A/N: Enjoy the first chapter of TO THE SHINING YOU once again with some major improvements, while still the same. And now available on my website.
The school bell rang, echoing through the classroom. Students and the teacher began packing their bags, wrapping up the day’s lessons, and getting ready to head home.
“Alright class, that’s the end of our lessons. Class dismissed”.
“Arigatou gozaimasu! Sensei!”
Summer… once again…
With temperatures soaring and the humid air wrapping itself around every corner of Japan, the city was a sweltering cauldron of heat and perspiration. Beads of sweat glistened on the foreheads of passersby, and the oppressive warmth seemed to cling to every resident and student. Yet, for him, this summer was no different from the ones that had come before. The stifling heat, the sticky humidity, the relentless sun – it all felt achingly familiar as if each year had simply merged into a single, unending season.
However, that summer of the previous year held a special significance for him. It was a day unlike any other, one that stood out vividly amidst the blur of countless, sweltering summers.
Time flew by faster than he could ever have imagined. In the blink of an eye, the days had slipped away, each one blending into the next. Despite his efforts to savor each moment, life continued its relentless march forward, unstoppable and irreversible. He often found himself lost in thought, unable to grasp just how many days had passed, each one marked by his quiet contemplation.
As the sun dipped below the horizon, turning the sky into a canvas of twilight hues, students began their routine journeys home or ventured to nearby cities for a change of pace and entertainment. Each person moved with a unique purpose, their intentions varied and personal. For Tokio, his days often mirrored theirs, yet somehow, they felt distinctly different. His routine seemed both similar to and yet set apart from the bustle of those around him.
“Dammit! Even this late, this heat makes my brain want to explode”
He lifted his head, grumbling about the steadily rising summer temperatures. Though the approaching summer vacation was no surprise, he still found himself struggling to cope with the relentless heat.
“Goddamn! It’s hot! Why did this summer have to be so hot like this?”
He sighed, irritated by the sweat soaking through his school uniform. His mind buzzed with a litany of tedious and vexing thoughts, like the constant scolding from his mother and teachers.
Yet, another part of his mind was preoccupied with something else entirely—an anxiety that made him feel sad and lonely. It was a memory he couldn’t shake, something he had to remember, something he could never forget from back then.
“It’s been a year… huh?”
He lifted his head and stared at the sky, reflecting on a past that had now become a mere memory. Yet, it was an unforgettable day, etched vividly in his mind.
About how the world was saved by a single person, the princess…
Tokio’s POV
It’s been a year… hasn’t it… ever since that incident…
So many things happened when I returned to my normal life, the same old days as always. However, some things have changed, for example, now I’m 15 years old, or a few months later, I might be 16 years old. Nah, forget about my age really, it’s nothing unusual there!
For another example, I got a lot of people who needed my help, and slowly and slowly many of my friends and other students started to seek help from me. The rest is just a bunch of boring stuff other than gaming things, but even so, I might get used to it, even if it’s not my favorite activity. Because of that, I learned something new. It’s like learning a new experience that leads me toward gaining a new level and new skills, like the other RPG Games.
I think… that’s it…
Oh right! I might still be playing games at home or at the arcade as usual, but I began studying more than I was before… well… not too much makes me number one in the class, but at least I got a good score, it’s different from how the honor and popular student gained 100 scores and reached number one in the class…
Well… thinking about popular students reminds me of someone…
Anyway, that’s not all the story I could tell, there’s still more…
I’m starting to get a haircut, well… just a small haircut actually… I mean, why do I want my head to go bald, lol. Even though I got tall just little by little, but, it’s a bit faster growth now than how I was in a year ago. I wonder if anyone will start to notice how much I changed tho. Nah, none of it would matter, they might start getting weird at me…
For my outside zone activities, I started to learn something interesting lately, doing some magazines or more like Game Guide Magazine and website, to be honest, it’s a little bit hard to tell what names are on it. Since The World R:X started to come back in service, some walkthroughs and guides are needed to help them navigate themselves into the online game.
I got myself learning to become an editor or strategy writer after I wrote a few article blogs. It’s hard, but it’s not too bad either… What matters the most is that I still keep learning and it’s a long process right now. Maybe I should have applied to their game magazine company as a part-time job when I entered high school.
There are too many details for me to explain all that stuff, it’s like a gap between year and year that comes by, but I still kept changing as much as I could and tried to push myself, not becoming popular, not becoming rich or anything… Just being better is enough for me to go forward within a flow.
It’s hard to believe that, even though I continued to live such boring days in the real world, I feel… much happier as it is now…
…
Happy… huh.
