Episode 21: Summer's End

"I told you that if you couldn't meet the deadline this time, I'd have no choice!" Shut up...

"Please, Nishikima! I was busy with some personal issues. If you give me more time I can-"

"Albrecht-san, I've covered for you time and time again but I'm afraid I've run out of excuses. I'm sorry but the author wants to hire someone else to do the illustrations." SHUT UP.

"I-"

"I'm really sorry, Albrecht-san. Goodbye."

My body felt numb like there was nothing left inside of me. I hated this feeling more than anything in the world. Slowly, I put on my AuraSphere and activated the HUD. Still no replies from her.

Jayce: 'Ari, I'm sorry. I really am. I promise I won't let my anger get the better of me again…'

Jayce: 'Ari, please. I love you.'

"Please…" Tears started streaming down my face. Nothing, I can't do anything right. Dante Albrecht was nothing but a failure. The samurai I gave life to on paper wouldn't have failed like this. He wouldn't have made these mistakes. Jayce was the perfect character and I didn't deserve to be in his shoes.

*Knock Knock*

"Huh?" Wiping the moisture from my eyes, I got up and walked to the door. As soon as I opened it, I was met with a fist, a slap actually, to the face. "Ouch!"

"That's what you get for making Big Sister cry!" Akira in his full blown summer uniform stood in front of me, rubbing his hand from the recoil.

"Akira…?" Sighing, I rubbed the red spot on my cheek. For a kid, he sure can hit hard. "What do you want?"

"Big Sister asked me to check on you again. She was sniffling all the while." Letting himself in, Akira plopped down on my desk chair and spun around once. I followed him and closed the door behind me, taking my place on my bed. "She also told me not to tell Dad because if I did, he'd kill you."

"That's true…" Their Dad was a brute. I don't even know how I got his blessing back then. Come to think of it, did I get his blessing?

"Anyway, why did you hurt her?" He got straight to the point with a determined look on his face which made him seem more mature than usual.

"I… I didn't mean to. I just got caught up in trying to grab all the Gaia Keys." I said as I lowered my head.

"Which subsequently made the game shut down as well…" Akira sighed. "Dante, why are you so obsessed with this game? Don't you think Big Sister is more important than some stupid keys?"

"Of course she is!" I did not hesitate with my answer. "Of course she is. That's why I want to give her the perfect world. I want her to be happy…"

"Don't you think forcing her to break a game is too much?" His eyes glared at mine as he spoke.

"I know... I know I'm not who I say I am. I know I say people like Wairuzu are selfish yet I'm also the same. I'm nothing but a hypocrite." My hands clawed into my knees. It hurt me so much to say that out loud. "Ari must hate me…"

"She doesn't hate you. She's just hurt." Akira replied

"Then why isn't she replying to my messages?"

"Because she wanted to keep this a surprise." My door unlocked as the most beautiful person I've ever seen walked into the room. She brushed her black hair back as she pulled her luggage into the room. "I thought I'd stop by before returning home."

"Ari-chan…"

"Did you really mean it? You just want me to be happy?"

"Of course I did why-"

"Than why did you use me to get the Gaia Keys?!" She raised her voice unwillingly.

"I'm sorry, Ari-chan…" My voice trembled as I spoke. "I shouldn't have made you do that. You have all the reason to hate me…"

"I don't hate you, Dante-kun!" In an instant, Ari leapt forward and wrapper her hand around me. I felt her embrace once more but it was warmer than usual. This was way different than what it felt like in game. "You just worry me so much, I can't help but get mad at how you're treating yourself!"

"I promise I won't worry you anymore. You're more important than anything in my life." Pulling back, I wiped a tear that was forming in her eye. "I love you."

"I love you too." As our faces came closer, someone decided to clear his throat.

"You guys are disgusting." Akira sat before us on my chair with his arms crossed. All of a sudden, he jolted up as he felt a vibration in his pocket. Pulling out his black AuraSphere, he put it on and checked the notification. "Guys, an update video just popped up."

"What?" Reaching for my own device, I put it on as well. Ari, on the other hand, started unlocking her luggage.

"Hold on, I packed mine in here!" She said as she rummaged through her stuff and pulled out a pristine looking AuraSphere box. She always knew how to take care of her belongings, especially something that was so expensive.

"Hello, Envoys of Gaia! Ah, that was stupid..." A man with glasses and a short hair cut greeted us. This time, he looked like he was just from the office with a simple red necktie along with a light blue button up shirt. It was clear that this wasn't an in game character but one of the developers. "My name is Toru Minabuchi. I'm the head of server maintainance here at RECT Progress! I just wanted to apologize for the server issues we've been having throughout the week."

