Chapter 10: Tough Decision

The world was quiet. There was no sound. The clock needle pointed at the numbers of 8 and 12. It was an early morning of 8 o'clock. Everything was still motionless, clinging to the brief pleasure they have in their slumber. Takeru was among the beings that tried to grasp the enjoyment of sleeping. He stayed in bed until he couldn't force himself more sleep. He got up from his bed and checked the calendar to see that it was Sunday, the day when the chorus concert took place at school. He remembered what Hikari had said in the previous night and prepared a tuxedo to wear at the concert. After lyaing the tux neatly on his bed, he took a quick shower to completely wake himself up. After a quick, refreshing shower, Takeru came back to his bedroom to find his cell phone vibrating. A hard, wooden desk resonated the vibration and increased the volume exponentially. Takeru reached for the phone while trying to dry his hair with a large towel. After letting drying his hand first, he grabbed it and answered the phone.

"Hello?"

"Hey, Takeru! Please tell me that Hikari slept with you!"

"…"

Takeru gave a pause at this awkward statement. No ordinary person asks if he can say that he had slept with his sister.

"You listening?"

"I did not sleep with her. Plus, I don't think an older brother should want his little sister to have sex."

"It's seriously okay if you did! Did you spend the night together or not?"

"I really didn't sleep with her. Why are you speaking so loud and rushed?"

"Hikari didn't come home yesterday! I checked her room this morning, but she wasn't there!"

"What?"

Upon hearing that, Takeru jumped out of his bed and demanded answers from Taichi.

"What do you mean she didn't? Didn't you see her last night?"

"I stayed out late and thought she was already asleep!"

"God damn it!"

Takeru lamented not walking her home. He felt guilty for this horrific incident. Takeru's face froze and excessive hatred returned to him. However, this time, the hatred was toward himself. He couldn't bear the fact that Hikari had gotten in trouble because of his careless action and decisions.

"I'm gonna look for her now. Takeru, could you help?"

"Definitely. I'll find her."

"Call me right away when you find her! Bye."

Taichi hung up quickly, trying to search for his lost sister. Takeru was moving rapidly as well. He put on his clothes and dashed out the door. When he tried to open the door, he saw a piece of paper stuck to it. He pulled it and read it. After reading the content, Takeru's smile and kindness vanished from the world once again. He clenched his fists tightly, detesting the situation and the culprit behind this treachery. The letter's content stated this.

We have your girlfriend, Takeru Takaishi. Your girl will be hurt if you don't show up at the abandoned shack near the ocean by 12 P.M. Make sure to show up alone and do not tell anyone else. If you bring people, your girlfriend will be lost forever.

Takeru rushed back to his room and opened a large case that he hid under his bed and took the contents and hid them in his clothes. He looked to check the time and the clock indicated 9 A.M. already. Seeing that time is running out, he dashed outside to head to the old abandoned shack near the ocean. The ocean was a 20 minute drive by a car, but Takeru couldn't wait to get on a cab or a bus. He couldn't afford to waste his time on traffic and street lights. He ran faster and faster. He was trying to find his only hope of life and had to run with all that he's got. By running nonstop, Takeru reached the shack in approximately 17 minutes. Takeru barged into the place, fearless. He kicked the door open and scared everybody. Nobody expected him to arrive so quickly. Takeru glanced at the surrounding environment and saw that he was surrounded by roughly 50 guys, armed with metal pipes, bricks, sticks, and even knives. Among the armed gangsters, the boss had approached Takeru.

"So you're the famous Takeru Takaishi, huh?"

"Who the hell are you to know me?"

"I'm a gang leader around this city. I heard that my boys have been beaten by a blonde young boy. Now, other gangs in their cities think that my gang is a pack of crap."

"They were correct."

"Shut it, kid. We still have your girlfriend. You're gonna have to work for us now or your dear Hikari will be gone forever."

"Where is she?"

