Saekano: Showdown

by FallenVengeance

This time, the Blessing Software team a slew of teams to compete for the best game overall in the famous competition Gem Among Games. Would they emerge victorious, or go home empty? WARNING: RATED NC-17 FOR EXPLICIT LANGUAGE AND SCENES. READ AT YOUR OWN RISK. Coming 2020. Rest in peace, Jarad Anthony Higgins, aka Juice WRLD (December 2 1998 - December 8 2019)

22. One-Shot

"Life is a question and how we live it is our answer." - Gary Keller

The sound of a baby crying could be heard from the master bedroom. Masaru is sleeping soundly while Utaha woke up and went to the baby's room.

She carried the baby and fed her milk before changing her diaper. She then hummed a soft lullaby as she swayed her gently from left to right. A few minutes later, the baby fell asleep.

Utaha went back into the master bedroom and sat on the bed.

"How's Seiren?" Masaru muttered to her.

"She's fine. Just needed milk and a new set of diapers."

"Ahh...Thanks for waking up early." He yawned, "It's been hard on you."

"It isn't." She smiled, "I'll get back to sleep."

"Alright." He muttered before going to sleep again. Utaha kissed him on the cheeks before lying down on the bed and closing her eyes.

At seven that morning, Masaru got out of bed and went to the balcony of their house. He sold away the old flat he was living in, and had bought a new house with Utaha.

He glanced at the sky and smiled. Oh, how fast his life had went. Three years ago, he had joined Blessing Software for Uncle Yang, and there he met his childhood friend, his first ex, and most importantly, the love of his life. So much has changed, now that he's married to her.

He took out his phone and went to his photos app. He looked at a picture and smiled. It is a picture of him and a short-haired Utaha, moving into their new house.

Utaha had cut her hair short after the wedding due to the humid weather. She became a bit crazier after that, but he thinks it as her old self. He doesn't like her short hair because he thinks it's a bit ugly. When she grew it back a few months later, he was so relieved. He grinned thinking about it.

"What are you grinning at?" Utaha went up to him and placed her hands around his body as she laid her chin on his shoulder.

"Your short hair experience." He replied.

"C'mon, Masaru-san, you've told me how many times that it sucked." Utaha whined, "I've never received such an insult about my hair before, and it's from my husband. Tcch."

"I mean, you do look beautiful with any hairstyle." Masaru responded, "But then, that hairstyle suits Megumi more than you."

"Masaru-san..."

"Alright, it's done and over with." Masaru turned towards her, "Anyways, you look really pretty in anything. Your short hair is good, but your long hair is obviously better and makes you such a stunning, gorgeous beauty."

"You and your words." Utaha smiled at him, "I'll never get sick of it."

"I'm glad you won't." Both of them then kissed each other on the lips.

FallenVengeance Presents

A month later, the sun shone brightly in the city of Singapore. There are people in work suits walking to their cars or to the train and bus stations. The trains and buses are usually filled with commuters in the morning. All of them are squeezing, trying to get into the public transport vehicles so that they would not be late for their school or work.

"Good morning, Singaporeans. You've tuned in to 99.9 FM, and I'm sure happy you did. This is Listen With Me, with your host Jerald Johnson, from nine to twelve. There are so many exciting news to talk about today, but let's start with the accidents first, because I want everyone to be safe and avoid those places. Around ION Orchard, a tree fell onto the roads, causing a two hour jam. Another accident happened the Pan-Island Expressway, where a Toyota Wish and a taxi collided. Police are still investigating on that matter. Those are the only accidents for today. Onto the next exciting thing.

"The famous competition Gem Among Games has returned this year! Held every three years, this event pits gaming companies against each other to create the best game of the current year! In case you forget the progress of this, let me tell you guys. The participating teams would have to go through a qualifying round by submitting a newly-created game within a month. The games would be judged within three months, and the top five teams whose games satisfied the judges will go to Singapore to compete against each other. The judges will give a topic, and the teams have to create a game based on that. The winning team will win fifty thousand dollars, along with the certified Gem Among Games stamp! Second prize is ten thousand, and the third is two thousand! That's cool, isn't it? I'm so hyped up for it! I wonder if any team is going to beat Farebit Technologies, the winning team that won the last two competitions. We'll talk more about it soon, but first, here's 'Fast' by Juice WRLD, on 99.9 FM. Have a happy Saturday."

Saekano: Showdown

Three weeks later, in Tokyo, Masaru and Utaha entered a restaurant and went to a table, where the rest of their friends are there. Megumi, Tomoya, Eriri, George, and Michiru.

"Hey, sorry we're late." Masaru sat down beside Megumi while Utaha sat in between her husband and Eriri.

Tomoya held up his glass of wine and the rest did too, except for Megumi, who held a glass of water.

"Cheers to the success of our game!" Tomoya screamed. The rest cheered in joy as they clinked their glasses.

"I can't believe we've created games for so long, and our fans are still supporting us all the way." Michiru commented.

"We have a very strong fanbase. We have lots of otakus, so obviously our game is well-known among the anime community." Tomoya replied proudly, "Besides, we put all our heart and soul into every game, so that's why our games are all well-received too."

"I do love our fans." Megumi added on, "They're really kind and supportive. They always send us encouraging messages to our social media accounts. They're so sweet."

"So, how's Lucy doing, Michiru?" Tomoya asked.

"She's doing perfectly fine." Michiru responded, "She's now the lead guitarist for her school band! She's scoring quite well in her results too!"

"How 'bout yours, Masaru-san?" Megumi asked Masaru, "How's taking care of your daughter?"

"Pretty much hard." Masaru laughed, "Sometimes, she would cry in the middle of the night, and we have to wake up to feed her. We take turns to wake up, so it's all good. The only problem is to juggle work and family. In our home, while Utaha is busy writing the storyline, I'll give a bit more input while I take care of the baby. Then, while I'm doing my coding, Utaha will take care of her. It's a bit hectic, and I'm trying to get used to it."

"But we enjoy taking care of the baby." Utaha smiled, "She's so cute and adorable. She looks really pretty too, just like me."

"Let's hope she's not like you when she grows up." Eriri joked, "She cannot be sarcastic like you, she can't have a sharp tongue like you, and she can't be a crazy person like you. Most importantly, she can't have so much sexual desires like you."

"Well, at least she's going to be a well-mannered girl because she have my genes." Utaha retorted, "And she's going to be smart because me and Masaru-san are."

"It depends. Masaru's smart and intelligent in his results and work. His coding really never goes wrong. But for you, Utaha, you are smart in writing sadistic, disgusting, cringeworthy story plots with the dark-haired, self-centered, docile female protagonist."

"Don't make me sound so bad." Utaha remarked, "What about your child? She will be a tsundere, a crybaby, and a klutz like you. She might also have a bad temper like you do."

"You..."

"Whoops, I forgot! You don't have a child yet!" Utaha laughed.

"Utaha Kasumigaoka!" She screamed as she flipped her hair at her.

"Yo, don't hit the cups and plates here!" Masaru said, "We have to pay for them if we break them!"

"Blame your wife for insulting me!" Eriri pointed at Utaha, "She just keeps pissing me off!"

"The truth hurts sometimes, Eriri." Utaha smiled. Masaru looked at Utaha, "Stop it, dear. I don't want a fight to start up. This is a restaurant, not our office."

"Alright. I'll listen to you, my handsome honey." She then kissed him on the cheeks. Eriri looked away when she saw that.

"By the way, how's Ayako now?" Eriri questioned, "I've never heard of her ever since she left the company 6 months after our marriages."

"She's living well now." Michiru answered, "She pursued her own solo career and has some hit songs. She's one of the most recognized singers and songwriters in Japan. She has a few songs on the Oricon and Billboard charts, and she even has a top one track on the charts too! She has also written for some other artists and bands, such as Outospace and American singer Jeremy Rainer! She's having a short tour in London, America, and Singapore too."

"That's great to hear." Tomoya said, "She really has a good voice, and she's kind and loyal to us. I really didn't want to let her go. She helped us with the music in one of our games. But still..."

"It's not right to keep her, Tomoya-kun." Megumi told her, "After all, we roped her into our company. She didn't want to help us originally. Only because Liam-san convinced her to join us. She's a singer on her own, and we'll let that be. We don't want to crush her dreams."

"You're true." Tomoya sighed, "By the way, I found something interesting. I was watching a television show with Megumi yesterday night, and they showed this advertisement."

"Please, Tomoya-kun." Megumi tugged his shoulder, "This is a celebration party. We can talk about it during work next week, or..."

"I must do it now, Megumi." Tomoya looked at her, "If not, we will not make it in time. Our company cannot miss this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity." He then turned to his friends, "Guys, there is this game competition coming out. It's called Gem Among Games. We have two weeks to submit a newly-created game to the Gem Among Games email for the judges to judge and rate them. After that, the five teams that impressed them will be invited to the finals in Singapore to create another game in three weeks according to the topic given by the judges. The company whose game the judges love the most wins the competition, and at the same time, fifty thousand in cash and a Gem Among Games stamp! We'll be known around the world instead of just Asia. Not only would otakus and weeaboos play it, gamers would pick it up and enjoy it! We will be known for the best game company!"

"I am against this idea." Utaha replied, "I have a baby to take care of, Tomoya-kun. Me and Masaru-san need some time off to look after our daughter."

"I know I said we can talk about it during work, Tomoya-kun," Megumi said, "But I don't want to join this competition. I want to spend more time with you and start a family."

"Megumi..." Tomoya sighed. Everyone else awed at the couple.

"I guess I'll steal Megumi's comment." George said, "I don't want Eriri taking part in this. I want to spend more time with my wife."

"But I want to join Tomoya, George." Eriri said, "The competition does sound fun."

"I'm down." Michiru commented. Tomoya looked at all of them and sighed, "But it's our time to shine. We get a chance to shine brighter than others. We should seize it and make use of it."

"Tomoya-kun, we are all grown adults now." Utaha responded, "We are not those carefree students anymore. We all have our own lives now. I know this sounds harsh, but we can't go back to the way we were. Back then, we were only having schoolwork as our boundary. Now, we have a family. It's time to take a break. As you can see, Kato-san wants to have a family with you. Hyodo-san and Liam are currently taking care of Lucy. Liam's a police officer, and sometimes he's not free, so Hyodo-san has to take care of her and create music at the same time. George wants to be with his wife and have more time together. Me and Masaru-san wants to have some family time with our daughter. We all have lives now. We should take a break and perhaps continue creating games once we are comfortable with it."

"Alright, let's change the topic." Masaru said, "Have you heard of the new song by..."

Tomoya leaned against his chair as his friends then started eating and talking about other stuff.

After the gathering, Tomoya returned to the office while Megumi went to the supermarket to get ingredients for tonight's dinner.

He looked around his office. The number of trophies he got for Blessing Software's games just amazes him every single day. It shows him that teamwork can make the dream work.

He really felt happy when it started with a small group. Him, Megumi, Eriri, and Utaha. Slowly, Michiru, Iori, and Izumi joined, although the latter two left. Masaru then joined the company. Together, they've made some unbelievably awesome games that topped the charts and earned them awards. They had also gained fans along the way. Most importantly, it allows the team members to be with each other, working hard hand in hand to produce excellent games. He really loved those moments, and wished he could do this once more before they all start families. He muted his phone to silent so that he could concentrate. It would just take a few minutes to come out with a story plot, he thought.

He grabbed a pen and paper and started scribbling story ideas for a game. He kept crushing papers and writing on new ones.

Megumi is walking around the supermarket, grabbing onions, vegetables, and hash browns. She then passed through the section where the diapers and milk are sold. She looked at them dreamily, "It would be nice if I have a baby with Tomoya-kun now."

She then saw a couple advancing towards the same section. The man took a pack of diapers while the woman carried a baby.

"Look at him sleeping." The woman said to the man, "So cute."

"He's so adorable." The man lightly squeezed the baby's cheeks. The woman then laid her head on the man's shoulders as they walked to the cashier. Megumi admired them and sighed, "Should I tell Tomoya-kun?"