"He's talking about that, huh?" I asked as both Ari and Akira shushed.

"It has come to my attention that there have been attempts to edit the game's code. Attempts that I assure you have been resolved. We still don't know who staged these attacks but rest assured that we have placed countermeasures to combat them in the future." Pushing up his glasses, he inhaled before speaking again. "This incident has shown us that we are in desperate need for Administrators to govern the game within the world of Azuria. Therefore, we have decided to hold the Sky Tower event tomorrow at approximately six in the evening. The event itself will run for the rest of the week, giving you all a enough time to clear each floor."

"Wait, are you serious?!" Akira shouted.

"I know it's a challenge but we do need the best of the best for the AKO Council. For those lucky eight who managed to get their hands on Gaia Keys, I can't wait to see how you will shape the world of Aura Kingdom Online."

Opening: Courage by Tomatsu Haruka

I sat on my bed with my knees huddled up as I stared at the wall. Lots of thoughts came in and out of my head to the point where I didn't even bother trying to understand them. I wished things were different, I wished I hadn't done what I did but it was too late now.

"Don't even bother coming to the party!" Her words echoed again and again. I wish I could just get her out of my head but I couldn't.

"Hiro?" My mom knocked on the door as she slowly entered with a soft smile on her face. "The shop called and they said they can get your AuraSphere fixed by tomorrow."

"Thanks, mom." I said sheepishly as I relaxed myself on the bed.

"Hiro…" Moving over, she took her seat a few inches away from my legs and faced me. "I know you keep a lot of problems to yourself but you'll find that things will only get worse as time passes."

I didn't bother replying. I didn't want to talk about my personal issues, not with her at least. She would never understand.

"I know it might seem your father and I are distant sometimes but that's not the case. We know you want your space and we give that to you… but if you ever need an ear, we're here for you." She placed her and on my left leg as she spoke. "We love you, sweetie. You know that, don't you?"

"I know, Mom." Maybe I was being too cold to them. Ever since Mari and I stopped talking, I always felt too bitter to act like everything was alright. She opened my eyes to the world and how it truly operated. I was scared to realize that… but at the same time, I missed her. I missed our talks, our dinners, I missed her smile.

"Tell you what. I'll make some omurice for dinner. I know it's your favorite. I'm still getting the hang of flipping the egg but I know I'll perfect it eventually." She smiled as she stood back and exited the room but not before saying one last thing. "Hiro, try to give yourself more credit. You're more special than you know."

My eyes traced the lines on the ceiling as I exhaled. "Am I?"

All of a sudden, my ringtone rang out as I pulled my phone from the table beside me. Since the AuraSphere was being repaired, I had to rely on my old smartphone to message. Sliding it open, I found an incoming call from Shimpei.

"Hello?" I answered as my ear burst from the loud voice coming from the other end.

"Hiro, finally! I've been trying to reach you for days! Where have you been?!"

"Sorry, dude. Got caught up in some stuff. I'm sorry I couldn't log in." I gulped before saying the next words. "I assume Jayce managed to find all the keys?"

"What? No, we have one."

"Wait, what the hell?!" Jumping out of my bed in surprise, I turned to face the window. "Where'd you get one?!"

Mr. Know-it-all proceeded to explain how he and the others ventured to Silent Ice Field and found Jayce together with Reinhardt who were searching for the final Gaia Key as well. Luckily the portal they were supposed to go through managed to lock out any creature touched by dark magic. The end, however, shocked me.

"Richter… was there?"

"Yeah. He said he wanted us to give him a good fight."

Richter, the person whom I've fought against this whole time. I didn't know if he had something planned or if he was actually trying to be a nice person but that didn't matter now.

"We have to move on, Hiro." He lowered his voice from his usual volume. "Are you going to be okay?"

"Y-yeah..." I lied. I hated not being able to do anything right. Instead, the others picked up my slack.

"And what was… oh yeah!" He raised his voice back to his usual level. "The event's tomorrow! The Sky Tower should open around six in the evening!"

"Tomorrow?!" I gasped. I know my mom said that the AuraSphere would be repaired and ready by tomorrow but I forgot to ask for a specific time.

"Yeah, man. We're going to make preparations tonight. Log in when you can." He told me. "Oh! Don't forget to message Megumi. None of us can reach her right now. We all know she always responds to you."