"She's behind all of us. But you won't be going there any soon, not until you've worked your ass off to put our reputation to the top."

"Let me see her."

"Fine then."

He gestured the guys to move and Hikari was seen, roped and silenced by a cloth in her mouth. She was letting out tears. She was grateful and happy that Takeru had come to save her.

"Destroy our rival gangs and eliminate all competition. That's all you need to do."

Takeru looked around once again and faced the boss again.

"If I refuse?"

"I heard you're a genius, but I guess you aren't. Isn't it obvious? We're gonna kill your girlfriend."

He spoke with overflowing threat. Then, the thugs next to Hikari took out and pointed a knife near her throat. Hikari closed her eyes and trembled.

"You don't have a choice, boy. Also, some of my boys want revenge on you, so good luck with that."

With that, the gang leader walked away and told his minions to charge at Takeru. Soon, the shack was filled with thunderous battle roars and deafened the place. Even in this ominous situation, Takeru did not budge a muscle and silenced all the screaming people. Takeru laughed maniacally and his low voice vibrated and echoed throughout the entire building. His laugh was so threatening and menacing that everybody had stopped moving. Once everyone had stopped moving, Takeru put his hand inside his clothes and pulled out a dangerous looking gun and pointed at the boss.

"Holy…"

"Aw crap. This is hell…"

Comments drenched fears were coming out of people's mouths. Even the boss seemed bothered by this sight.

"Hey…Put that away or your girlfriend will die right now."

Takeru chuckled as he spoke.

"Can you really say that, I wonder?"

"What the hell?"

"If you kill her right now, then without a doubt, I'll shoot all of you dead right now. But if you choose to let her go safely, I just might let you slide."

"In your mad dreams, moron. Like hell you would kill your own girlfriend."

"It's your choice. Either everybody except me die or nobody gets killed. Which will it be?"

"You can't kill all of us with that small ass gun."

"I'm sorry for not mentioning. This is an uzi. I can shoot all you dead in an instance. Now, what will it be?"

Takeru finished speaking and the gangsters seemed to be troubled.

"What should we do, boss?"

"Maybe we should listen to him."

"Just let the girl go. We don't want to die."

"Fine…We'll let her go."

The boss agreed to Takeru's order in fear of death.

"Everybody move away from her."

Some were reluctant to do so, but they moved away on the spot when Takeru shot the gun at the ceiling and shouted.

"Move for god damn sake!"

Takeru walked where Hikari was and untied the rope and removed the cloth that silenced her. Hikari was still crying as she stared at Takeru's eyes. His eyes were much colder, charged with hate. Hikari actually became scared by his image. She was grateful that he had come to save her, but was afraid that he would kill everybody now.

"Takeru?"

"It's okay. Get up. I'm getting you out of here."

Takeru raised her up and escorted her to the exit of the shack. Before exiting, Takeru stopped and handed Hikari his wallet and gun.

"Take it and go. Go home. You're brother is worried about you."

"But Takeru…what are you…?"

"Take a cab. It's faster. That gun is for protection. I don't want you to get kidnapped again."

"Let's go together. I can't carry a gun with me."

"Hide it under your shirt or something. Just go now."

However, Hikari refused to and suggested that they should return together. Takeru declined to do so.

"I'll catch up. Just go."

"But…"

"I'm not gonna repeat myself again."

Takeru gave that nostalgic death glare at her. Without energy to argue against him, Hikari was forced to do as Takeru told her. Scared of Takeru's next action and his fearful look, Hikari ran without turning back. Once she was gone, Takeru closed the shack door. He locked the door and looked at the frightened gangsters.

"You got freaking lot of guts to do something like this. You're all dead crap."

He said as he cracked his knuckles.

"You lying bastard! I thought you're gonna let us go!"

"You're gonna continue this kind of crap afterward. I'm gonna beat the living hell out of you so that you can't move anymore."