The moment I stopped walking, I widened my eyes to start my realization, it all came to where I lowered my head and tried to reflect something that I hid through my chest.
Happy… are words that make it really hard for me to know if it was truly okay, let alone if I want to bluff and say that I was lonely. But even though I might feel like it was okay, that happiness seems incomplete and it’s like I’m missing someone… someone that could become my source of happiness.
I lifted up my head and looked at the sky…
I continue to remember someone who should have been right here by my side… but things just are not what it seems I wanted to… I continue to call a name… someone’s name that left deep warmth but a scar in my heart… grief and mourning that came back to me, somehow it’s really long since she is gone…
I call by that name
“AIKA-chan, if only you were here right now”.
All the thoughts and memories of my past start rushing through my brain, remembering the last word that AIKA said to me before the day she died, “Goodbye my hero! Don’t forget about me”…
.
.
.
.
” I won’t forget AIKA-chan… I won’t”
That day… almost feels like a dream…
But I knew everything that happened back then because I was there…
My adventure, the people I met from the past eras, the legendary hero I admire, Kite the Hero, and AIKA, everything I felt there was real to me, and there was no single doubt in my mind.
That was a year ago…
A certain incident happened which they called, the Immortal Dusk, an unexpected phenomenon event that caused victims to be transported their real bodies from the real world into the net game world, using P-COM.
All of this was planned by a mastermind, Geist…
He’s been working in the shadows to follow in his footsteps, Jyotaro Amagi… the genius programmer of G.U. Project and R.A. He plans all sorts of events through Geist, his artificial intelligence… but… Jyotaro also had a nephew who could be considered as her sister, that is… Saika-chan… Saika Amagi.
Geist said that with people being transported into the net world, they wouldn’t be able to experience sleep, eating, sex, dying, and more things which is very different from the real world, that’s the plan of Immortal Dusk. To do that, he used me and Saika to gather Chrono Core and restore the system in Akashic Records, the tower that stores log save data, the place where I met Twilight Knights, the place where I met Kite, Haseo, Tsukasa, and everyone, also… there’s where Aura’s being held there.
By reached the final floor and met Aura, using the Brainwash virus that was freed from my body, and it’s all due to the Black Disc Copy that was created by Geist. That virus turned Aura into the Queen of Demise and started rampaging in the network, thus… Immortal Dusk happened… all of this was by the plan by Geist from the beginning, it was all crafted so well that none of us had expected that coming… not even Saika-chan knows that.
But the risk of its plan for bringing people into the net world who had no resistance ability as I did in the harsh net digital world, caused people to go for extremely unknown phenomena or disease or even much worse… the Outer Dependency Syndrome… It all proved when I saw Jyotaro become a monster caused by that syndrome and killed Geist in the process.
Me and Saika, couldn’t save Jyotaro and ended up destroyed in the process too… it’s even a pity that Geist didn’t know such a side effect existed… even an AI like him might not know the side effect of that plan, none of him knew further about what side caused by receiving such knowledge from Jyotaro.
With the net world and the real world is on a rampage due to the incident, Me, Saika, Schicksal, Twilight Knights, and CC Corp, working together to put a stop to Aura, by developing a Vaccine as instructed by Saika-chan, in the hope it could put a stop the virus inside Aura… but it didn’t work as we ever hope for.
The only one who can stop Aura… who can restore Aura… who can set free Aura from its corrupted love… it was a girl who appeared in my dream… whom I called her as the one who was much real to me… that’s right… that girl… that princess… AIKA-chan.
Her sacrifice is the most glorious, and yet tragic at the same time…
-TOKIO POV -Flashback-: One year ago-
In the battle against the corrupted Aura, only me and Saika were there, surviving from her power, while Schicksal and the others disappeared, and AIKA-chan was there, sacrificing herself to save her…
I thought at least we could find another way to restore her instead of just sacrificial. But in the end, she chooses that path, the path leads to her death, a sacrifice that all seems pointless as I saw her body being broken piece by piece, but kind of worth it at the same time with the power that she transferred through the Chim-Chim I gave her, restoring Aura in the process…
And because of that, the world was saved, she saved us in the end, but at what cost… in my shock and disbelief that she’s now gone for good…
I could hear Saika behind me as she witnessed her sacrifice too, the same feeling as how I did, “AIKA… no… it can’t be…”
Tears came through my eyes and went to my cheek and dripped to the ground… I came to my knees, feeling sad, grieved, and hopeless about her death in front of me.
“No…”
“AIKA-chan… didn’t you promise me?”