After some time, Tomoya is finally satisfied of what he has written. He held the paper up high and smiled at it. He then unmuted his phone and checked his notifications. He got a shock as he looked at the time. He took an hour and a half. He got an even bigger shock as he saw that he had thirteen missed calls from Megumi and eight text messages from her. He was supposed to pick her up from the supermarket an hour ago, but he was so engrossed in his writing that he forgotten about it.

"Oh shit." He cursed as he ran out of the office. He quickly got into the car, and stepped on the accelerator as hard as he could. As soon as he reached the supermarket, he saw Megumi waiting outside, carrying bags of groceries. She then turned her head towards his car and glared at him. He gulped in fear, for he is going to suffer Megumi's wraith later at home.

Tomoya sat at the dining table, tapping his feet while waiting for Megumi to be done with cooking. He's trying to think of a way to convince her to not get angry at him for being late.

"Tomoya-kun, can you help me bring some of the dishes outside?" Megumi called out from the kitchen. Tomoya got up from his seat and went into the kitchen. A few minutes later, the husband and wife brought the dishes out and started eating. There is a plate of vegetables, a bowl of curry, and a plate of hash browns. There is a period of silence before Megumi talked.

"So, Tomoya-kun," She spoke, "Where did you disappear to while I was buying groceries?" Tomoya looked at her. He's stuck now. He is contemplating if he should just tell her the truth or not. If he does, she will definitely get angry at him. However, he will feel guilty lying to her, and she will find it out somehow even if he tries to hide it. At that point, it would be worse.

"I...I've went to the office." He replied, "I..."

"What are you doing in the office?" She questioned.

"I..." Tomoya cleared his throat, "I went to write out a story plot...for a game that we can submit to the competition..." He then looked at her as she gripped her utensils with force and looked down.

"M..Megumi?" He looked at her. She then looked up and smiled at him, "Can we not talk about this during dinner, Tomoya-kun? Let's switch to a different topic."

"You are indeed scary sometimes, Megumi."

After their dinner, Megumi is sitting on the bed, drying her hair with a towel. She and Tomoya didn't talk at all after that conversation during dinner. She is still unhappy that he had forgotten about her because he is writing some stupid story. Standing and waiting for an hour had made her legs pain. Now, he's going against her wishes by signing up for this competition. Until now, all she has thought about is having a family with Tomoya. She has no experience in taking care of a baby, but she is more than willing to try.

Tomoya then entered the room and sat beside her.

"Megumi, I really hope you can forgive me for just now." Tomoya said, "I didn't mean to leave you there for an hour."

"It's fine." Megumi replied sarcastically, "You're just writing out some pointless plot. It didn't affect me in any way."

"Look, Megumi." Tomoya sighed, "This is a really big opportunity for us. For Blessing Software. We can become the most famous gaming company with this. We can work together with Eriri, Michiru, Masaru, and Utaha-senpai to create our best game yet! Man, I've researched a lot about the previous company named Farebit Technologies. Their games aren't that interesting as I thought it would be. I..."

"Where are we going with this?" Megumi asked angrily, "I wish to start a family, Tomoya-kun. I want a baby. When I see couples down the street, I admire them. I feel so jealous. They have a kid to take care of. We don't. We're not so young anymore, Tomoya-kun. We should start right now before it's too late!"

"Megumi, I promise you that we'll do it after this competition is done..."

At this point, Megumi is pissed off that Tomoya isn't listening to her. She pointed towards the door, "Tomoya-kun, can you please get out of the room?"

"Megumi..."

"I said, please get out." Megumi glared at him, "You'll sleep outside for tonight and think about this. For now, I don't want to see your face. I'll get angry if I do. I need to cool down."

"Please, Megumi, hear me out..."

"GET OUT!" She lost her cool and screamed at him. Tomoya sighed and got out of the room before closing the door. Megumi buried her face in her hands.

Masaru is resting in the living room while Utaha is taking a bath. He is looking through the photos in his phone. So many memories held in this device.

He swiped to a picture that he had taken with Uncle Yang. Uncle Yang was a close person that had left him too soon. He still misses him until this day. Even though Uncle Yang is not his biological father, Uncle Yang treated him like his own son.

A few pictures later, the picture of the four wedding couples with Ayako appeared. He remembered that they all have the same wedding anniversary because they chose to marry on the same day. He smiled at the photos.

Then came the one that he had taken with Utaha. It was during their date before he proposed to her. Although he had forgiven himself for what he had did to Utaha, he will never forget it. He's glad that they are together now, after they went through so much.

"You're smiling at our photo?" Utaha asked from his back. He turned around and nodded his head, "I miss those old memories."

"Me too." Utaha placed her hands around his neck, "But I like the way we are now. We are husband and wife. We can now do anything together. I can see your handsome and dashing face everyday. I have a person to stay by my side for the rest of my life."

"Me too." Masaru then kissed her lips, "Thanks for accepting me. Without you giving me a chance, I would have never gotten this great life. I love you, Utaha."

"I love you too, Masaru-san." She smiled at him. They then kissed each other on the lips for a minute, enjoying every second of that kiss. After that, she rubbed her hair dry with the towel.

"Go and bathe, Masaru-san." Utaha told him. Masaru stood up and is about to walk to their room when his phone rang. They looked at it and saw that Megumi called.

"Kato-san?" Utaha asked, "What's she calling for at this hour?"

"I'll answer the call." Masaru replied.

"But, Masaru-san," She whined, "I want to spend time with you after you bathe and before we sleep. Can you ignore the call, please?"

"C'mon, Utaha. We got a lot of time. Besides, she might need some help. I promise, after this call, I'll take a quick bath and come back to you. Alright, my dear wife?"

Utaha sighed, "Fine, Masaru-san."

"Thank you, Utaha." He kissed her forehead, "Go into the room. I'll take this call." Utaha then went into their room.

Masaru walked to the balcony and accepted the call, "Megumi, what's up? Why are you calling at eleven in the night?"

"Am I disturbing you, Masaru-san?" Megumi asked in a quavering voice, "If I am, then I will end the call..."

"Megumi, I'm here to help you." Masaru responded, "No matter whether I'm free or busy, I will still help you. You are my best friend. You've supported me all the way through tough times, so I will do the same for you."

"T...thank you, Masaru-san." She said softly.

"Now, what's the problem?"

"Actually, can we talk through Skype?"

"Okay, sure. But what..." Before he could even ask, she ended the call. He opened the Skype app in his phone and waited for Megumi to call. Once he saw that Megumi is video calling him, he accepted it.

"Hey, Megumi. Why did you want to talk through Skype? Why not through a phone call?"

"My phone's running out of battery, so I went to charge it." Megumi replied, "I'm sorry for the sudden change."

"There's not a need to apologize for that. So, what's the deal today?"

"I...I..."

"You what?"

"I..." She then stopped for a while and looked away.

"Take your time. Don't rush. Tell me what happened clearly."

"I...got pissed at Tomoya-kun." Megumi looked at him, "He wanted to join this stupid competition that he told you guys during the meetup."

"Okay, tell me more about it. I'm sure there's more to it, right?"

"After the meetup, I went to the supermarket to buy groceries alone because Tomoya-kun said he needed to do something. I was done within half an hour, and I kept texting and calling him to come, but he didn't reply. I waited at that spot for an hour. Turns out, he was writing some story for the game he wants to create for that ridiculous competition. It's like he had forgotten about me because of that. And then, after that..."

As she talked, her eyes slowly got teary, "...he came to tell me after dinner about how this is a big chance for Blessing Software to shine. But all I care is...all I care is..."

She then started sobbing, "All I ever wanted is to have a baby with him and to start a family. Whenever I see you and Utaha carrying Seiren, I will admire you, and feel jealous. I want a baby myself. But every time I tell him that, he just...he just says next time...Even now, he said he promised me...He's not considering my feelings at all. It's like he doesn't care about me at all...All I want is a baby...Why can't he listen to me..." She buried her face in her hands and cried.

Masaru sighed, "Megumi, look at me." She just continued wailing.

"Megumi, please look at me." Masaru uttered. Megumi rubbed her eyes and looked at him.

"I know Tomoya's being selfish sometimes. He only wants to do what he loves to do." Masaru said to her, "But you got to understand. He grew up creating games. He became famous because he created them. He met and fell in love with you while creating them. It's making visual novels that he likes, and he grew up with playing them, dreaming to produce one. Not that he shouldn't concentrate on family too. What I'm trying to say is, he loves making games. That doesn't mean he don't love you. He does. Believe me, he did a lot for you, and he still does. His love for you never wavers. Except from not listening to you on this matter, he does in every other one, doesn't he? He always give in to you. He's loyal and loving to you, isn't he?"

Megumi nodded her head.

"Megumi, you love him too, don't you? If he's happy, you'll be happy, right?"

She, yet again, nodded her head.

"Creating games makes him happy. And you should know that because you've been with him for more than ten years." Masaru said, "Take me and Utaha for example. I would do her bidding sometimes, and she would listen to me other times. That's why we don't fight a lot. Couples need to give in to each other. So, give in to him for this one last time, can you? He gave in to you and your requests most of the time. I'm sure when Tomoya promises you, he will keep his word."

"Really?" Megumi sniffled.

"I'm sure of it. Can you be the wife that supports him? Can you be by his side, helping him along the way?"

Megumi cleared her tears and looked at him, "Yes, Masaru-san."

"That's good to hear."

"Thank you, Masaru-san." Megumi smiled at him, "Thanks for spending some of your own time to help me. I'm sorry..."

"I already told you not to apologize, Megumi." Masaru interrupted, "We are best friends. Friends help each other. Alright, I'm going to bathe soon, and spend some time with Utaha. I'll see you soon."

"See you soon." Megumi smiled back at him, "Good night, Masaru-san."

"Good night, Megumi." He said before ending the call. He took a towel and went into the toilet.

The next morning, Megumi put on a shirt and short pants. She is about to go out and buy breakfast when she saw two plates of pancakes on the kitchen table.

She then turned around and saw Tomoya, who is holding a rose in his mouth. He walked towards her and gave her the rose, "For you."

"Thanks?" She is confused. He led her to the kitchen table and looked at her, all the while holding her hands.

"Megumi, I just want to let you know that I'm sorry." Tomoya said, "I know I've made you very angry because of my decision. I don't want to lose my dear, precious, beautiful wife because I want to make a game for a competition. After sorting out my thoughts yesterday night, I realize that nothing's more important than my wife. So, I've decided to have...that thing with you. You wanted a baby, so I shall accede to your request."

He then took out the papers he wrote the story on, "Furthermore, I'm going to tear these into bits and throw them into the bin. I'm not going to think about this anymore. It's not worth losing my wife."

As he is about to tear them, Megumi held his wrist, "Don't tear them, Tomoya-kun."

Tomoya looked at his wife with surprise, "Is anything the matter, Megumi?"

"Give me the papers." Megumi said.

"Eh?"

"I said, give me the papers." Megumi repeated herself. He gave them to her, "But why do you want it?"

"I'm going to read it through and give you some feedback." She replied, "I can't possibly allow you to tarnish the company's name with your cringeworthy, sexual, boring plot."

"Wait, so this means..."

Megumi sighed, "I'm allowing the team to join this. I just hope you remember what you promised me. Start a family with me after this."

"I promise you! I definitely will!" Tomoya then hugged Megumi, "Thank you, Megumi! I love you so much!"

Megumi patted his back and smiled. She is glad that Tomoya is elated. Seeing him happy makes her happy too.

After a few minutes, Megumi placed the paper down and groaned as she rested her head against the table.

"How's it?" Tomoya asked. Megumi shook her head, "Is this how you keep intending to write? About sexual fantasies?"

"That's my best point, and one of the selling points of the game!" Tomoya replied proudly, "Besides, now we can try the scenes out easily because we are with each other."

"I don't want to go through this embarrassment again." She sighed as someone knocked the door.

Tomoya walked to the door and opened it. He saw Masaru standing outside with a plastic bag.

"Masaru?" Tomoya asked, "Why are you here?"

"I'm here to check if you two have made up." Masaru said, "May I come in?"

"Sure." Tomoya led him in and closed the door.