Before I could say another word, he hung up before I could get the chance to tell him that I had no way of logging in for now. Sitting back down, I wondered what the hell I was going to do.

Tightly hugging my pillow with my earbuds on and my phone set to max volume, I stared blankly at the ceiling. I had managed to avoid crying for the entire afternoon so it was nice to finally let loose in my room. At this point, my tears had dried up so I finally decided to open my phone and check my messages. It wasn't a surprise none of them were from Hiro. Most of them were replies from my friends who said they were going to my farewell party the next day to see me off. They made me feel a little happier but O had to admit, I was still scared.

However, besides those messages, I found some coming from M, Daize, and Soran themselves. Each of them were politely asking if I was planning on logging in to AKO again. I didn't feel like I should. Megumi was a happy go lucky Sorcerer not a mopey crybaby, after all. I didn't want my real life to get in the way of my virtual one so I decided not to reply to them.

"Mari?" A few knocks came from my door as I hurriedly wiped any tears that remained on my face and took off my earbuds.

"Come in." I said before my Aunt entered my room holding a purple yukata hanging from a hanger. "Auntie!"

"Is it okay? I had my friend, Masahiro-kun, make a custom design and I knew you'd love the purple."

Jumping from my bed, I stroked the fabric of the dress. It was smooth with floral patterns all of it. "It's perfect! I love it!"

"It's yours now, Mari. Consider it my final farewell present. You can even wear it tomorrow, make all those girls jealous." She smiled as she said that. For a single aunt, she was very thoughtful.

"Thank you, Auntie. I will wear it tomorrow." I grinned as she took me into another embrace. I felt the tightness of her arms envelop me as I squirmed to get away.

"I'll miss you so much! I hope you and your mother will have a wonderful time in Hokkaido!"

"T-thank you…" I'm dying.

"Now, I have to go and tend to the shrine preparations. Remember, the summer festival starts tomorrow but your party is at six so don't be late! It's your farewell, after all." She reminded me as she left my room, leaving me to take in a large breath of air after being strangled so much.

'I wonder if Hiro is going.' He probably wouldn't, not after I snapped at him. In a way, he was telling the truth. I used him. I wasn't sure if that's how he saw it at first but now I know.

All of a sudden, my phone vibrated again. Checking it, I found a message from Wairuzu.

Wairuzu: 'Hey, you got a minute?'

Hastily, I typed my reply.

Megumi: 'Sorry, I don't feel so good. Can't log in.'

Wairuzu: 'I didn't mean log in. Is that fine with you?'

Chat? Did he really want to talk to me that badly?

Megumi: 'Sure. What's up?'

Wairuzu: 'I talked to my friend… I don't think it ended well.'

Yeah, me too.

Megumi: 'What happened? If you don't mind telling me that is.'

Wairuzu: 'Things just went South. I said something I shouldn't have and now I think things were worse than before.'

I didn't know why but I felt like Wairuzu was very troubled. I could feel his pain as I read every word he sent.

Megumi: 'I'm sorry. I'm glad you tried though. I know that wasn't easy.'

Wairuzu: 'Thank you, Megumi.'

You're very much welcome, swordsman.

Wairuzu: 'By the way, the Sky Tower event was moved to tomorrow. The guys were wondering if you could come.'

"Huh?" I raised a brow as I read that. Did they really move it?

Wairuzu: 'They said it's going to be up from six in the evening until Sunday night.'

"Oh no…" That was the exact same time my party was going to be held.

Megumi: 'I don't know if I can go. Busy with real life yet again.'

Wairuzu: 'Oh, that's okay. I get it.'

"I'm sorry, guys…" Truth was, my flight wasn't until the next morning so I could totally log in after the festival but I didn't feel like I wanted to. Something inside me was preventing me from joining them and I wasn't sure what it was. Clenching my chest, I exhaled. There wasn't much I could do now. By this time tomorrow, I'd be saying goodbye to all the people I've come to know and love. All but one…

"Still nothing?" M asked as I entered Candeo Cafe where we had decided to meet for preparations before the Sky Tower raid.

"Wairuzu finally responded but I don't think he's planning to log in any time soon." I told them as I scratched my head in frustration. Sometimes the guy just ticks me off, you know?

"Great. The moment we finally get our hands on a Gaia Key, two of our most important members go MIA!" The Reaper was clearly frustrated from the whole situation but we all knew we couldn't do anything about that.

"So what are we going to do now?" Soran asked with saddened eyes.