“You promised to come with me when we returned to the real world!”
“Why?”
And just afterward, Kite, Haseo, Tsukasa, Fluegel, and everyone returned to normal after Aura’s defeat…
We finally got out from Akashic Records using Grand Whale since Akashic Records collapsed with Aura’s continued absence.
As we arrived at the bleak, empty, and dark version of Mac Anu, I saw something happen in that tower…
“…Ah…”
“…That light…”
The light that roses out of the Akashic Records… I gaze toward that tower glowing in lights, the warmth and the beautiful sight that I and the other had witnessed… I couldn’t comprehend or even try to think if this was actually what AIKA had hoped for… her hope that could restore The World and Akashic Records.
But soon, it got me thinking… I wonder how far Aura roses in that light… how far AIKA rose with Aura into the sky. When I look at the sky and the tower, I wonder if they could finally reach that same sky and the same star. Thinking about all this, it might be harder to imagine how they could have reached it…
But even so, I know that she is happy about what she did right now. I know that her decision might be too hard for her, but she is willing to accept that… there’s no doubt that if she was truly happy with Aura under the same sky together…
“Gah! Dammit! My head!” My head starts to hurt, my body feels weaker and my eyes start to blur.
“Tokio? What’s wrong? Tokio?”
“Hey kid, are you alright?”
I could hear a little voice coming from Saika-chan and Fluegel who started to approach me.
As soon as I know, I collapse, I’m getting hard to breathe… “Tokio? Tokio!” That was the last voice I could hear from Saika-chan, and the voice now somehow went far from my reach. Saika, Fluegel, and everyone else came to me as soon as I began unconscious, I couldn’t hear their words after and my eyes were completely shut and my brain didn’t have the power for me to stay awake.
“… AIKA… chan” was the last word I made before I went completely unconscious.
Now… that light that rises out of Akashic Records, now witnessed by every player of The World… or so that I’ve heard…
-TOKIO POV -Flashback-: A few months after Immortal Dusk-
Slowly… slowly… my eyes slowly opened in an unknown white room, that I could hear the sound of crowds from the outside, an unfamiliar smell that didn’t seem that I was in my room right now.
It took a few minutes for me to get my sense and my hearing more clearly, and when I knew and realized, I was already in the bedroom, it did not look like my bed, a white-colored bed mattress. Shock and disbelief came toward my expression, and I might be aware that I was just getting a fever following the battle.
In addition, in unknown rooms, there’s a TV, A/C, Bathroom just ahead, the door which is not usually like in my bedroom… “W-wait second, am I… in the hospital…?” Slowly and slowly my sense of awareness began to act clearer when I dressed like a patient.
“But, I was in an online game, how did I even get out of there…”
“And… how did I come here?”
The confusion led to questions, and I thought to myself that it would be impossible for me to be able to pull myself back from the online game to the Real World unless someone just did…
“Morning sleepyhead!”.
The man’s voice came through my ears. I began slowly turning my head to the right and saw someone who wore a brown suit with a tie and wearing suit pants.
“Huh… Fluegel?”
That man seems familiar, his appearance might strike an almost similar appearance with Fluegel I met in the online game.
“Wow! Wow! Wow! Slow down, boy! I think you saw in me as my player character way too much, aren’t you?”
“Shouldn’t your brain need some refresh option?”
He laughed when answered. I know that I’ve seen him somewhere before, somehow he reminds me of Fluegel. I know that his appearance might be similar to him… but… the “Player character?”.
I asked him, “And you’re?”
He began to answer my questions
“Oh my, where are my manners? It seems that this is the first time we met each other in the real world”.
“The names Ryuji, Ryuji Sogabe, and Fluegel is my player characters, but of course, my appearance might have few striking resemblances to my character that you met in the online net world”.
I was surprised that this was the first time that we could ever meet offline, but no matter how much I looked at him, he was no different from Fluegel I know in the online game, just the same old bland and plain guy who does nothing but trying to tease me when getting his chance.
“Well, yeah… I can see how much you are the same in the online game.” I said,
“Right, what do you think about my player character? It’s a cool design right, very badass thing that every player wants, well, kids these days always love seeing how cool my player character is designed, so drip” he overconfidently praising his player character, it proves me correct that he’s still annoying Fluegel that I knew in the real world.
“But, can I ask you one thing?” I asked,
“Go ahead,” he said,
“Are you bad at customizing your character?” I asked him.
“G-gah!” He was shocked and disbelief about my question, then he continued, “How rude for you to think that I’m bad at customizing”
“You think so?” I asked, judging by that expression, I’m sure that he was lying. He looked at me, feeling annoyed at how playful his answer was.