"You're reading the script, so I guess I know the answer." Masaru told Megumi.

"Yeah." She smiled at him, "Thank you, Masaru-san."

"You're thanking him?" Tomoya asked. Masaru turned to him and cleared his throat, "I convinced your dear wife to forgive you. You should be very grateful, Mr Aki."

"Eek, that's the first time you called me that."

Masaru sat down on a chair as Megumi passed him the papers, asking him to read it. Masaru scanned through it before placing it on the table.

"This...needs some work." Masaru commented, "This is not a bad piece of work, but it needs improvement. This has too little dialogue, so add a bit more. The route this main protagonist takes...is kinda cliché in sex movies. I'm sure we're not going so deep into sex and that kinda of stuff, don't you say? But I can't help you edit this. I don't write this type of story."

"I don't really know how to edit it too." Tomoya sighed.

"Perhaps we can ask Kasumigaoka-senpai." Megumi suggested, "She can definitely help us. She's an excellent author."

"Ask Utaha for help?" Masaru questioned, "Impossible. Just impossible."

"What do you mean by that?" Tomoya queried, "Surely she won't reject us since we're friends?"

"Oh, Tomoya, you don't understand her." Masaru shook his head, "She wants to take care of the baby, and that is her priority. She won't help you guys. Remember how she turned your idea down during the gathering? She's probably going to say the same thing to you again."

"But Kasumigaoka-senpai's part of Blessing Software." Megumi retorted, "Shouldn't she just listen to the director? Or the assistant director?"

"She can take sick leave, or maternity leave." Masaru talked back, "You can't do anything about it. It's stated in the law. The only thing you can do is to convince her. I'll try my best to help you guys, but I can't say the same about my wife."

Tomoya and Megumi sighed before the former spoke up, "I guess we could try."

George and Eriri took a morning walk in the park, their fingers interlocked. They have just finished eating breakfast from a nearby café.

"That omelette was sure nice!" Eriri told him, "It has such a fragrant smell and a delicious taste. When it melted in my throat, it felt so satisfying."

"I'm glad you enjoy my recommendation." He smiled at his wife, "It's been a long time since we could take walks like this. You've been so busy with creating games I can't spend much quality time with you."

"George..." She looked at him.

"Eriri, I really don't want you to join this competition." George sighed, "It's not that I don't want you to do what you like. I'm just scared you'll have no time for yourself, and for us."

"George, you can always follow me to wherever Blessing Software goes." Eriri replied, "Besides, I'm your wife. I won't run away from you." She then grinned at him.

"You pick this time to come up with a joke." He rolled his eyes.

"But, seriously, George. We won't be separated." Eriri pleaded with puppy eyes, "I promise I'll spend more time with you while I'm drawing, alright? Please, let me join. After all, you want me to become a successful illustrator, don't you? If we win this competition, Blessing Software would get known. I would get known for my art. Wouldn't that make you proud, my dear doctor?"

George sighed, "Alright. I give in. Just spend more with me, okay?" Eriri nodded. She then jumped in joy and hugged him. He patted her head.

Masaru brought Tomoya and Megumi to his house to talk to Utaha. Masaru already had a hunch Utaha won't listen to them, but since the dumb protagonist and the main heroine wants to try, he can't reject them.

He told the two to wait in the living room while he went into the master bedroom room. He found Utaha taking care of Seiren.

"Megumi and Tomoya are looking for you." Masaru told her. She looked up at him, "For what?"

"They want to convince you on joining the competition." He responded.

"So now Kato-san's working with Tomoya-kun again? I thought she was against it initially."

"They are husband and wife. They'll support each other." Masaru sat down beside her and carried Seiren, "Go and listen to them. Maybe you might change your mind."

Utaha nodded her head and went to the living room. She sat opposite of the couple.

"Go on." Utaha sighed, "Say what you want to say."

"Utaha-senpai, I know you are busy taking care of your daughter." Tomoya said, "But I do hope you do consider joining us. This competition...is one of the most renown competitions! And it's only held every three years! It's our chance to let our name be known to the world! This can be our biggest breakthrough! We can't do this three years later because by that time, we'll be living our own lives. We'll have no time to create a big game. If we win this, we will be one of the world's most successful, recognized, and greatest game companies!"

"It's true, Kasumigaoka-senpai." Megumi added on, "We all have our own lives to lead now, but we hope this one event can bring us creators back together and make the most wonderful game we have made in our lives ever."

"I have to point out a few mistakes in what you guys had just said." Utaha said, "So what if it's a well-known competition? We're only to get hard-pressed if we win this. Everyone is going to have higher expectations of us and our games. We can't screw up, not even a bit, or we'll be called 'disappointing'. Besides, can't we meet up more often? We still see each other through casual gatherings. And who's going to take care of my baby? You, Kato-san? Or Tomoya-kun? If Masaru-san and I join, Seiren-chan will be neglected. And I can't afford for that to happen."

Tomoya retorted, "But Eriri and George-san's coming with us. Eriri's helping us for the illustrations. Michiru is doing the music. We really hope that you can join us. Then, the Bessing Software team could be complete."

"It's not that I want to reject you, Tomoya-kun," Utaha commented, "Do you know how much time and effort is needed to take care of your own child? We need to sacrifice some things in order to have a happy family."

"There's George-san..." Megumi tried to talk back but Utaha stood up.

"Whatever the case is, I won't go." She told them, "Don't bother trying to convince me or Masaru-san any longer. I won't allow him to go even if you asked him to. If you want to do this, find another person who can do the storyline and coding well. We're not doing it. Masaru-san will send you out."

Utaha walked back to the room and told Masaru to send them out. He went to the living room and saw a dejected Tomoya and Megumi.

As he brought them to the door, he looked at them, "You heard her. I wanted to help you guys, but she wanted me to stay. I'm sorry."

"It's okay, Masaru-san." Megumi smiled at him, "We appreciate your effort in trying to help us. I guess Tomoya-kun and I will do the coding and story writing."

"Call me through Skype if you need any help, alright?" Masaru asked. She nodded her head and hugged Masaru goodbye. She and Tomoya then went off. He shook his head before closing the door.

Michiru, Liam, and Lucy are having dinner in their living room.

"Daddy, I got the highest in the class for my Literature exam!" Lucy exclaimed. Michiru and Liam clapped their hands to congratulate her.

"That's so great to hear." Liam patted her head, "I'm so proud of you. You have scored well for all of your papers. I shall let you play some guitar with your mother."

"Really?" Lucy beamed before hugging him, "Thanks, Daddy." Liam grinned at her before doing the same to Michiru.

A few minutes later, Michiru and Lucy are in the latter's room. The former is about to teach her how to play a song.

"So, it goes like this." Michiru used her fingers to hold down some strings and strum some of them required, "G, then D, then E minor, and D again. Repeat that again, and again. For the fourth line in the song, we would follow the same structure as the first three, just that we add an A after the E minor. I shall play it for you to see. Watch closely and carefully."

Michiru strummed the guitar as she sang.

"誰だって可愛く変わりたいんだ

知らない顔しても意識し合ってる

背伸びしたメイクドキドキだけど

気付いてくれなきゃダメなんだから"

She then played a bit more of the instrumental before stopping, "Do you get it?"

"Somehow, somewhat." Lucy picked her guitar up, "I can try to play it." She then took a pick and strummed the guitar. It sounds a bit off tune, but she managed to play most of the song.

Michriu nodded her head satisfyingly, "Not bad, Lucy. You actually can play it although I had just taught you once. You're a good guitarist." Lucy became delighted upon hearing Michiru's praise.

Masaru slowly placed the baby in the cradle and walked into the master bedroom. He sat beside Utaha on the bed as she is reading a newspaper article.

"Utaha, are you really going to give this chance up?" Masaru asked, "It's a chance to work in Blessing Software again. Your favorite company. If we go along with this decision, we can't turn back anymore. We won't join Blessing Software for the next four or five years because we need to take care of Seiren. By the time we come back, we might have lost our abilities."

She placed the newspaper down and looked at him, "I'm not sure, Masaru-san." She got off the bed and leaned against the wall.

"I do love working with Tomoya-kun, Kato-san, and Eriri." She continued, "They've surely made me mad sometimes, but I've really enjoyed myself while I'm in this Dōjin circle. I have lots of fun coming up with storylines and stuff. I cherish the times I have with our team members. Our friends. But, we have a baby now, Masaru-san. As you know, and as I have said to Tomoya-kun and Kato-san earlier, taking care of Seiren-chan requires a lot of hard work and time. I mean, Kato-san did point out a solution, but..."

"I understand." Masaru replied, "You just want me and you to take care of Seiren. You want us to be great parents to her. Perfectly reasonable."

"I'm glad you understand me, Masaru-san." She smiled at him. Both looked down for a few seconds before Masaru spoke up.

"Do you wish to work with them?" He asked. Utaha stared at the sky for a while before giving a 'yes' as her response.

"Okay then." Masaru answered, "We'll join them."

"But..."

"I will tell George to take care of Seiren for us if we ever need help." Masaru said, "I get it that you don't really know him, and thus you don't trust him. He's a reliable person though. I've known him for a few years already, so I know what he's like. He's friendly and kind. Besides, your parents are overseas and won't be back for quite some time."

"Can we really trust him?" Utaha asked.

"Of course we're not going to ask him to take care of her all the way. He's only going to do so if we're really, really, really busy with coding and writing. We'll still take care of him together. Trust me on this. Alright?"

Utaha went back to bed and hugged him, "I love how you can always come up with a solution, Masaru-san."

He patted her back and smiled at her.

The next morning, Megumi and Tomoya met up with Eriri, Michiru, and her band Icy Tail in the Blessing Software office.

"Okay, so I'll assign the roles." Tomoya told them, "Eriri, you'll do the art. Michiru, you'll take care of the instrumentals. Megumi will be in charge of coding, and I will be coming up with the story plot and direction of the game."

"What about Utaha?" Eriri questioned, "And Masaru? Aren't they joining us?"

"Can we really be a complete team without the two of them?" Michiru added on.

Tomoya shook his head, "We got no choice, guys. Megumi and I have tried convincing her. She didn't agree to help us."

"I understand them." Megumi sighed, "They have Seiren-chan to take care. Surely they will have no time for this."

Just then, Masaru and Utaha walked into the office, the latter holding Seiren in her hands. The rest of them looked at them with surprise and shock.

"I thought you are not coming, Utaha-senpai." Tomoya said to her. She cackled, "You thought wrong."

"She can't bear to leave this team alone." Masaru explained, "So she decided to come here."

"That's good!" Megumi smiled, "That means we all can work together as a team again!"

"We're going to win this damn competition with flying colors!" Tomoya exclaimed, "We're going to break the winning streak Farebit Technologies has, and be the new winner! Who's with me?" He then stretched his right hand out in the middle. Megumi stacked her hand on top of his, followed by Eriri, Michiru, and then Masaru.

"Wait for me." Utaha took out some noise reduction earmuffs and placed it over the baby's ears. She then placed her hand on top of Masaru's.

"Blessing Software!" They cheered as they all swung their right hands up. A few seconds later, all of them went into the discussion room to talk about the plot Tomoya had written. They also discussed about the theme of the game. After deciding on it based on the number of votes, the team members got to work. Utaha and Tomoya worked on the story plot and the routes the protagonist will take. Megumi and Eriri are calculating the costs needed. Michiru and her Icy Tail members made some music about the theme. Masaru took care of Seiren. Megumi whipped up lunch for the team members in the afternoon, while Masaru and Utaha switched roles.

At the end of the day, all of them are pretty exhausted. The story is half done, and they have six days left to finish the game.

"We sure did a lot today, didn't we?" Tomoya huffed as he slouched on the sofa in the living room. Megumi sat beside him, "You contributed the most. I'm going to treat you dinner today for your hard work."

"Aw, thanks, Megumi." He grinned at her, "Once I'm done with this planning and writing, you will work with Masaru for the coding part. Are you up for that?"

She nodded her head and pulled him up, "Let's go to the restaurant early. The restaurant will be busy after seven. Now, it's six. We'll have seats if we make it there now." She then pulls him into the lift.

