The ball flew over the net away from the opponents towards Ethan's team at tremendous speed. There he stood, gallant and ready to hit the ball back, a glimmer of hope in the game of volleyball. The second half was almost over and the Cirian Team was leading them by a whopping 20 points. Ethan's team, the tigers were about to loose the final match which would qualify them for the World Cup competitions. Sweat trickled down his face and he felt an uneasy feeling, he sighed in exhaustion and different thoughts began to circulate in his heart.

"We can't loose....not that we don't want to loose...but we can't afford to loose!!"

"We've come this far"

He leaped into the skies with his strong legs and his palms pointing to the heavens, his plan would be to hit that incoming ball with all he had. If he hit that ball from that distance and at that height, he could manage to rack up 20 points and make it a draw, either way they would qualify. The spectators watched in awe as he reached an unspeakable height almost like he was superhuman. His teammate's jaw dropped at the sheer strength he just demonstrated. Ethan hit the ball and it flew back at the opponents side with no one able to catch it. It landed with force and the final whistle was blown. The crowd arose and cheered Ethan as he landed back to the ground heaving a sigh of relief. The Cirian Team looked disappointed and frustrated, they were just about to win a few seconds ago.

The whole court shook as Ethan has just broken a new record in professional volleyball. He stood up from the ground and jubilated along his team mates with his shirt removed. He spinned his shirt in the air as he screamed in joy. However things would turn sour in a few seconds as Ethan suddenly lost his breath and began to choke. He fell to the ground like a statue and began to shiver, he was having a seizure.

The other players ran to his aid before his head hit the ground but it was too late. Within Ethan, he could only hear the faint noises of the crowd and his teammates yelling out his name. "Ethan!...Ethan!" They echoed his name but he knew he could not respond as his mouth was numb and his entire body system had disabled, only his consciousness remained. He shut his eyes and passed out.

*

*

*

*4 hours later*

His eyes opened and light slowly entered his dilated pupils. Everything around him began to take shape. The blurry environment began to clear out. Ethan's dangling black hair blocked his view a bit so he shifted it to the side only to discover that he was on an hospital bed with a catheter sticking out of his wrist. He heard tiny beeps coming from the monitors beside him. He looked around and saw a man in white coat sitting in a corner, he seemed to be writing something

"You finally woke up" the man in white coat said with a smirk. He slowly adjusted his glasses and swivelled his chair to face confused Ethan.

"What am I doing here... where's everyone?" Ethan asked as he pulled the catheter out of his wrists, a stinging sensation clouded him for a second and he groaned in pain.

"You know why you're here Ethan..." The man said as he stood up from the chair and walked towards Ethan.

Ethan looked away reluctantly, a great feeling of guilt overshadowed him and all he could think of was entering the ground and never coming out. He had been battling with a certain disease for a while now.

"Brain Cancer....one of the most lethal cancers to ever exist, the fact that you kept that a secret for close to three years is alarming. Anyways here's a letter from your coach" the man in white coat handed an envelope to Ethan. Ethan's hand trembled as he tore open the envelope to see a folded white piece of paper.

"Dear Ethan, if you're reading this, then the tigers are already on the plane to Korea. The doctor diagnosed your condition, you have a terminal illness. He said you only have a few months to live. He also said you probably knew about this three years ago....Ethan, ever since your mom died in Tsushima, I always loved you as a father would love his own son....you didn't have to Keep this a secret from me. I'm so sorry Ethan but you cannot join us for the world games...you cannot play anymore in your condition. Our next line of action should be targeted at your weak health...the tigers will miss you Ethan. I'll come by after the cup...you can watch on TV, I heard it's gonna be televised. I pray you live to see us win. Goodbye Ethan...

Coach"

Ethan's entire aura changed and he got up from the bed in silence. His fingers were still trembling, he greatest fear had just manifested in the worst way possible. He dropped the letter and began to walk away towards the door of the ward he was in. He was about to reach the entrance when he was stopped by the doctor who pulled his shirt.

"To stay alive at least for longer, you need to be admitted here... Coach has paid your bills." The doctor urged Ethan from the bottom of his heart.

"Let me go...please." Ethan said, his face still as cold as ice and his long black hair dangling down and covering his eyes. He shoved the doctor's hands away and stormed out of the hospital in what seemed to be a mixture of anger and regret.

*

*

He sat on the couch in his apartment watching the replay of his tremendous comeback at the volleyball match several times, the more he watched, the more he hated his life. He sighed several times and hissed as he poured himself a cup of beer. He flashed back to when he was in the academy, his mother was still alive back then. He remembered when she would bring him lunch and fresh clothes to the court. If only she was alive now to support him, if only those terrorists didn't attack Tsushima, if there was no bombing then she would still be alive. He thought about his father and how irresponsible he was to have left his mother when he was just two years old. He knew only curses lingered in his hearts for that mad man. He wallowed in uttermost dejection until his phone rang.