*Cough*
“Well boy, as you already know, my PC… well my Schicksal PC was designed and customized by CC Corp following my ideal looks in real life while trying to make it look a bit better in the online game… well that came a little bit different you see, even though Cello, Klarinette, Metronome and every member in my guild had some same but a bit different from their real-life appearance,” he explained.
“Oh…”
I could only listen to his story, it also reminds me about how Schicksal PC works according to that guy Orgel, where their PC can also affect the player’s well in physical condition.
It’s kinda a pity of how much they had gone through just experimenting and testing for that kind of PC.
“But even though my appearance looks badass in your eyes, I still hoped they could have just made my player character even cooler or handsome or some kind of a berserker or anything! For the love of god, they should have just given much a better design than just giving me some slacking real-based character. THIS IS very incompetency coming from them”
“You agree, right? DON’T YOU?!”
All he does is just a bland complaint toward the company, just for some design and customize choice of his PC. Honestly, I didn’t find his PC really that bad tho, though it’s really fit for him. But even so, it annoys me as hell to just complain about what he had brought up.
“Yeah, yeah, I hear you Sogabe-san, loud and clear,” I said, I think it would be better for me to change the subject instead of hearing another of his bullshit complaints.
Besides, there’s so much I want to ask him, but I don’t know where to start.
“Hey, Sogabe-san” I called him
“Hmm, what is it?” He replied to my call.
I decided to try to ask him, “How are things going on lately? Did something change happen on your side?”
“Well, nothing’s changed, kinda, just a same old day for CC Corp and another of their dirty works. Nothing special happened on my side either, or even the company, they just ran wild with their mouths, trying to do what they do as always. Even though what they’re doing right now sometimes irritates me a lot,, what can I do now?” He explained, I was expecting things to go on seriously, but he might not feel like going into detail about what happened.
I feel the same with Sogabe-san, even though things just came back the same old day as usual, hearing this feels the same as how he had felt.
“…” I made no words or comments from his explanation, it seems that everything that happened back then, even to them, was nothing. I sighed, and felt the silent atmosphere roaming through the room… but it was pretty awkward just left silent between us…
“…”
The silence continued, I lowered my head and felt that nothing happened outside, my disappointment in hearing what CC Corp doing somehow left me speechless. Gazing toward my expression, his expression shifted tone into serious, something that he truly wanted to say.
“Well… the truth is…” he sighed and continued, “There’s a lot of things going on lately”.
I turned my head toward him once again and I threw my gaze toward him, surprised to see change tone and expression from him. My ears prepared to hear the words that Sogabe-san was trying to explain, but I admit that judging from his tone, he will explain something serious to me, about what happened while I was in a coma.
“There’s a word from Genius,” He answered.
“G-Genius?!” I was shocked.
That name caught my attention, Genius, or his real name, Durga Fiida Sharma, the CEO and President of CC Corp in the Japanese Branch. He was so arrogant, talking about things that he could only think about himself, and hearing his name pissed me off, thinking that they could just capture us easily just because we were hackers who brought this madness to the real world.
The part that seriously angered me the most, is how he never hesitated to accuse Saika as his accomplice with Geist for causing Immortal Dusk to happen. They went so far just accusing her for nothing, did not even think about how she had gone through, and were fed up with Geist’s lies, they were really insane… I would never forget what he had done.
Even though we finally worked together to put a stop to Aura, I still couldn’t believe how they treated people like it was nothing for them.
“…” But, hearing his name now, means nothing with my condition right now. I couldn’t deliver all of my anger toward him or even the company, but I guess, there’s nothing we could do right now… none of my words matter to them.
Sogabe-san began to explain, “It seems all players that were imported to the game are now returned to the real world. Things are settling down right now. Well, thanks to CC Corp, they managed to calm down the people who were a victim of it, but it brought them in a very tough spot, especially with all complaints and numerous negative feedback coming to CC Corp lately”.
“…” I did not comment, even though I was a little satisfied with this news, it left me in the void with only this news that came from Sogabe-san.
He continued… “Well, another thing this is, it’s about AIKA”
The silence turned into surprise when AIKA’s name came along from his mouth and it caught my attention. Part of me wants to hear anything regarding AIKA. Little increase of serious tension all emotions mixed and left me to wonder what it had to do with her.
Sogabe-san continued to explain,
“…Back then…”
“The part of AIKA that was hidden in stuffed toys has finally reached the Aura’s source. She restored Aura’s consciousness and released her from the black curse, or we could name that, the Brainwash virus as part of Geist”.