Eriri and George met up for dinner in a restaurant. Eriri ate carbonara while George ate a medium steak.

"So, my dear doctor, how's your day today?" Eriri asked.

"The usual." George replied while he ate a part of the steak, "Something interesting happened today though. A couple quarreled in the hospital."

"Over what?"

"About the baby in the woman's womb. The man told her to abort it, while the woman screamed at him. They caused some ruckus that security had to kick them out."

"Ah."

"But, Eriri, you don't have to worry about fighting with me over a baby." George said, "Because I do want it. I want it so badly."

"I know you do, George." Eriri held his hand, "But can we talk about this another time? I don't think I'm ready for now. There's still work too."

"Alright." George sighed. Eriri looked at him with sadness before she continued eating.

After dinner, Megumi and Tomoya went back to their home. They walked into the lift and Megumi pressed a button before the lift door closed.

"Remember to bathe before you sleep, Tomoya-kun." She told him. He nodded his head and kissed her lips.

Her cheeks immediately turned red. She didn't expect that from Tomoya, but she always like it.

"I love you, Megumi." Tomoya whispered.

"I love you too, Tomoya-kun." She smiled. She was about to kiss him when the lift stopped. It seemed like it has reached the desired floor

When the lift door opened, they walked out of the lift and stopped at the walkway to their house. She turned towards him and stared at him.

Even when wearing high heels, Megumi is still shorter than Tomoya by a bit. Still, she wanted to kiss her husband. She tip-toed and smooched him on the lips. She then pushed him against the wall. After that, they both shared a kiss again, placing their arms over each other's necks as they do so.

"Excuse me, you shouldn't be doing that out in the open." A voice said. Megumi stopped kissing and turned to her left. Her older sister, Hiromi Kato, is standing outside Megumi's house, grinning at the couple. Megumi sighed.

In the house, Tomoya went to sleep while Megumi and her sister sat on the sofa in the living room.

"State your business, Onee-chan." Megumi crossed her arms.

"What's with that hostility?" Hiromi asked, "You know, I took time out of my schedule to visit my dear sister. I just want to know how she's doing, you see."

"You've visited me during our wedding." Megumi grumbled, "You don't need to do it again. Besides, how did you know where I live?"

"Mom didn't want to tell me, so I went to ask your next best friend." Hiromi replied, "Masaru-san."

"Do you really need to know where I live at all? I just feel it is so unnecessary. It's like you're stalking me. Don't you need to go and accompany your husband though?"

"Do I? You know, I wouldn't be coming here if I wanted to be with him tonight. He's in Korea doing some work. He'll be back a few days later."

Hiromi took a cup of water from the kitchen and placed it on the table, "So, how's my dear sister doing?"

"I'm living fine. There's nothing wrong with my life. Is that answer sufficient?"

Hiromi sipped some water, making the sipping noise, "Of course not. Mind telling me more? I'm sure there's many more things that happened."

"Well...Blessing Software's doing well...Me and Tomoya are still a loving couple...Masaru-san married the girl he loves...nothing much has been going on."

Hiromi started laughed out of a sudden. Megumi looked at her older sister weirdly. It's as if Hiromi suddenly lost her mind over the simple words Megumi had said.

"May I know what's so funny about what I had just told you?" Megumi questioned.

"It's nothing about that." Hiromi slowly stopped laughing, "Even after many years, you still can't lie to me at all. You suck at it."

"It's just because you know how to do it so well."

"Of course! I taught you that trick. You can't use it against your own teacher, can't you? You guys are participating in an event now, right? It's something related to gems, if I'm not wrong."

"It's Gem Among Games, and it's a game-making competition. Let me guess. Masaru-san told you about it."

"Uh-uh." Hiromi shook her head, "A blonde named Eriri from Blessing Software told me about it. I went to your office building just now, and she was there. I couldn't find you there. I just wanted to have dinner with you, but you ran off so fast. And by the way, isn't your house supposed to be near the office? Why did it change to a building instead of a few meters away from your house?"

"Well, we had seen an office building where the office is way bigger in size and quite cheap. So, we sold the one near our room."

"Ahh, I see. You know, ever since your wedding, I haven't seen anything big coming from you."

"There ain't any big event."

"Megumi, oh, Megumi, I'm talking about your stomach. It's still so flat."

Megumi looked at her stomach before sighing. She is reminded of the fight she had with Tomoya two nights ago. They fought because of this. She didn't want to talk about it at all.

As Hiromi continued probing, Megumi just stood up and opened the door, "I'm about to sleep, Onee-chan. We can talk another day."

"Oh my, dodging the question?" Hiromi asked, "You're not going to..."

Megumi just glared at her sister, "Personal reasons. Now, please leave, because I'm about to sleep."

Hiromi nodded her head, "I'll see you soon, Megumi." She waved goodbye before walking off. Upon closing the door, Megumi leaned against the door and stared at the sky. She really hoped Tomoya would stick to his promise after this competition.

The next day, Tomoya and Utaha finished up the storyline. On the third day, Eriri drew the artwork and illustrations for the game. Michiru worked on more music with Icy Tail, with Utaha helping to write some of the lyrics. Masaru and Megumi started coding the whole game part by part.

Tomoya is in charge of checking on their work from time to time to ensure that there is quality and no errors. Once Tomoya gives the green light, they can continue to do what they are doing.

For the rest of the week, they worked hard and diligently so that the game would be suitable for the judges. They took breaks in between too.

On the last day of the week, in the evening, the team is finished with the game. Masaru and Utaha are still taking care of Seiren. Michiru and the Icy Tail members are all lying against the sofa in the recording room, sleeping. Eriri laid her head on the table and took a nap. Megumi and Tomoya are in the latter's office, submitting the game.

"I really hope we could get past this qualifying round." Tomoya said to Megumi. She looked at him for a while before holding his hand.

"I'm sure we can, Tomoya-kun." She replied, "We had placed in so much effort. I'm sure it won't go down the drain. Besides, even if we don't pass, we can make that game our next release."

"You're right, Megumi." He then stood up and stretched his arms. She looked outside and saw Masaru and Utaha pacifying the baby to prevent it from crying. She looked at them with jealousy.

Three months later, the team members, Liam, and George gathered in Tomoya's house. Tomoya and the four girls sat in the living room while Masaru, George, and Liam sat at a table, which is a stone's throw away from the living room.

George and Liam opened their beer cans while Masaru opened his cola can. They then clanked their cans together before drinking.

"Do you think Blessing Software will win?" Liam asked the two of them, "I'm not doubting the abilities of the team, but you are up against so many other teams. They might be good."

"Liam, there's a reason why our games always sell out at the Comiket and get good reviews." Masaru responded, "I'm pretty sure we'll get into the qualifying round with ease."

"Sounding so confident, huh?" George nudged Masaru's arm.

"Of course, George. I'm in it. There won't be any glitches or errors in terms of playability."

"You arrogant chap."

A few seconds later, a ten-minute television special for the Gem Among Games announcement went live after a drama show ended. One of the judges, Chase Tan, then gave a short message about the competition and its participating teams before announcing the teams that made it.

"These are the five teams that passed the round. They are Farebit Technologies, GameZ, Orion Games, Paperrock Interactive, and..." Chase stopped for a while before continuing, "This last team...their game surprised me and the other judges. They have great graphics, great storyline, and even smooth playability. The last team is..."

Tomoya and Megumi prayed, while Eriri, Utaha, and Michiru stared closely at the television screen.

"...Blessing Software!" Chase exclaimed, "Congratulations to the five teams that made it! You'll be sent an email regarding on things you need to do after this. Prepare to take a trip to Singapore. For those that didn't make it, there's always a chance for you next time. This is Chase Tan, and I'll see you in Singapore!"

"We fucking made it!" Eriri shouted happily. The five of them then screamed in joy as they hugged each other. George and Liam looked at Masaru, who is grinning from ear to ear.

"Told ya." Masaru leaned against the chair.

The next morning, the team and the Icy Tail members gathered in the office's living room. Tomoya took his phone out and read the message sent by the Gem Among Games judges.

"Dear members of Blessing Software, you have been formally invited to participate in the Gem Among Games finals. You will be required to come to Singapore. You will be creating a game based on a theme the judges will be choosing during the Gem Among Games meetup in Suntec Convention and Exhibition Centre on October 31. The game you will be creating must be made in Singapore only. The deadline to finish and submit the game is on November 23, 23:59.59. Terms and conditions are stated in the file attached. Nine plane tickets for all the members, with four extra tickets for your family or friends, are attached in the email too. They can be used anytime during the duration of the competition. Unused plane tickets will not be refunded. Please acknowledge this email so that we know if you have read this email and accepted our terms and conditions. We hope you will have a fun time participating, and that you will be that one hidden gem in the sea. Sincerely, the Gem Among Games judges."

"So we have to travel to Singapore for real?" Michiru yawned.

"This will definitely be a new country we have never visited." Eriri said, "We're not even familiar with the place. What should we do?"

"Eriri, if you would have used some common sense, you would have thought of a very obvious answer." Utaha replied, "A tour guide."

"I'd like to explore Singapore." Megumi commented, "I heard that Singapore's a very beautiful place with lots of good food and places."

"Me too." Tokino added on, "Thinking of chili crab makes me hungry. I heard there are many hardcore anime fans there."

"That's all good, and all we left is a house to stay in." Tomoya uttered, "I'm going to find some houses in Singapore to rent."

"We can stay in Uncle Yang's old house, if you want." Masaru suggested, "I'm not sure if it's rented out or not, but if there's no one, we can do some cleaning and stay there. Do you guys want that?"

"Sure. That's a good idea." Utaha responded, "We can save the company's money. All we need is a tour guide. When will we go?"

"We're leaving in two days time." Tomoya declared, "That way, we'll be able to have some free time to walk around before the event starts." Everyone agreed on it, and so the date to travel is settled.

During lunchtime, Masaru, Utaha, and Megumi went to visit Uncle Yang's new grave, which is in a private cemetery. Masaru placed flowers on it and the three of them bowed down. After that, they took lunch together with Tomoya.

"You have nothing on these upcoming weeks, right?" Tomoya asked Masaru. The latter shook his head.

"Honestly, I'm quite excited." Utaha said, "This is our very first time taking part in such a big competition. I would like to battle against all the writers in the other teams."

"I wonder what the Farebit Technologies members are, or how they look like." Tomoya said, "Have anyone here researched about them before?"

"I don't think so." Megumi shook her head, "Let me go ahead and check." She then whipped her phone out and searched for Farebit Technologies.

"According to their Wikipedia page, they are a company creating action-based games." Megumi explained, "This company has created many outstanding games, and is known to win Gem Among Games in 2015 and 2018 with their games Fantasia Exodus and The Bluebird's Purpose respectively. Its leader, director, and producer is a man by the name of Jay Liang. With him is singer Lee Ruyi and storywriter Harry Williams. There are two more members who are unknown and often don't appear in any meetings or interviews."

"Hmm, they only have three main members, but they are able to produce such wonderful games?" Tomoya asked, "How is that possible?"

"If you work your ass off, maybe it is." Masaru answered.

"But still, that's kinda impossible, don't you think?" Utaha voiced out, "One director-cum-producer, a singer, and a storywriter. Good games are made by companies with lots of people. Are you sure..."

"They might be really talented, Kasumigaoka-senpai." Megumi replied, "Besides, we haven't got to know them. We can see them during the event."

"I really want to see how talented they are." Utaha crossed her arms.

At night, in Liam's room, he is resting on his bed. He had just finished analyzing a case of robbery in a small flower shop. He should be able to catch the criminal tomorrow and finally close the case.

Michiru, who had just finished her bath, came out from the toilet and jumped onto the bed. She then sat beside him and wrapped her arms around his.

"What's up, Michiru?" Liam questioned.

"Looking back at Lucy, she has really been a good girl. Not only does she get good results, she knows how to play the guitar very well. She even learnt the song that I taught her quicker than I expected."

"That's because she has a great mother like you, who is an expert guitarist."

"Aww you're so sweet." She then looked at him, "Hubby, can you join me in going to Singapore? It's my first time traveling overseas for a competition, and I don't want to experience this alone. I want my husband to follow me, you know?"

