days.
So it is inevitable that he must have given it a try and knowing how sincere he is, he must have loved that girl very much. That is also when the system is running, so they must have gotten closer.
And as foolish as I am, I must have realized my feelings after he got a girlfriend and behaved foolishly with Aki. She must have noticed that and took Aki away from me. So, I was alone all the time and due to depression, my health must have degraded.
That explains why he hugged me so tightly on that day and checked my face in detail. He must have caught my waist to see if I was eating well. No, even if he left me, I wouldn't fall into such deep depression.
Then that girl must have made conditions that Aki and I should never meet again. And he only met me after 12 of separation. That explains the depression.
Then the main question, why didn't he find that girl now? If she is cruel enough to separate childhood friends, she must have treated Aki badly. He was too nice before, to become so selfish, it must be that girl's influence.
Now it's becoming all clear, that girl is toxic. Knowing Aki, he must have adapted to this system and become a high-level player. So that girl must have taken advantage of him. I would have found out such girls right?
Then why did I let them get closer? Maybe that girl is an heir of some organization; she must be a strong player too, so I must have wondered why she would need to take advantage of Aki.
But Aki is very loyal, some rich women don't need rich men, they only need obedient husbands, she must have seen Aki like that due to his nature. But she destroyed the very nature she loved him for.
But what should I do now? This means, Aki never had the thought of being in a relationship with me, if anything, he must still be thinking about that girl. Instead of falling for her traps, he must be planning to change her to his liking.
Which means, I never had a chance to begin with.'
At that moment, Haruka wanted to split up and find a corner to cry but Akira already became suspicious of her behavior, he would follow her secretly even if he let her go, so she didn't ask him and suffered inside.
She realized her love for him that day and also got heartbroken the same day.