“It may sound sensitive to you, none of myself want to tell you this, but, if it weren’t for her, there might be no chance for us to restore Aura at that point, it seems that her purpose has given her a choice what it needs to be done to save the world and you too, even the sacrifice might truly need.”
My heart slowly gets heavy after hearing that, and unacceptance exists within part of me, even though Sogabe-san might have valid points, all those feelings inside me are way too heavy to take it.
“But even so, we might not be able to ignore how much we lost her, I suspect that you might have that thought too, right?”
Heaviness in my heart which I couldn’t bear myself, how much I lost her, it couldn’t make it straight or it might drive me crazy somehow of how sadness and grieves grew within me, it’s hard every time to understand, even though there’s no point for me now.
“I thought we made a promise that just the three of us, Me, Saika, and AIKA would spend time together in the real world together. She is so happy about it. She is truly looking forward to it, her first walk into that world, eating Ice Cream that she likes, and even hamburgers. It sounds funny, but at the same time ironic I felt, she might never gonna have a chance to do that again”.
“It frustrated me, and I don’t get it. Why does she have to die, she doesn’t deserve to need a sacrifice like this. I thought if there’s still a way we could find her new purpose, I might stop that from happening, if only… I’m not weak enough to stand up and stop her… but now… I’m just… I’m just”.
I couldn’t hold the tears in my eyes, the pain that I felt just to remember the day she went, the pain that is still imprinting in my heart, it never goes away.
“AIKA-chan… someone like her… who I’ve always dreamed about since I was a kid, I know that she’s an NPC princess from Akashic Line I used to play, I know that she’s an AIDA NPC that I met now, I know that the first meeting and even now might just dream, but to me, it’s not a delusion! It is truly real to me. I know that her existence had more meaning than just to do it, I know that her purpose wasn’t just about being sacrificial”.
“But now… I couldn’t hear her voice anymore… she’s gone now… I’ll never gonna see her again… If I could turn back time… I will…”
All tears flowed through my cheeks and fell to his thighs which were covered with blankets. I couldn’t bear all the pain of losing her, the pain that continued to hurt me, realizing that I might still have enough to do anything for her.
“Don’t worry about AIKA”
“Huh?” I said, my mind began to fail me to understand why I should not be worried about her, even though Sogabe-san understood the grieves that I felt.
“Look, I don’t know what sort of situation you two were part of. It’s not like I could barge in into your situation, though all of her choices might be the only solution, even though it’s a hard choice she would make”.
“But even so, she met you, and understood her existence, you accepted her for who she was and always cared for her. Your feelings toward her and her feelings toward you… it’s hard to replace that” Sogabe-san said.
“But… it’s not fair” I said, my tears couldn’t stop overflowing, my feelings and her feelings really irreplaceable and special, but even with all that, the unfairness of reality made me believe that she was not here anymore.
“I know, we might not forget or even handle the sadness and grief of loss we felt, that goes the same for Dr. Amagi’s sister too”.
The name of Dr. Amagi Sister started to come to my attention once more, “…Saika-chan?…”
“That’s right, Saika-chan, I hadn’t heard from her ever since I woke up”.
“Though her grief might come different from what you felt, it’s much harder for her to handle, compared to you,” Sogabe-san said.
I lowered my head down, “Saika-chan”, to reflect on what has going on since then, she might have felt the same as I did, but the difference is that how she and AIKA had spent together, co-exist together for three years, so I know that it means a lot harder for her to bear to lose her. My mind couldn’t stop thinking about how worried I was about her.
“How is she? Is Saika-chan doing okay?”
Sogabe-san’s face tells me otherwise whenever I ask about her,
“Well, In her state right now, I think it’s more complicated for me to explain it to you”, he continued, “But she asked me for one favor.”
“What is it?” I asked,
“Back then, your condition weakened following that battle, I suppose due to the exhaustion of your long period in the net world. She knew this first hand, asked me to bring you back to the real world, and entrusted me to take care of you”.
It surprised me to hear that, I thought I was having a high fever and did my long period in online games caused me to be like this. Now that you think about it, even though I was able to fight in The World due to my double ware’s ability, I could also feel slowly exhaustion, but to think it was slowly increased after a brainwashing virus was released from my body.
Even though I could get enough rest, it seems that it didn’t work out for me in this world, talk about how harsh digital space could be affecting my body somehow.
But what worries me is Saika-chan, I don’t see her in the hospital right now, I was worried that something happened to her. She should have visited me in the hospital, but I didn’t expect Sogabe-san would come and visit me after I woke up from my coma.