Liam took out his phone to check his schedule. He prayed that there would be no major cases in his way. At the same time, Michiru prayed that he would come for this one time to make up for the times he had never come for Icy Tail's small concert a few months ago and Lucy's high school graduation day.

"Alright, I'm free." Liam grinned at her. Michiru squealed in delight and hugged him, "I finally get to spend some quality time with my hubby!"

Liam smiled at her and patted her head.

The next morning, Masaru woke up early to buy some groceries so that he can make breakfast for Utaha and Seiren. He is planning to cook bacon and eggs for them with a bowl of salad.

He is walking around the vegetables section, looking at the cabbages. He looked at all of them to see which is in the best condition. Upon gazing at one perfect one, he is about to reach out to it when someone took it. He turned around and saw a man took it.

"Masaru Kobayashi?" The man asked. Masaru stared at him, "Who are you, and how do you know my name?"

"Masaru-chan!" Eriri's mother, Sayuri Sawamura, walked to him, "How are you?"

"Ms Sawamura!" Masaru greeted, "I'm doing fine. This man is..."

"You fool, I am Eriri's father, Mr Spencer Sawamura." The man shook his head. The three of them went to a café to eat after shopping.

"I heard Blessing Software is in Gem Among Games." Sayuri told Masaru, "Congrats."

"Thanks, Ms Sawamura. It is with the help of the team members that we managed to get into the qualifying round."

"If I'm not wrong, you are Eriri's first ex." Mr Sawamura said, "Correct me if I'm wrong."

"You are right, Mr Sawamura. I'm sorry to break her heart."

"It's okay. Eriri told me about it. It's all because of her obsessive otaku culture that made her spend less time with you."

"It is partially my fault too." Masaru bowed, "I wasn't understanding enough at such a young age."

"So you'll be going to Singapore with Eriri and the others, right?" Sayuri asked, "I really hope George would take care of her."

"I'm very sure he will, Ms Sawamura." Masaru replied, "He has been my friend for many years. I know how he's like, and you can trust him with ease."

"You know, Masaru-chan," She took a sushi and placed it in her mouth, "I thought the only male couple I would ever see in Blessing Software would be Tomoya and Iori. But now, seeing you and George, I deduced that you two are close with each other and I can imagine the two of you flirting! I ship the two of you together!"

"Eek!" Masaru choked on his food. He then drank water and cleared his throat, "I'm sorry for the sound I made earlier, Ms Sawamura. Can you not say that again, please?"

"Forgive her, Masaru." Mr Sawamura sighed, "She still is a fujoshi even after all these years. She can't never get rid of this personality for as long as she lives."

"That's a little creepy..." Masaru then stood up, "Mr Sawamura, Mrs Sawamura, I have to leave now. I need to cook breakfast for my wife and my daughter. I bet they're waiting impatiently for me now. Drive safe."

"Alright, I'll see you soon, Masaru-chan." Sayuri waved goodbye. He waved back and walked off.

"What?!" Liam asked with shock, "There's this major case out of a sudden?!" He is in the police boss's office as the latter had summoned him here.

"That's right, Liam." The police boss told him, "A few minutes ago, there was a road accident involving three cars. One Ford Mustang, one Toyota Wish, and one Mitsubishi Lancer. Read the file I've given you, and solve it."

"But, Boss, I can't finish this in twenty four hours! I've promised my wife I'd go with her to Singapore!"

"Liam, sometimes, you got to make a choice, and that choice will affect you for the rest of your life. It's either you stay and do this, or you follow your wife, leave this place, and never come back. I have no other choice, Liam. I didn't want to do this to you. You're our best officer here. All the officers can solve this case, but only you can solve it very quickly and skillfully. You have shown me with the Florence brothers case. I'm sure you can do the same with this."

"But..."

"Liam, there is no buts in this. I will entrust this case to you. Now get out of my office and start cracking."

Liam sighed and walked out. He had no choice. Again. He disappointed Michiru twice, and now he's doing it again. He wondered what her reaction would be if he told this to her. He opened the file to look at the details of the accident. He widened his eyes upon looking at the names of the victims.

In Utaha's house, she is eating breakfast with Masaru and Seiren.

"So you met Sawamura-san's parents while you're buying all these groceries?" Utaha asked, chewing on her bacon, "That's interesting."

"Ms Sawamura still have this yaoi personality, and it's kinda creeping me out. I'm glad Eriri isn't into yaoi, or we'll all die."

"That's very true. Sawamura-san has changed over the years. She became from the childish girl to such a mature person now. I'm proud of her progress."

Masaru chewed on his egg as he thought about Uncle Yang. He missed Uncle Yang so much. Although he had forgiven himself for indirectly causing Uncle Yang's death, but he will never forget about it. Uncle Yang raised Masaru to be the man he is today. Without Uncle Yang, Masaru would have been on the streets, wearing beggar clothes and selling weird stuff. He would have given up on his own life if not for Uncle Yang.

"Masaru-san?" Utaha waved her hand at his face, "What got you so deep in thought?"

"I'm thinking about Uncle Yang. He helped me a lot during my tough times. I wouldn't be sitting on this table, talking to a beautiful, gorgeous, pretty lady, and have a family if he didn't adopt me and took care of me back then. I'm really grateful for him."

"I know." Utaha held his hands. Suddenly, Masaru's phone rang. He saw that the call is from Liam and answered it.

"Why is all my romantic moments getting interrupted by people?" Utaha thought angrily.

"Hello, Liam." Masaru said, "What's your reason for calling me...What did you just say...Okay, I'll inform Eriri right away." He then ended the call.

"What happened?" Utaha asked.

"Eriri's parents are involved in an accident." Upon hearing that, Utaha dropped the fork she is holding. Masaru dialed Eriri's number and called her.

A few minutes later, Eriri, Tomoya, and Utaha rushed to Sayuri's hospital ward. Liam is standing at the corner while Mr Sawamura is sitting beside her bed. She is lying on the bed with many tubes connected to her body and face.

"Daddy, what did the doctor say about Mummy?" Eriri asked Mr Sawamura. He looked at her before looking down.

"Tell me, Daddy!" She shook his body, tears forming in her eyes. He sighed and looked at Sayuri, "She was severely injured because the other car hit the side of our car where she's sitting. The impact was so hard the doctor said she's in a critical condition now. He...he told us to prepare for the worst."

Tomoya and Utaha looked at Mr Sawamura with shock while Eriri slowly walked to her mother and started crying.

"Please don't die, Mummy. I don't want to lose you." She wailed, "I can't live a life without you. Please don't leave me..." She laid her head on her mother's lap and weeped. Liam shook his head while Tomoya and Utaha looked down. Mr Sawamura looked at his wife and daughter with sadness.

Tomoya and Eriri then sat outside of the ward after some minutes passed. Utaha returned back home to pack her luggage. Liam is asking Mr Sawamura about the accident.

"I still can't believe this happened." Eriri sighed, "Just a few horus before our trip, this has to come up." She then cleared her tears from her eyes.

"Eriri, I know this is a big blow to you." Tomoya said, "I know you want to take care of your mother. You're worried sick about her. If you want, I can allow you to stay here and not go for the trip."

"No, Tomoya." Eriri replied, "I can't skip this trip. This is important for Blessing Software."

"Your mother is the utmost importance, Eriri. You should stay here and take care of her."

"Our team is important too." Eriri looked at him, "I'm the illustrator of the team, so I'm definitely needed. We would immediately lose this competition if I don't go, idiot."

"But..."

"Besides, we've promised to go there as a team. We're a team. If one of us is not present, there would be no Blessing Software."

"Are you really okay with this?" Tomoya asked worriedly, "I don't want to force you, Eriri."

Eriri nodded her head, "Just let me stay here until ten or eleven in the night."

"Of course." Tomoya patted Eriri's shoulder, "Don't stress yourself so much, alright? Your mother's going to be okay. Liam will get to the bottom of this."

In the evening, Liam returned to his home with a grim face. He knows something bad is about to go down if Michiru were to ask him about this.

She came out of the kitchen after eating a packet of biscuits, "Liam, you're back!" She went to hug him.

He dreaded this moment now. He is about to disappoint Michiru, and this is the only time he can see her happy. But he had no choice. He had to break it out to her. If he lies to her, and she finds out, the outcome would be more undesirable than it will be now.

"Michiru, I have something to tell you." Liam pulled her away. She looked at him with surprise.

"Michiru, I..." Liam stuttered, "I...I..."

"Why are you so anxious and stuttering all over the place?" Michiru asked, "Did something happen at work?"

"I..." He just couldn't bring himself to say it. He doesn't want the bad ending. He really doesn't.

"We can talk this over dinner, since you can't talk properly now." Michiru said happily, "Let's go pack our luggages first. I'm very, very, very excited to go on a trip with you."

"I got work to do, Michiru." Liam finally let it out. She looked at him with confusion.

"I...I got called back by my boss." Liam explained, "A major accident just happened. I'm supposed to take up this case, and I can't solve this within..."

"Are you joking?" Michiru let out a nervous laugh, "Are you serious, Liam? You are kidding, right? That's a good one, Liam. Let's just pack our bags and prepare for tomorrow."

"I'm sorry, Michiru." Liam bowed down, "I'm really sorry. I can't solve this major case in a day or two. It would take weeks, even months. That's why...I can't join you."

"You jerk!" She screamed at him, "Why do you always have to ruin my mood?! You're always having work and forgetting about me, your own wife! You have skipped all the important events! My band's concerts, and even Lucy's graduation party! And now you're not going for this too? Even though you promised me you are?! You're going back on your word because of your stupid work?!"

"I'm sorry, Michiru. It's either I do this, or I lose my job."

"You know what? It's okay." Michiru glared at him, "Go ahead and do your work. I should've never expected anything out from you in the first place." She then stormed out of the house.

Liam slouched on the couch and buried his face in his hands. He has definitely screwed up, but the only way is forward. He has to solve the case as fast as he can before the competition ends.

At night, George and Masaru paid Sayuri a visit. They went into her ward and saw Eriri sitting beside her.

"Hey, wifey." George went to her, "I'm sorry I couldn't make it earlier today. I couldn't leave work as there were too many patients waiting in line."

"It's okay, hubby. I know you're busy. I'm just glad you came." Eriri then turned to Masaru, "Thanks for taking your time to come, Masaru. I really appreciate it."

He smiled at her and then looked at Sayuri. He is certain that she's in this state after he left her. He's feeling a little regretful for not staying longer with them a bit longer. Perhaps he could've prevented the accident.

"It's not your fault." Eriri said to him after he had told her about it, "You didn't know what's going to happen."

"But is it really just an accident?" George asked.

"Liam is investigating it now." Eriri replied, "Isn't he supposed to come with us?"

"Guess this case is holding him down." Masaru uttered, "He couldn't attend Icy Tail's concert or even his own daughter's graduation day, and now he has a case to solve. It's saddening to see police officers sacrificing their free time to solve cases like this."

George and Eriri nodded in agreement.

"But, Eriri, are you sure you can go to Singapore in peace?" George asked, "I can stay here to take care of your mother if you want."

"George, it's okay. We need to go for the competition." She assured him, "The doctors and Daddy would take care of her anyways."

"Are you..."

"Even if I wanted to stay, as much as I want to be with Mummy, I've already promised Tomoya that I would go. I won't back down on my word. I just hope Mummy would be safe and sound."

Masaru leaned against the wall and looked at the sky. He seemed to be thinking of something, but George don't know what it might be.

The next morning, at six o' clock, Michiru dragged her luggage out of her room. She is devastated and angry that Liam couldn't follow her once again. She sat down, wore her shoes, and was about to go off when Liam walked to the door.

"Have a fun trip." He said to her, "I promise I'll come to Singapore after this case."

She stood up and held her luggage, "I can't trust you anymore. Your promises are empty." She then walked away. Liam sighed and went back to his room.

In the airport, the members of Icy Tail, Tomoya, Megumi, Masaru, Utaha, Seiren, George, and Eriri are waiting for Michiru while they are taking their breakfast: two slices of butter toast made by Megumi.