"If they don't show up tomorrow, we'll have no choice but to raid the Sky Tower without them. Remember, we still have to stop Jayce from gaining complete control over AKO." Orha said.

"Yeah but what happens if we go in without our guild leader?" I knew that the reward would not only involve a crap ton of loot but also the keys to the kingdom which we're only granted to the guild leader. Everyone glared at each other, waiting for someone to answer until M spoke up.

"There's an option to change the guild leader. If Wairuzu isn't planning on coming with us then he might as well hand over the reigns." Clearly, he knew he was the best option to lead the guild but just didn't want to say it out loud. Soran and Orha would probably refuse the role and I didn't want the kind of pressure that came with being an admin of a game.

"I… I'll talk to him tomorrow." I responded.

"Thank you, Daize." Stretching his arms, M opened his inventory. "Right, down to business. We'll need a couple of things before the raid."

"We'll need to make up for the lack of a strong healer in the party so potions are a must." Orha said.

"What if we run into Jayce and the Cobalt Rangers?" Soran raised a brow.

"The tower should be set to PVE. The event was aiming to unite eight different guilds, after all." The Wizard answered. "But we'll need a backup plan in case things take a turn for the worse."

"Leave that to me…" M tipped his Dagon hat at us while smiling. The rest of the night went quickly. We identified what we needed and went out to buy them. I knew tomorrow was going to be an important day but what I didn't know was that it was going to be a day that would change all of our lives forever.

"I'm heading out." I told my parents as I stood by the doorway, putting my shoes on. My Mom raised her head along with Dad.

"Take care sweetie. Don't forget the money and form!" She told me.

"I have it, don't worry." Waving the items around, I tucked them deep into the right pocket of my jeans and pulled my hood up to protect me from the sun's afternoon rays. As soon as I stepped outside, however, I was greeted with someone I never expected to see.

"Hey, Hiro." Shimpei waved at me with a stupid smile. "I was about to knock. Where are you headed?"

"I… uh, have to get my AuraSphere. My Mom sent it in for repairs a few days ago."

"Wait, seriously? What happened to it?" He said with a concerned look on his face.

"Look, I got to go. See you around, Shimpei." Walking past him, I was suddenly grabbed by the arm.

"Hey, dude. What's up? You've been acting weird for a while now. If something's wrong, you can talk to me or Genji, you know?"

Lowering my head, I thought about taking the offer but decided to refuse once more. It seemed like the only person I could be open with this kind of stuff was Megumi. It might just be because of the anonymity, though.

"Everything's fine, you idiot." I chopped the top of his head yet again but this time it was gentle. "I'll see about logging in later but I can't make any promises."

"O-okay…"

Turning around, I made my way to the local train station. The repair shop was just a few stops over so I should be able to make it to the event just fine but at this point, I wasn't sure what I was going to do.

"It was in a pretty bad shape but thankfully the casing was designed to withstand a big impact." A middle-aged man with a receding hairline handed me my orange AuraSphere which looked good as new. The wonders of modern technology never ceased to amaze me.

"Thank you." I said as I gave him both the money and the order form.

"What did you say happened again?" He asked me as he loaded the cash into the register.

"I… dropped it."

"Hm… seems like a lot of damage for a simple fall." Before I could reply, he handed me the receipt and smiled. "Thank you. Please come again."

Stepping out of the store, I immediately synced my AuraSphere to my phone and accessed the contacts list. I was going to message Shimpei when my finger came across Mari's name again. For some reason, I haven't deleted her from my contacts yet. With my head raised up in the air, I stared blankly at the sky. It was already getting dark.

'The guys need me, I have the AuraSphere already, just go home Hiro! Just…' Lowering my head, I glanced at my open palm which curled into a fist.

"H-how about you? Is this guy important to you?" Megumi's words echoed in my head like a bell.

'Damn it.'

"Mari-chan!" A dark skinned girl with short hair embraced me as I stepped onto the shrine grounds.

"It's nice to see you again, Chisa." This girl had been my best friend throughout high school so it was nice to see her again. Behind her, the rest of my friends appeared and I hugged every one of them. It wasn't long before they started complimenting me for my Yukata. We chatted until we decided it was time to check out the festival my Aunt had spent a week preparing for but before we could, one of my friends turned around.

"Wait, what's he doing here?" He said as we all turned to face the opposite direction. My eyes widened as the lights flashed all around me. There he was standing at the foot of the staircase with his black jacket and thick glasses.

"Hey, Mari." Hiro waved at me with two fingers.

Ending: Shirushi by LiSA

Next Episode: The Sky Tower