“Is she alright?” I asked him about Saika-chan.
He explained, “As I told you before about her state of mind right now, however, she think herself being fine though, there’s no change coming from her either. She should be okay… but…”
“I’m afraid, you won’t see her again”.
Tension arose, it shocked me through my veins, I was stunned, and all the suspense came to me after hearing that from him, my body tried to move a little forward toward him, and somehow, my heart just for a few seconds before I continued to ask him,
“What? Why? What makes you think I won’t be able to see her again?!” I asked him in shock.
His face tells me about how hard he needs to find a way to explain her current situation, to find the right words. It’s something that he had struggled with.
He sighed, “I don’t know how to say this, but, the thing is Tokio. She went through so much searching for her brother all these years, she might do any methods necessary to find him. Even means by using you… and even means she continues being fed up by Geist’s lies all this time”.
“As a result, things went up in chaos than we ever expected, though even Geist was responsible for the incident that happened in the real world, she might be an accomplice as well, but all things worked out and you brought all along into this situation, which is all Saika did.”
“Stop!” I said out loud, hearing how CC Corp continuously thought that Saika was an accomplice or even a culprit in the incident, my emotion reached its peak, my blood vein boiled inside of me and a little anger in me burnt down through my chest,
“Don’t try making this nonsense Sogabe-san, I’m very damn sure Saika-chan wasn’t had any means to do it, all she did was to try finding her brother, Geist just set her up, THERE’S NO WAY SHE-“
Sogabe-san refutes my claims, “Even though all she did was to find her brother, we cannot avert our eyes from the truth, what she did might already have a consequence waiting for her. We cannot hide the fact that her doing has almost already brought people to its downfall.”
“Dammit! How could this happen to her?” I shut my eyes, feeling disbelief of how Saika’s fate deserved to be something cruel, even though I didn’t know her much, even if she nagged at me or made harsh words, I knew deep down, she trying to do her best, all she can, alone before she met me.
I know that because AIKA agreed too, but she is being treated like this… I feel ashamed that I didn’t do anything for her, the same goes for AIKA…
“Dammit!” I shouted.
“Wow, okay boy, let’s settle down for a bit.”
Whole heated tension decreased and the silence continues filled the room, but my chest still getting heavy, and my brain couldn’t try to process what was going on, about Saika, CC Corp, and anything, it was too much I could take, and I made a lot of emotions that I couldn’t even think straight.
“Her life is indeed being treated unfairly, but rest assured, this incident has started to calm down, and no one knows that she’s the one who is responsible for what happened. In addition, her action to cooperate to stop Aura might have lessened her sentences. Most likely, her accusation would be less severe than what Genius did, so don’t worry”.
Sogabe-san tried to calm me down, my chest now less heavy than before, it got me a little relieved to hear about that, but my worries didn’t seem to have gone just like that. Saika went through so much finding her brother and wanting to be with him again, I know that she had no ill intention that put the world into chaos, I know she’s a victim, same as I, I trust her, I had no doubt about it!
But it still didn’t solve my questions earlier, “But in that case, what makes you think that I won’t be seeing her again? Where is she now?” I asked
“Well, to go back on topic… I lost contact with her” he answered,
“Huh? What do you mean? Did something happen to her?” I asked him desperately, things just went wrong when she suddenly went up in smoke and didn’t make contact with me or Sogabe-san.
This is wrong…
“*Sigh* well, I can’t make sure to tell you, it’s been a month since she disappeared”
“A month?!” I said with a shock
“Yep, a month. To put it simply, it’s been four months ever since the Immortal Dusk event, and she disappeared a month ago when you were currently in a coma.”
“But how could she disappear, didn’t you have her number, you should be able to contact her”
“Easy for you to say.” He scratched his head, before he continued, “To explain how things happened, I can’t detect her phone, that’s the first. Secondly, I heard that she was transferred to another school. Lastly, her adoptive parents wouldn’t tell me where she was now since she cut ties with them. I searched all information through forums and news, including all of her data privacy, or anything to track her location… but no luck”
My worries increased, I couldn’t have imagined that Saika could have disappeared somewhere, even though I wanted to find her, I didn’t want to let emotions rule over me, but it was harder to comprehend that she chose to disappear, just like that.
Just… what happened to you Saika, why do you suddenly have to disappear?
“I could tell how she felt when she felt guilty for what she did to the world, AIKA, and you, so she tried to stay away, far from you. I guess… facing you right now, is the hardest part for her as it seems.”