The gangsters became furious and everybody charged at him, even the boss. Knowing that he did not have a gun anymore, they decided to fight him. Takeru quickly punched a person with a long steel pipe and stole it for weapon. With that, he began to rampage across the army of thugs. Even though Takeru was winning, he received numerous hits and blows due to the considerable difference in number. Even though he was getting injuries all around his body, he did not stop fighting people with his berserk mind. He was letting out all his hatred and anger right now. He continued to fight until everybody was motionless and his pipe broke in two pieces. Takeru purposely left the leader of the gangster until the last moment and spoke to him.

"What weaklings you guys are."

"You son of a…!"

Before he could finish his sentence, Takeru landed an amazing kick on his face and took him down. Because Takeru was exhausted, his strength was reduced tremendously and the boss did not faint. He walked up to the twitching man and started to talk.

"Don't ever mess with me and don't you ever touch my girl again!"

Takeru kicked him around and left the place as soon as he lost consciousness. With cuts, bruises, and few injured bones, Takeru limped his way back home. His body was soaked with blood of many people as well as his own. Cuts on his arms and legs were gushing out drops of blood and the drenched clothing weighed him down, causing him to lose more energy. Also, his fractured hand received a companion in his right arm. His ulna was broken and Takeru could neither move nor lift his arm due to the overwhelming pain. Despite being in such perilous state, Takeru moved onward to his house, wanting to fulfill his promise that he will show up at the chorus concert where they will sing together. He pressed on until his body could no longer work over the limit. His head felt dizzy and the visions were being blurred. He didn't even have enough energy to think if he was going to die or not. All he could and all he did was close his eyes and let the darkness swallow him.

"I can't die yet…damn it…"

He crawled his way for a short moment, but ended up collapsing on the ground and losing consciousness. Now, Takeru was trapped in an endless abyss of utter darkness and roamed the shapeless dimension. After long period of exposure to the endless darkness, Takeru finally regained his strength to open his eyes again. When he opened his eyes, he was in a field, decorated with various flowers. Takeru was lying on his back, looking at the blue azure sky. When he tried to rise, he felt no aching sensation throughout his body. He did not have the cuts and bruises and his bones of his right arm didn't hurt. He wondered how such thing happened to him. His pondering came to an end when he heard laughter behind him. A beautiful girl in a white dress was laughing and smiling. The girl's brown hair was touched by the gentle breeze. Soon, she realized Takeru's presence and spoke.

"Hi, I didn't see you there."

The girl turned around and Takeru nearly fainted. Her beauty was just beyond human's capability of describing. An angel, perhaps that was the most appropriate word for it.

The girl walked toward him, sat down, and stared at Takeru's face. Takeru couldn't possibly make an eye contact with her. Herr presence was blindingly gleaming with pure beauty.

"Won't you look at me?"

The girl spoke with a soft and yet familiar voice. Only then, Takeru looked up and met her eyes. After looking deeply into Takeru's sparkling eyes, she smiled magnificently and spoke to him.

"You're a handsome person."

She spoke with an immeasurable enthusiasm.

"What brings you here?"

"I don't know. I don't know how I even got here."

"Do you remember anything before you got here?"

"I was…"

Takeru tried to remember the incident that occurred. Strangely, his memory was hazy and unclear. It felt as if the event occurred too long ago to remember the details of it.

Takeru remembered pieces of his memories and described accordingly.

"I remember being really tired from something. I couldn't move my right arm and hands. That's everything I can tell."

"Do you remember why you were tired?"

"Not entirely, but I think I was trying to help someone out."

"Wow. You're handsome AND nice."

"I'm not. I really am not."

Takeru spoke sorrowfully. The girl disagreed with him and spoke on.

"You are a nice person. I think you were tired because you were helping that someone. Who was it?"

"It was…"

Takeru tried desperately to remember, knowing that this person was important. After fierce moment of thinking, he remembered the name.

"Hikari Yagami. That was the name."