"This Michiru-chan is taking so long." Eriri looked at her watch, "We told her to be here by 6.15. Now it's already 6.25. If we don't board the plane by 7.45, we're doomed."

"Relax, Eriri." Tomoya crunched on the toast, "She won't be so late for it. We have so much time left."

"I'm still feeling very, very sleepy." Masaru yawned as he held Seiren in his arms, "Utaha, can you take over for a while? I need to go to the toilet to wash my face."

"Sure." Utaha took Seiren from him. He then went off to the nearest toilet. At this moment, Michiru rushed to them.

"I'm sorry, guys!" She huffed, "I didn't wake up on time because I didn't hear the alarm." Megumi passed the last pair of toast to her. She thanked Megumi and started chomping it.

A few minutes later, Tomoya gathered the team to talk about the details of the trip.

"Our flight to Singapore is in a few minutes, so make sure to prepare your luggages, air tickets, and passports." Tomoya told them, "I've hired a guide for our team, and his name is Chen Han Sheng. He will be holding a sign of his name up high later, so keep a lookout for it. He'll be guiding us around Singapore for the first two days before we go for the Gem Among Games meetup. From there on, we will be working on the game itself. Understood?" Everyone nodded their head in response.

"By the way, we will also set up a shop there for the time we're in Singapore." Tomoya added on, "In case the game shops in shopping malls don't sell our games, Singaporeans can come to our shop to buy our games and try them out. That way, we can get more fans."

They then checked their luggages in, went into the departure hall, and waited to board the flight while they sat down on the airport benches.

At seven thirty, the team members boarded the plane and sat at their designated seats. Utaha sat at the window seat with Seiren on her lap while Masaru sat beside her.

During the flight, Utaha looked out of the window as Seiren is sleeping. She hasn't been overseas ever since she was six. That time, it was just a short trip to South Korea to visit her uncle. She is fascinated by the clouds.

"Utaha." Masaru called her out. She turned to him, "Yes, Masaru-san?"

"Is Eriri going to be alright?" He asked, "She really looked sad since yesterday, and it feels like she's forcing herself to come in this trip."

"She is indeed forced in a way." Utaha replied, "She's our illustrator. She can't back out. Now, she might look fine and says nothing is wrong. But she's just putting on a strong front. In her heart, she's crying out loud. Suffering in the hands of fate. She's thinking how her mother got into an accident just days before our competition. She's lamenting how such a coincidence happened."

"You make it sound very, very, very dramatic." Masaru replied, "They don't call you a novelist for nothin'."

"Someone has to be there for her." Utaha said, "Someone has to comfort her when she's feeling very down. Or not, something unpleasant might happen."

"Hopefully George could help her."

A long and tiring seven hours later, they have finally reached Singapore's Changi Airport Terminal 4. The Blessing Software members got out of the plane and into the arrival hall. They looked around for the tour guide, but they couldn't find him at all.

Tomoya took out his phone and looked at the picture of the tour guide before looking at the surroundings. There are some guys, but none of them looked like him.

A girl approached them with a banner on her hand. It has the word Tomoya on it with blue marker ink.

"You must be Tomoya Aki, director of Blessing Software." She shook his hand, "I am such a big fan of you and your company, Mr Tomoya! Blessing Software's games are masterpieces!"

"Tomoya, you got a fan here." Michiru teased him, "But seriously, who is this girl? We're supposed to meet the tour guide here."

"In other words, he's late." Eriri grumbled, "How can a tour guide be late? If he's not here, how are we supposed to be able to find our way in Singapore?"

"Oh, I forgot to introduce myself." The girl let out a small laugh, "I'm Jia Ying, and I'm your tour guide."

"You?" Masaru asked, "Our tour guide? Where's that Han Yang guy? Is this a joke? Are you joking, girl?"

"My brother Han Yang couldn't make it due to...personal reasons." Jia Ying responded, "So I have taken his place to guide you throughout Singapore. And no worries, I am an expert in bringing tourists around this country. So you can count on me to bring you to the best tourists attractions! Follow me!" She happily skipped in front. The team members are slightly confused about this whole situation, but they proceeded to follow her.

Back in Tokyo, Liam met up with Justin and Ayako for lunch. They are talking about Liam and Michiru.

"So you're saying this police case we're having right now stopped you from going on a trip with your wife?" Justin questioned.

Liam nodded his head, "I can't believe how this could happen. Something big case comes in when I try to spend time with my wife and daughter, and then I have to sacrifice my time with them for the police. Ugh, it just pisses me off."

"Are you planning to go there after this case?" Ayako asked.

"I don't know." Liam sighed, "I'm just worried she'll might still be angry with me if I go there. Besides, I don't know if I can solve this case in time for the competition. This is a major case, and that's why I don't believe that we'll find the culprit in time."

"You got me, Liam." Justin slapped his shoulders, "I'm the smartest partner you ever had. I helped your ass solve the Florence brothers case, right? We did that in such a short time. We can do the same for this."

"Hopefully." Liam drank some of his iced lemon tea and leaned on the chair he's sitting on. He then made up his mind. He's going to try his best to finish this case as fast as possible so that he could go to Singapore, find Michiru, and apologize sincerely to her about this whole thing.

Justin is talking to Ayako about the case when Liam slammed the cup on the table. The two of them looked at him as he stood up.

"I've decided that I'm going to solve this case as fast as I can!" Liam declared, "Then I'll go to Singapore and find my wife and reconcile with her!" Justin shook his head, giving him a 'do you have to say that out loud' look while Ayako hid her face in embarrassment.

Back in Singapore, Jia Ying brought the Blessing Software members around Singapore. She took them to see the Merlion, the mascot of Singapore.

"It is depicted as a mythical creature with a lion's head and the body of a fish!" Jia Ying told them, "The Merlion was originally at the mouth of the Singapore River. The statue was revealed on 15 September 1972 by Singapore's first prime minister and late founding father Lee Kuan Yew."

After that, they walked through the Helix Bridge. From there, they could see the Marina Bay Floating Platform, where National Day Parades are held at. They then got to Marina Bay Sands, where they explored the whole hotel, the SkyPark, and even had a chance to look at the infinity swimming pool. All of them except Utaha have not seen one of those before, so they were awestruck when they saw it for the first time.

After a few hours, Jia Ying brought them to Uncle Yang's old home.

"I'll be going off now." Jia Ying said, "Make sure to get ready tomorrow, because we're going to the Botanic Gardens. Also, the stall you guys have requested to rent is available now. I need some help to carry your games there and set up a cashier there."

"Me and my band members will help." Michiru volunteered. Tomoya passed her the luggage filled with the games, and then she dragged the Icy Tail members along with her and Jia Ying. The rest took a room each in the house, as well as the living room, to clean up.

They were finally done after a long and tiring hour. They discussed about who will be taking which room. Megumi and Tomoya would take one room. Masaru, Utaha, and Seiren would take another. Eriri and George take up one room. Michiru and her Icy Tail members would take the last room available. After that, everyone went straight to sleep. They were too tired to talk about anything else.

At seven in the night, the team went to a nearby hawker centre to eat. They ate many types of food such as chicken rice, nasi lemak, and char kuay teow.

"I've never tasted this before." Tomoya said while munching on the rice, "This tastes great!"

"I'm surprised the food in Singapore doesn't taste like shit." Utaha cleaned her mouth with a tissue after eating a plate of chicken rice, "The rice is fragrant and tasty, the chicken is delicious, and the sauce is really flavorful. I am pretty satisfied with this meal."

"By the way, the shop is open." Michiru told Tomoya, "It's beside a hairdressing salon. You can check it out if you want to."

"Post the location of the shop to our social media page so that Singaporeans can find our games there." Tomoya replied.

"Aye, Tomoya!" Michiru whipped her phone out and started typing away. After she posted the address out, she was about to switch her phone off when a notification popped out. It is a news article about Farebit Technologies.

"Guys," Michiru called out, "Farebit Technologies is featured on the news. A video of an interview with the leader Jay Liang is out."

"Isn't that one of our opponents in the competition?" Eriri asked. The members gathered around Michiru as she played the video. In the video, a black-haired man is sitting on a chair, donning a tuxedo. Before the interview, the interviewer introduced the man as Jay Liang, the director of Farebit Technologies.

"Congratulations on getting into the top five teams for the Gem Among Games qualifying round, Mr Jay Liang." The interviewer said to Jay.

"Thank you, thank you." Jay bowed, "As you guys know, Farebit Technologies has always appreciated the support our fans give. We are forever grateful."

"If I'm not wrong, this is your third time participating in this?" The interviewer asked, "And Farebit Technologies won the previous two times?"

"You are absolutely right. The reason why we got the certified stamp from the judges twice is because we created two games with excellent quality. Everyone likes it. Never in our lives has Farebit Technologies delivered a game that is unspeakable in the slightest."

"Two of your games, namely Fantasia Exodus and The Bluebird's Purpose, have won several awards for being the best game of the year. How does it feel when your games are crowned Gem Among Games of 2015 and 2018?"

"It felt surreal. It felt awesome. It showed us that all our hard work are not wasted. We've spent countless days and nights writing riveting plots, composing rich, melodic songs, making sure the art and animation are of top notch, and coding it to have no bugs whatsoever. The effort we had put in has not went down the drain because we won the competition twice."

"So, as usual, you have old and new competitor teams going against Farebit Technologies so badly for that badge."

"I'm not worried about that at all. I know they can't do the same as us. We're special. We can make the games people would love to play. Their games are always full of errors. We will surely win all these teams."

"But as you know, Blessing Software is one of the five teams that got into the qualifying round. They made great games too, and they have won awards. They have an extremely big fanbase. They have a chance of winning too."

"Blessing Software?" Jay laughed, "Don't get me started on that sexual-orientated company. Please don't make me laugh. I've played their games several times, and they are absolutely trash compared to our games. I don't see why anyone would like them. For their salty fanbase, bring your hate on. The amount of hate that will be coming won't deter us from winning. Farebit Technologies can beat Blessing Software any day, any time."

"How dare he talk shit about our company." Utaha snarled, "I'll make sure Farebit Technologies doesn't win this year. We will win this competition and prove that son of a bitch wrong!"

"He hasn't seen our full potential yet." Eriri added, "Why is he talking like he knew us?"

"But I still don't understand." Masaru spoke up, "Farebit has only five people. And they can create such famous and well-received games? I don't think that is possible even if they work their asses off."

"Perhaps they are really smart, Masaru-san." Megumi responded.

"Since he dares to talk bad about us, it's time we show him who's the best company here." Tomoya growled, "We're going to beat Farebit Technologies and get the first place and that damn stamp!" The members exchanged looks with each other and nodded their head in agreement.

In Tokyo, Liam and Justin are working on the major case in the former's office room. The evidence from the surveillance camera nearby showed the Toyota Wish colliding with the Mitsubishi Lancer head-on. A few seconds later, a Ford Mustang sped and crashed the Toyota from the left.

The driver and passenger in the Lancer were Sayuri Sawamura and and her husband. The man in the Toyota Wish is identified as a man named Larry. The Ford Mustang, however, had no driver in it. By the time it appeared on the camera, the driver seemed to have disappeared.

"Justin, can you help me check who the owner of this Ford Mustang is?" Liam asked, "I got his number plate."

"Alright then. I'll hit the transport authorities up to see if they can a database on the driver." Justin replied. Liam slouched against his chair and thought about Michiru.

"Hey, what's with the grumpy face?" Justin teased him, "Is it because you ditched your wife again?"

"For your information, it is not ditching. I had to leave her alone to keep my job so that I can support the family."

"In other words, ditching." Justin patted his partner's shoulder, "It isn't so bad to ditch her after all, isn't it? You get to spend more time with me! Once this case is solved, you'll get tons of money, and you can treat her a scrumptious meal when she comes back!"

"That's not funny, Justin. And don't use the word 'ditch' in front of me or I'll glue your damn mouth."

"Damn, Liam, what's with this frightening tone of yours? Chill and relax, Liam. Now that she's not around, you can hang out with me. We go partying on our free nights, finding girls in clubs and having fun with them! Maybe they'll appreciate a policeman more than your wife."