“Saika-chan”
Now I little understand what she had gone through and the situation she was in right now. After what happened to her brother and AIKA-chan, I’m sure that she had no courage to face me. I am aware that she might be afraid if I start blaming her for what happened.
I couldn’t bring myself to think about what kind of expression I should do, whether I should scream at myself, angrier, or panic, or sad, or anything that makes it feel better, but inside of my heart, I know this doesn’t feel right to do it. Though, I could understand the same pain, guilt, and grief that she had felt.
“Before she disappeared, she came to visit you one last time, and I was with her at the time. Before our last meeting, she entrusted this message to you,” he said.
“… Huh?…”
A message… from Saika-chan?…
“I’m sorry…”
“That’s the last word she said.”
All the tears continued overflowing from my eyes, and it didn’t stop, I lowered my head, and clenched my hand and my teeth to feel all the sadness and regret that came through over me, I couldn’t hide it, my heart couldn’t bear it any longer, the harder it gets for me whenever I hear it, the more uneasiness my heartfelt, the regrets for didn’t do enough is still painted in my chest.
I know that I should hold it, but no longer.
“Saika-chan…”
“I’m the one who should apologize to you, I couldn’t save your brother, and neither did AIKA, I know it must’ve been hard for you to go through without them.”
“I never blame you for what happened to me, I should be the one to blame myself, not you. I wish I could be there for you, and tell you that it is not you who needs to be blamed.”
“If only, I’m strong enough to make a difference, if only I could save your brother and AIKA…”
“But now, I”
“I…”
If only I was strong enough, maybe one day I would set things right and avoid making the same mistake again, but sometimes nothing I could do to expect what was coming. When the first time I came to The World, I thought that I could make my adventures, meet heroes, and fight monsters like I always did in the past. I could have saved the world, I could have saved the princess and met her again… but…
I thought that again when I saw all the experiences that I felt in The World, this isn’t what I hoped for, nothing’s like that in reality, is this… my punishment…?
Little did I know… Little did they know what would come forward in time… but I realized that… my journey… my adventure in The World… might finally be over.
I was hospitalized for a month after I woke up, and examined for Outer Dependency Syndrome, but luckily, there’s some strain to that effect, so I did take a few steps toward recovery and small medicine. Gratefully, Sogabe-san was there taking care of me, and although he might visit me once per week, he still helped me a lot.
By the time I was finally released with a clean bill of health, he started driving me home. When I came back… yeah, just as I expected. My dad yelled at me, my mom cried for me, and my sister… Well, she just went ahead to her room without saying anything.
I caused quite an uproar, but thankfully, Sogabe-san helped me to fill out the false details about what happened to me when I was gone. As for the rest, it can come later…
After that, I was not allowed to play a game for three months and was grounded for disappearance without notice or contact for several weeks. I did feel upset with their decision, but can’t blame them for what I did to make them worried, but even so, they had taken care of me for recovery and my relationship with my parents kinda improved somehow, but still not there yet.
Just a week later, I was allowed to go back to school…
Just as Sogabe-san said, I never saw Saika at school again. According to my classmate and the other students, there were immediate things that happened to her that led to her decision to transfer to another school, it left her friends, including her fan club worried about her right now as it feels like was sudden decision came from her. I supposed that I worried about her too…
Surprisingly, Immortal Dusk didn’t become much of an issue around the globe. Ultimately, only a handful of people were Real Digitalized and the impact on society was next to nothing. While they received several complaints and negative feedback, CC Corp publicly wrote off Immortal Dusk as just another case of Network Crisis, just as according to what Sogabe-san said.
So… most people would never realize the danger of the twilight that happened upon them…
That the end of the world was prevented by one girl’s sacrifice.
But I will never forget… the time I spent with AIKA-chan… I don’t want to pretend that AIKA never existed… her memories live inside of me… told me to keep believing and remember what she fought for, for the sake of The World she loves so much…
.
.
.
.
Funny, even though that day I told myself I didn’t do enough to become stronger, it’s best for me to stop being so down and blaming myself, AIKA might never want to see me being like this. I
I still have time to become stronger, strong enough to protect someone I care about… when that happens… I…
*Sigh*
No time for me to stand around like this… I made a promise to her… that I won’t forget… I won’t forget…
I won’t…
Tokio’s POV ended.
– In the Present Day –
“It’s hoott… I might gonna stop by Arcade right now, ” Tokio said.
As he walked down the street, the heat enveloped him, causing sweat to bead on his skin. The rising temperature made it challenging for Tokio to navigate through the town. He wiped his sweaty brow and clutched his bag tightly as he pressed on. The intense heat blurred his vision slightly and occasionally brought on a dull headache. But he knew that once he reached the arcade, the cool air inside might offer relief, even if only temporarily.