"Hikari Yagami…"

The girl had a puzzled look. She seemed as if she couldn't believe that the reality was real.

"Do you know Hikari?"

"Yes. I know her."

"You're her friend?"

"I'm not, but you are. Aren't you?"

"Yeah…"

The girl, then, spoke to him in a hesitant tone.

"Takeru…?"

Takeru made a perplexed expression. He did not share his name and yet she already knew his name.

"How do you know my name?"

"Because I'm your friend."

"My friend?"

She walked forward and lessened the distance between each other, allowing Takeru to examine her face carefully. Soon after he saw her face clearly, he knew who she was immediately.

"Hikari?"

She nodded gently and stared into his spectacular eyes. She seemed happy, but confused at the same time. Takeru spoke reluctantly.

"I didn't know you looked so pretty…"

"Time changes people. That's what you said to me once, right?"

"Yeah…When was it since that we saw each other?"

"I'm thinking maybe 3 years now."

"3 years…Hmm…"

Takeru examined her appearance. Her hair had grown longer and smoother, her height increased and her face became even more beautiful and majestic than it was before. Her beauty score upgraded from A+ to something even greater. It almost seemed unfair. He was surprised how a person can change in such a short period of time. He didn't think that it has been 3 years and contained no memory of the life in those times.

"What have I been doing those years? I can't remember."

Hikari made a sad, depressing face. She carefully and softly spoke what Takeru had done in those passed times.

"You were dead."

Heavy silence followed shortly after. Takeru couldn't believe his ears and the words that exited Hikari's mouth. Takeru shook his head in disbelief.

"I'm alive right now. Can't you see?"

"Yeah…you are…"

"So I wasn't dead."

"You were. The doctors said you were dead."

"Doctors?"

"Remember? I was kidnapped on the day of the chorus concert and you rescued me. I called the police and they found your collapsed body on the street."

Takeru twitched. Everything clicked and all the memories had come back. It was as if a part of him, which had been missing, had returned. Takeru remembered that he collapsed on the ground due to massive exhaustion and sensation of pain.

"So they took me to hospital and I died?"

"Sadly, yes."

"I'm dead, but I'm alive…"

Then, Hikari made an enlightened face. She began explaining her theory for this unique incident.

"Perhaps this is when you decide your life."

"What are you talking about?"

"When you lost consciousness when you fell, your mind came to the future and solidified."

"That is either science fiction or supernatural fantasy."

"It's not completely wrong. Your look is the way you used to look 3 years ago."

"If you're right, then, I'll be dead in my world when I choose to stay here."

The moment when Takeru had finished his sentence, he and Hikari were engulfed in darkness. It was the same pit of blackness that Takeru had seen before. Now, he believed that he was given a second chance to choose a life.

"I guess I was right."

Hikari exclaimed as she looked at changing of the environment. Takeru was confronted with two choices. Either he can leave here and stay in his original world or he could stay here and die in his original world. Takeru thought hard on what to do. If he stays, then, he would die and Hikari will be left alone, but if he leaves, the older Hikari would be alone again. No matter what, one Hikari had to suffer the cruel emotion called loneliness. However, the older Hikari had the worse situation. She had been lonely ever since Takeru died and if he leaves again, she would still be alone. Takeru looked at the adult Hikari in front of him and became indecisive.

"Takeru, you can do what you want to do."

"But…won't you…"

"I will be alone again, but I've gotten used to it now. I'm almost an adult now. I have to let the kids do what they want, not what I want."

The upgraded, older Hikari smiled at him. He became hesitant. He didn't want to hurt either one's feelings. It was difficult to even imagine seeing Hikari's gorgeous face get sad. He admitted in his mind. He loved Hikari and always wanted to love her. When he realized his emotion towards Hikari, the decision making got even harder. At that moment, he wanted to choose between life and death rather than to choose which Hikari he had to depress and disappoint.

I rushed a little bit, so few errors are to be expected.