"Justin," Liam stood up and spoke sternly, "Call the transport authorities now. Do not slack off. I'll be getting a cup of coffee before I come back." He then stormed out of the office.

"C'mon, man! Don't be mad!" Justin called out, "It's just a joke! A joke!"

At midnight, in Singapore, everyone except Michiru and the Icy Tail members went to sleep. In the band's room, they are thinking of song ideas. They want to release their debut album after this competition.

"Maybe we can make an upbeat song." Echika suggested, "Talking about life and stuff."

"Or a song with a slow tempo." Ranko showed them the comments on their social media post, "Our fans have taken a liking to slow tempo music with emotional lyrics. So we can try that, perhaps."

"Mitchie, you can write that type of song, can't you?" Tokino asked, "I mean, now that you have a husband, it's easier to write out some of the lyrics for this song, right? After all, you can take your undying love for Liam-san and place it into words."

"I think I can." She sighed.

"Mitchie, don't stay mad at your husband, alright?" Ranko told her, "He's a police officer. He needs to take care of the country's safety."

"I know he didn't go to all your important events, but he has a legitimate reason not to do so." Echika said, "Police officers have a hectic schedule."

"I know you guys care for me." Michiru voiced out, "But can you girls stay out of this? This is my personal issue. This is just between me and Liam."

"But..." Echika tried to retort when Tokino tapped her shoulder, "Let her be. She will solve her own problem. We shall go to sleep now."

"Alright." Echika nodded her head, "Good night, everyone." The three band members then went to sleep.

Michiru leaned against the wall and thought about Liam. She felt unhappy and downcast. She really thought Liam would follow her this time and keep his promise. She believed. Yet, he was still held back by his work. She had always hoped for Liam to support her live in her concerts. She had always hoped he would commend her on the spot, showering her with love and praise. She had always hoped for one time, he wouldn't care about his work and be with her. However, the more promises he make, the higher her hopes are, the higher the disappointment. She loves him and his personality, but if this continues on, she might lose her mind.

"Can I really accept the real him?" She thought sadly, "Can I accept that he is always busy with his work? Did I make a wrong choice devoting the rest of my life with him?" She took out a photo of her and Liam. Tears started flowing out of her eyes and onto the picture. Suddenly, her phone rang. She rubbed her eyes and looked at it, only to see that Liam is calling her. She stared at her phone screen for a few seconds before flipping her phone screen. She gripped her blanket tightly and stared at the sky.

In Liam's office, he is staring at his phone screen, waiting for Michiru to pick up. Justin looked at him.

"She won't pick up, Liam." Justin said, "Give it up."

"M...maybe she's sleeping."

"You can be true, but from my years as a student from psychology class, she's probably awake thinking about you. She's still mad at you, trust me."

"It's all my fault." Liam sighed, "I kept giving empty promises, and now she won't even talk to me."

"To be very honest, why won't she just understand what a life of a policeman is like?" Justin complained, "Is her music and that company all she cares about? It's not like you wanted a car accident to happen."

"Give her some time." Liam replied.

"Some time? Please, Liam. It's been two freaking years."

"But..."

"Alright, I won't talk to you about this." Justin carried his bag, "I'll go home first. Lock up the station after this." Before he stepped out of the office, he turned around and looked at Liam, "Get some rest. Don't stress yourself out too much. If you want to achieve your goal, we must at least have some energy to solve the case. Good night, Liam."

"Thanks, and good night, Justin." Liam replied. Justin then walked off. Liam then looked at his phone and saw that Michiru didn't answer the call. He laid his forehead on the table.

After a few minutes, Liam went back home. He saw the light in Lucy's room switched on. He went into her room, where he saw her practicing a song with her guitar.

He went to her and sat beside her, "Lucy, why are you not asleep yet? It's already so late. You got school tomorrow, you know."

"I am waiting for you, Daddy." His daughter replied, "Because without you, I can't sleep soundly. So, I've decided to practice some of the songs Mummy has taught me."

She then played the guitar to the tune of Louis Armstrong's 'What A Wonderful World'.

"I see trees of green, red roses too

I see them bloom for me and you

And I think to myself, what a wonderful world.

"I see skies of blue and clouds of white

The bright blessed days, the dark sacred night

And I think to myself, what a wonderful world."

She then looked at Liam, "Daddy, are you okay? I heard you had a fight with Mummy. Are you two going to make up?"

Liam hugged her, "Thanks for being concerned, Lucy. I promise me and Mummy won't divorce over this. I will find a way to fix this."

The next afternoon, in Singapore, Jia Ying and the Blessing Software members went to Gardens By The Bay. Firstly, they went to the Flower Dome. They looked at the different trees and flowers there and were immersed in the different types of gardens. They then took pictures of some of the unique plants.

After that, they went to the Heritage Gardens, where they are told the history of Singapore and its culture through plants. Jia Ying added extra information for them to understand Singapore and its past more.

For dinner, they went to the Supertree Food Hall and ordered some food. While the rest are eating, Megumi and Eriri looked at Jia Ying, who is eating alone.

"She looks so pitiful alone." Megumi told Eriri, "Eriri, do you want to go there and talk to her?"

"We? Go there? We're just tourists, Megumi. We should let her have some time alone, and care about our lives more. The meeting is tomorrow, and we'll be seeing that trash talker soon. I personally believe..."

Megumi just stood up and walked towards Jia Ying. Eriri quickly chased after her, but by the time she caught up, Megumi is already asking if she could sit beside Jia Ying. The tour guide responded with a 'yes', and Megumi took a seat beside her. Eriri sighed and sat beside the director of Blessing Software.

"Hey, Ms Chen, I think you know our names since you're a fan of Blessing Software." Megumi said to her.

"Megumi Kato and Eri Kashiwagi, right?" Jia Ying asked. Both of them nodded their heads.

"So, have you been in this industry for quite a long time?" Megumi asked. Jia Ying shook her head, "Only for about a year and a half, but I can say I'm decent in leading everyone around Singapore."

"You look very young." Eriri looked at her, "Exactly how old are you?"

"On December 2, I will be eighteen."

"So you're seventeen now?" Megumi asked, "Aren't you supposed to be in high school now? Why are you doing this job?"

"Let's change the topic, shall we?" Jia Ying looked at the skies, "So far, how's Singapore? Is it a really amazing country for you?"

"Of course it is." Megumi replied, "The scenery is beautiful, stunning, and breathtaking. The food here is quite delicious. Singaporeans are also very kind and helpful to us. I really like this country."

"I didn't know such a small country would have numerous interesting attractions." Eriri added on.

"I'm glad you guys like Singapore." Jia Ying uttered, "You know, when I was seven, my brother got one of your best games. 'Cherry Blessing' is the title, if I remember correctly. It was my first time playing a visual novel, so I wasn't sure if I would like the game. Turns out, it is the best visual novel I've played to date."

Megumi and Eriri stared at her in surprise.

"The storyline is amazing, the graphics are mesmerizing, the characters are well-developed, the music's really nice to hear, and the fact that there are different routes, and each of them lead to different endings is amazing!" Jia Ying continued, "You have no idea how much time I have spent just to finish the entire game. And I couldn't take my eyes off it. It really gave me a good experience, and that's when I picked up the rest of your games. They're really excellent!"

"Thanks for the compliment, Ms Chen." Megumi smiled at her, "We feel really glad you love our games."

"I really hope you will win this competition." Jia Yong said, "Your games are so good. Everyone definitely needs to give it a try so that they know the standards of a good visual novel." She then looked at her watch, "Alright, it's time to go. Once everyone's done, we can move on to the Supertree Grove."

After a few minutes, Jia Ying brought the team to the Supertree Grove, which is lighted up at night. They went up to the top and viewed the surroundings of the Gardens By The Bay. They then took a stroll across the OCBC Skyway, where Utaha took a family photo with Masaru and Seiren. The team members then went back down to the ground floor to catch a Garden Rhapsody light and sound show, where they watched the lights syncing with music from the audio speakers around the place to create a fascinating performance.

After that, they all went back to their home. Eriri went into her room and called Liam.

"Hey, Liam-san." Eriri asked worriedly, "How's my mother doing? Has she woke up at all?"

"She's still unconscious, not moving at all." Liam answered, "We don't even know if she's out of the woods yet."

"What about the case? How's it going?"

"I can't tell you much as it is private, but all I can tell you is it's kinda okay. We're...doing fine."

"That's a lie, isn't it, Liam-san?"

"Yeah. There are three cars involved. We know the driver whose car collided with your parents' car, but not the other driver."

"I see."

"Rest well, Eriri. Don't think about it too much. We'll find the culprit eventually, and your mother will be fine."

"Alright, Liam-san. Sorry for disturbing you and asking you to take care of my mother."

"It's okay, Eriri. We're friends. Don't be so formal with me. I'll be hanging up now. Good luck for tomorrow." He then ended the call. Eriri sighed and slouched on the bed. George then jumped onto the bed.

"Why are you looking so sad, wifey?" George asked Eriri. She smiled at him, "It's nothing. I was just thinking about my mother."

"She'll be alright, Eriri. I..." George is then interrupted by Seiren's loud crying. Masaru rushed out of his room with a baby bottle. A few seconds later, he came back with milk in it and fed Seiren.

Utaha sang a lullaby for her before she finally slowly stopped crying and went to sleep. They both smiled at Seiren before turning off the lights and going to sleep.

"Don't you think that Masaru's baby looks cute sometimes?" George asked his wife. Eriri nodded her head, "Having a child would be nice."

George then faced Eriri, "So, um, Eriri, are you...ready to...you know, do it?"

"Do what?" Eriri queried curiously. George hesitated for a while before mouthing the word 'sex'.

"Hubby, I'm not in the mood." Eriri sighed, "My mother's lying on the hospital bed, and I'm worrying about her every single day. Alright, let's not talk about this, and go to sleep. Good night, hubby." She then laid on the bed and slept. George sighed before doing the same.

The next morning, George stayed in the home while the team members went out to the Gem Among Games meeting. George was asked for help by Masaru to take care of Seiren, and the former agreed. He had two reasons behind it: he wanted to help his good friend, and he wanted to try taking care of a baby. Masaru also told George he only needed to take care of her for the day. Masaru and Utaha will take care of Seiren at night.

Jia Ying brought the Blessing Software members to the Suntec Convention and Exhibition Centre. They went to the top floor and entered the hall, where the teams whose games have passed the qualifying round are talking to their own members.

"I shall take my leave here. I'll come back at noon." Jia Ying said, "Good luck, guys!" The team members nodded and went forward to the stage.

As they walked, the other teams looked at them and started pointing fingers at them before whispering to each other.

"They must be talking about us now." Eriri said, "They look like they're scared of us."

"Of course!" Tomoya said proudly, "We are a well-known company in the gaming industry. Who wouldn't recognize us?"

Masaru looked down, thinking that the other teams might be talking about his arrest three years earlier. Upon seeing his face, Utaha looked at him, "I know what you're thinking, Masaru-san. Don't care about them, alright?"

"I just don't like them talking about it." Masaru sighed, "But I can't help it since it was my fault that happened."

Utaha held his hand, "Don't bother what other people think of you. They don't know the real you. I do. Kato-san does. So does Tomoya-kun, Eriri, George-san, and Hyodo-san do. We know you didn't do it on purpose. So, let others say what they want. We all know that you are a great man. To me, you're the most wonderful husband I've ever had."

"Thanks, Utaha." Masaru smiled at her.

A few minutes later, the event started, and the reporters took their seats. Some took out their cameras and some took out their notebooks to write. A guy with brown dreadlocks looked at Masaru.

Chase Tan, one of the four judges, talked to the teams. He thanked the teams for all coming to Singapore to partake in this competition. He told them the topic the game they are creating is to be based on: time-travel. He also told them they can start today and they have three weeks before they have to send their game before six in the morning. They would need to arrive at Suntec Convention and Exhibition Centre at nine in the morning. This is to make sure every team is in the venue before the Gem Among Games show starts at ten, and to make sure every team prepares themselves. He then explained about the process of judging.