*BEEP* *BEEP* *BEEP*
His smartphone suddenly rang, the sound piercing the air and vibrating against his thigh. Tokio fumbled to retrieve the device from his pocket, his thumbs swiftly navigating the buttons. Bringing the phone to his ear, he answered the call.
“Hello,” He answered the call with a greeting, his voice echoing through the receiver.
“Atta boy, it’s me Ryuji Sogabe, at your call service” he heard the familiar voice, greeting him through his phone call.
“Sogabe-san?! It’s been a while! But wait, when did you start being promoted to customer service?” Tokio asked as he knew right away who the caller was.
It had been a few months since their last contact, as soon as he heard the other’s voice, he couldn’t help but feel annoyed.
“Oh, you wanna know? But I’m sorry, my job as you called customer service ain’t that cheap at all… unless if I do it for you” Ryuji teased Tokio through the phone call,
“Gross,” His expression morphed into one of irritation as he realized Sogabe was teasing him once again. It seemed to him that Sogabe hadn’t changed a bit since they last spoke.
“Oh calm down, I’m just kidding. Besides all the talking right now, how’re you doing? Things are going well on your side?” Ryuji asked.
“Well… things on my side… just fine”
Tokio felt a wave of embarrassment wash over him, unsure of how to explain his recent activities since their last conversation. It was particularly difficult considering that, to him, his routine seemed largely unchanged, even though there had been some subtle yet significant shifts he couldn’t quite articulate.
“Oh, don’t tell me you just got busy being popular in your school, don’t you?” Ryuji teased him.
“W-what?!” Tokio was shocked.
“I mean, hearing from you right now after a few months since we last met, you might now get busy being popular in your school, I bet now you were surrounded by a girl lately,”
“G-geh!”
“Oh! I’m so jealous, in my time, I was kinda nerd, like a hell if I might be surrounded by a cute girl in my class that day, hahaha hahaha”
The annoyance of Sogabe continued, he blushed when he heard that whenever he was surrounded by girls, continued to tease him, “Argh! Of course not!”
Tokio continued “What kind of another bland story you came up with! Like hell, if I was surrounded by them… I guess” It stops when he remembers that there are slight girls in the school requesting for help or anything else, but he doesn’t even receive any love letters.
Sogabe laughed, “Hahahaha, see, I told you”
“Oh, shut up!” Tokio is upset that all of Sogabe’s teasing came at him, “Anyway, are you just here for something important or just calling me so you could enjoy teasing me!”.
But then, a sudden shift in the atmosphere and tone took hold of their conversation, altering the dynamic of their communication.,
“Well… actually…”
From playful banter to solemn conversations, the dynamic between them mirrored the familiarity of their days in the hospital. Sogabe had a knack for teasing Tokio, often with a depth that belied the boy’s youthful age. Yet, when the moment demanded it, Sogabe could effortlessly transition into seriousness, his demeanor adapting to the gravity of the situation at hand.
“The thing is… it’s Dr. Amagi’s sister.”
His eyes widened as Dr. Amagi’s sister’s name came up in the conversation, sparking his interest. He realized they were discussing Saika, and his attention sharpened.
“We found a trace of an exact location of her wheredoubt,” He continued from his call, “Or should I say… we found her… Tokio.”
Tokio was taken aback by the reports Ryuji was delivering. The only words he managed to muster were…
“Saika-chan? You found her?”
“Really…?”
TO BE CONTINUE…
A/N: With the first chapter is done, the second chapter will not far off and soon will be released as well. There will be some changes and improvements in the upcoming re-released chapter, so keep it coming.
To be honest, this one is something that has never been told before in .hack//Link. I want to show Tokio not just being a hero or even a protagonist, but a human, being at his vulnerable side, he can also feel how much he has failed too and sometimes feels that he let someone like Saika down, especially how he mourned for the loss of AIKA.
This is why TO THE SHINING YOU, is the remake and expanded version of the .hack//Link ending, to give more new side that hasn’t been told between Tokio and Saika, how to deal with their loss of AIKA, but this mostly focuses on Saika, so the second chapter will soon enter the Saika story.
The second chapter will be released soon as well, so be prepared for what’s coming.
See you in the next chapter.
P.S: If you disagree about AIKA’s fate, don’t worry I am aware of her fate, same as you guys, but I want to focus on remaking the ending of .hack//Link, so I hope you at least enjoy it.
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