[CALLER ID: KIRA]

He picked the phone and answered the call. There was silence from the other end for some seconds before a sweet female voice spoke.

"Meet me at our usual spot" the call suddenly ended.

He swiped to home on his phone and grabbed his earphones leaving the house immediately.

*

*

*

He tapped the play button on his phone to listen to music as he walked down the streets. He stopped at a tall uncompleted building and entered. He walked through a dark passage before reaching a flight of stairs. He climbed each staircase with the song still playing in his earphone. His footsteps were almost in synchrony with the beat of the song. Soon he reached the top of the building. A rushing cold wind blew on him and he felt an immediate sense of peace. A few metres away from him, a female figure with a long blonde hair stood holding the railings at the very edge of the roof.

"Kira!" Ethan yelled her name as he paused his music and unplugged the earphone. She looked back with a smile as Ethan approached her.

He stood by her side and they both stared at the horizon together. It was indeed beautiful. The sun was setting already and night life in the city was about to resume. From where they were standing, they could see everything, a sight to behold.

The wind blew their hair and outfits around like a kite.

"They know already don't they?" Kira asked.

"Yeah..." Ethan replied blankly.

"Figured" Kira responded adjusting her hair.

"Hey...you okay?" Kira asked staring at Ethan. His long black hair couldn't allow him to see his face. She immediately reached into her pockets to bring out a rubber band. She raised her hands to touch Ethan's hair but Ethan drew back a bit resisting her touch.

"Hey I'm your girlfriend silly..." Kira said with a smile trying to touch the hair again. Ethan allowed her this time and with the rubber band, she bonded his hair to a side so she could see his silver eyes. She admired his glittering eyes like no other. Ethan on the other hand hated his eyes as it happened to cause commotion among the girls. He preferred to drop his hairs to cover them.

Ethan's fingers slowly moved towards Kira's fingers and intertwined with it. They held eachother and stared at eachother in the eyes. Ever since he lost his mother seven years ago, Kira had been there for him, she was like a second mother to him. A pillar in which he found solace. Just holding her like this melted all the pain in his heart away.

"How many months left?" Kira asked.

"Three...four...who knows" Ethan said with a smile as he stared at Kira's lips

"Then let's make your last days on earth memorable" Kira said as she locked lips with Ethan kissing him passionately for some seconds before something crazy happened.

All of a sudden, Kira bit Ethan's lips with full force. Blood spurted out of the wound as Ethan yelled in pain.

"Kira...what the" he muttered pushing her a way with great force. He touched his lips with his fingers, stared at the blood and looked back at her.

"Ethan..." She called his name in fear as her eye balls turned pure white.

Kira's arms began to twist in unimaginable ways and her bones began to crack due to the violent nature of the twisting. Her mouth twisted to a side and her jaws dislocated. Blood began to fall from her eyes like tears. Her legs moved on their own at great speed towards Ethan who was obviously shocked at the sudden hideous transformation. Ethan had no time to dodge her incoming attack.

Kira shoved herself and Ethan off the building. Together, they fell to the ground from a height that one could survive.

Ethan landed with his back on a pile of construction metal rods which immediately dislocated his spine and broke his neck. Kira fell a few metres away from him and died instantly as her head and bones got crushed to pieces. They're they lied in a pool of their own blood.

Ethan was gasping for breath, desperately trying to survive. He raised his hands to try and reach out to Kira but he couldn't, his injuries were fatal. He gave up and dropped his arms in regrets. Pain enveloped his heart. As if taking his mother away was not enough....Why was destiny so unfair.

He didn't care about his injuries, he just wanted to touch Kira. He began to shut his eyes to accept death. However, as he closed his eyes and breath his last breath, he saw a red mist emanating from Kira's dead body. The strange red mist clogged together to form a humanoid figure with spikes all over its body. He could swear that he heard the humanoid figure laughing menacingly.

Ethan ignored that shit and shut his eyes, he had accepted death. He was going to die sooner or later anyways.

5...4...3...2...1

Ethan opened his eyes and all of a sudden he was standing in the middle of something big, a battle. A great battle between the clean and the corrupt. He saw different people shooting powerful light beams from their palms at some dark beast like creatures. He saw most of those dark beasts lying dead on the ground. He saw a certain man clad in armor floating in the skies holding a sceptre that fired a barrage of fire blasts on the dark enemies that lied below him. Explosions ricchocheted from all angles No body seemed to notice Ethan standing there. A woman near Ethan was using a katana blade to slice through the legion of dark beasts that swarmed her. She noticed Ethan and her eyes widened in shock.

"Who are you?" She asked

Ethan pointed to himself as if ascertaining if she was talking to him, he was confused. In less than a second, blacked out.

5...4...3...2...1

He opened his eyes....this time, he was welcomed by a gun barrel pointed to his face.

"Explain how the dead still walks kid." The old man holding the shot gun said with a frank face.

ರ⁠_⁠ರ CHAOS HUNTER ರ⁠_⁠ರ

TO BE CONTINUED