Once the judges have the games, they will play for four hours, starting from six until ten in the morning, before they will announce the results in front of an audience and the teams. During the waiting time, each team will wait in a room. When the show starts, the teams will gather on the stage. The interviews of the teams' directors would be shown, and the judges will give a review of the games before eliminating the teams one by one until there's only one team left, and that team would be the winner.

After the interviews with the company directors, the meeting was officially over. As the teams and judges started to leave, Jay Liang went to the Blessing Software team.

"Look, it's the Blessing Software team." Jay grinned. Eriri and Utaha growled while Tomoya glared at him.

"You talk a lot of shit for someone's who about to get beaten in a competition." Tomoya snarled.

"That's where you're wrong, kiddo." Jay retorted, "You're talking to the director of a superior company who won Gem Among Games twice in a row. I talk all that trash because I really think Blessing Software is one. You are just a small fry to us."

"Just you wait, we'll make you lose your title." Megumi crossed her arms. Jay gave her a surprised look.

"Oh no, hearing that already makes me scared." He said in a sarcastic tone before he started laughing, "Please, Ms Megumi. I got something you guys don't. And it'll benefit me a lot."

"And what's that, loser?" Utaha asked angrily. Jay turned to the back and called out, "My artist and producer, please show yourselves!"

A woman with burgundy-colored hair tied in a bun and a man with reddish-brown hair walked up to Jay. The Blessing Software members, except Masaru, are shocked immediately upon seeing the two of them.

"Iori?!" Tomoya looked at the two, "Izumi-chan?!"

"What are you two doing at the opponent's team?!" Eriri screamed.

"You see, I poached them." Jay explained, "They can't be working in your company when they have big talents buried under the rug. Thanks to your not-so-well games and your not-so-well standards, they can't show their true forms. I invited them to come over. I provided them with advantages. Manageable work time, better pay, and most importantly, they are able to show their talents to the world. They are not stuck in such a pathetic office like yours."

Tomoya clenched his fists.

"But, as the years go on, I realized you've improved." Jay continued, "Your games are finally better and more famous than before. Perhaps, it's because of the coder that joined your team. After all, Blessing Software got known at one point because he went to jail."

"Don't you dare talk about that!" Utaha shouted at him.

"I'm stating a true fact, Ms Utako Kasumi. Anyways, I'll let you and my two members chat with you. Have a nice 'reunion'." He then chuckled as he walked off.

"How dare you betray us." Megumi scowled at Iori, "I know we had our differences, but that doesn't mean you can back the fuck out just like that!"

"Look, Ms Angsty." Iori cleared his throat, "I ain't staying under your leadership anymore. All you did is order people around like they're your slaves. You've hidden our talents underneath the surface, and only put yours and Tomoya's name as big as you can on the screen. You're hindering my career, and my sister's one too, Furthermore, at that point, all our games couldn't even make it up the charts, and wasn't gaining much profit. I don't want to be retrenched. I need to take care of my mother."

"But we did try to help you, and..."

"You think by visiting him, his cancer's gonna disappear? Fat hope! In Farebit Technologies, I get a better pay, better work time, and I don't need to hear you commanding us from your damn office! Your leadership skills are shit, and that's why all our games went downhill!"

"You can't blame me for everything, asshole!" Megumi raised her voice, "You did nothing to help us either! If we'd let you do what you had wanted to do, we would have folded up!" By this time, lots of reporters have started snapping pictures and taking videos. Izumi tried to pull Iori away, but he stood still.

"I'm telling you this, Megumi Kato." Iori said sternly, "No matter how many years you take, no matter how much effort you put, you still suck at making a game, or even having the basic knowledge of a game. You're never a good director at all. That's why the games Blessing Software has put out are so fucking shit to the core! You only pulled the company down to hell!"

"How dare you say that about me!" Megumi is about to slap him when he held her hand.

"Don't you dare to try and slap me when you're in the wrong." He then pushed her away. Luckily, she got caught by Tomoya.

Tomoya then marched to him and shouted at him, "Why did you push her, motherfucker?"

"Not happy?"

Tomoya held him by the collar and glared at him, "You don't have the rights to touch my wife." Before Iori could do anything else, Masaru pushed the two away from each other while Izumi pulled Iori away.

"Let's get out before anything else happens." Utaha sighed. The reporter in brown dreadlocks looked at the Blessing Software team and shook his head.

Back in Japan, Liam is looking through the file of the case. He is still trying to find some clues for the case when Justin walked in with donuts and two cups of coffee.

"Early snack time, Mr Feng!" He gave one donut to Liam and placed a cup of coffee on his table. Liam muttered his thanks before he munched on the food.

"I still can't find the third driver. The Mustang driver." Liam told his partner.

"The authorities have identified him as Furoshi Kawanawa." Justin replied, "A Japanese national. Came here for work." He then gave his partner a picture of Furoshi.

"He looks like a sensible person." Liam commented, "He doesn't look like the type of guy to do something evil."

"As the saying goes, don't judge a book by its cover."

"Strange. He owned the car, but he's not in the car when the accident happened. Maybe he had jumped out of the car before it reached the camera?"

"The door wasn't open when it went pass the cameras." Justin replied, "Perhaps we could go and ask the victim. Not the Sawamura couple. The other driver, Larry. Is it purely an accident or there's a reason this happened?"

A few minutes later, Justin and Liam went to the hospital and got into Larry's ward. They introduced themselves as police officers and asked if he is okay. Once he responded with a yes, they then proceeded to question him if he think that the car accident is intentional.

"It sure is intentional." Larry replied, "That Ford Mustang is undoubtedly Furoshi's."

"You know him?" Liam asked.

"Yeah. I kinda caused him to be mad at me forever, I guess. We were playing with stocks during work. I was profiting out of it. Furoshi decided he wanted to invest some money in it after seeing my gains. However, as he placed it in, I took mine out. I knew the stock price was about to fall. Many people told him to stop, but he refused. I think he didn't stop because I didn't tell him to, and he only trusted me. The prices kept falling, and he kept losing money. He lost most of his money. He stopped attending work, and the last day I saw him, he look depressed."

"You guys are nuts to play with stocks." Justin remarked.

"So do you think he wanted to kill you?" Liam questioned.

"I guess so." Larry sighed, "I indirectly caused him to lose a lot of money. It's expected, isn't it? I'm just glad I'm fine."

Liam and Justin looked at him before looking at each other. It seemed like they knew what to do now.

Back in Singapore, Megumi sat on the bed and contemplated about what Iori had said to her.

"I'm telling you this, Megumi Kato. No matter how many years you take, no matter how much effort you put, you still suck at making a game, or even having the basic knowledge of a game. You're never a good director at all. That's why the games Blessing Software has put out are so fucking shit to the core! You only pulled the company down to hell!"

She lied on the bed and stared at the sky as Tomoya came out of the shower and sat beside her. He saw the solemn expression on her face and held her hand.

"Tomoya-kun," She looked at him sadly, "Am I a very bad director? Is what Iori said true?"

"No, you're not." Tomoya assured her.

"But, the reception for our games aren't as well as Farebit Techinlogies. That just means I suck..."

"Megumi," Tomoya held her shoulders, "Our games are not shitty because of you. Our games aren't bad at all. Our games received very fantastic reception. In fact, our games did well because we have a very pretty main heroine."

"Thanks for the compliment, Tomoya-kun." She smiled at him.

"Don't feel discouraged because that bastard insulted you." Tomoya continued, "We all know that you are one of the main reasons Blessing Software is created and became successful. You are a good director. Don't doubt yourself, alright?"

"I love you, Tomoya-kun." She kissed his cheeks, "Thanks for cheering me up and giving me self assurance."

"But I'm still confused." Tomoya said, "Why would Iori and Izumi-chan be in Farebit Technologies? That's the team I least expect them to be in. Heck, I thought they retired."

"Me too. It's so weird seeing them again." Megumi replied, "After they left us three years ago, they appeared back in our lives as our enemies. What a world."

"Whatever it is, we're going to bring them down." Tomoya declared, "We're going to prove them wrong. We're going to win this competition." Tomoya's phone then vibrated. He took it and saw that his news app has been refreshed with the latest news.

In Utaha's room, she, Masaru, Eriri, and Michiru are talking about the events that had happened earlier. The Icy Tail members just sat at the side of the room, listening to what the other four say.

"So those two are your ex-colleagues?" Masaru asked his wife.

"Not really." Utaha answered, "They are Tomoya-kun's colleagues, and they were our friends. They were in Blessing Software before they abruptly left to take care of their mother, according to Kato-san."

"Because of them, we came to Blessing Software to help." Eriri uttered, "Then we stayed because Akane passed away."

The seven of them kept quiet for a while before Michiru interrupted the silence.

"Look, guys!" Michiru showed her phone screen to the trio, "We're on the news!"

"Ignore those." Masaru sighed, "I'm pretty sure half of the things the reporters wrote are a bunch of lies."

"I can't believe we're this unlucky." Utaha grumbled, "Fancy meeting those two and quarreling with them. What's worse is that we're getting reported on because of today. Such bad luck."

"I really wished those two didn't appear." Eriri crossed her arms, "Jay Liang is already a pain-in-the-ass motherfucker. Now, these two suckers appeared in front of our faces, with the older one acting like a dick. What are the odds?"

Tomoya and Megumi then entered the room.

"I have seen the news about today." Megumi bowed, "I'm sorry for implicating everyone and Blessing Software for this. I didn't think of the consequences and just let my anger out publicly."

"It's okay, Megumi." Eriri replied, "It's not your fault. Iori Hashima is really a jerk to insult you. Don't take his words to heart."

"It's not worth getting angry over that useless bum." Utaha added.

"Alright, let's not care about the news." Tomoya cleared his throat, "What we need to care about right now is our game. We need to show the judges and Farebit Technologies that our game is fantastic, and is worth to be played. From now onwards, we need to give in our all and make the best game the judges have ever played!"

He then stretched his right hand out in the middle, "Who's with me?" Megumi placed her hand on top, followed by Eriri, Utaha, Masaru, Michiru, and lastly the Icy Tail members. They then cheered "Blessing Software!" before they raise their right hands up.

In a room, the reporter with brown dreadlocks sat down and looked at his camera. He had recorded the incident on video. The one which shows Megumi and Iori talking back to each other.

He then leaned his back against his chair. He looked at the newspaper articles that he had cut out and pasted on the wall. They were about him being the best reporter for five consecutive years. It is then revealed he is Jerald Johnson, as the name was stated on all the five articles.

Jerald is having a hard time thinking if he should post the footage. He wants to be the best reporter of the year for the sixth consecutive time, reporting all the juicy and interesting news and gossip. Yet, he is hesitating to share it.

In the end, he took his camera and deleted the video. He then went to his computer and searched for Blessing Software. Immediately, tens of articles and videos showed up. They were all about the fight that happened during the meeting.

"So it seems like many other people posted it already." He muttered to himself.

In the Farebit Technologies building, Jay called Iori and Izumi to his office.

"Too bad I wasn't there when the commotion happened." Jay sipped on his tea while he sat on his chair, "The 'catch-up' with your old friends must have been fun. Am I right?"

"We have expected this when we saw the announcement." Iori replied, "I have even predicted that Megumi would pick a fight with me. And she did. What a bitch she is. I feel so determined to bring them down. I really want their company to burn to the ground."

"Looking at their shocked and disappointed faces made me feel guilty." Izumi sighed, "They are our friends. Maybe we shouldn't have left Blessing Software."

"Izumi, let me correct one of the sentences you had just said." Jay stood up, "They were your friends. They are no longer your friends. After betraying them and leaving the company abruptly, do you think they will forgive you two at all?"

"I don't need their lousy forgiveness." Iori said proudly, "I'm doing way better here."

"Perhaps we should've stayed and continued making games with them." Izumi told her brother, "I mean, sure, we didn't make much money off it, but at least we had fun."

"Izumi, I did this for us! For you!" Iori turned to her, "Blessing Software was a declining company at that time. We got our parents to support, and we don't earn a lot. If it wasn't for the opportunity Liang-san had gave to us, we would've led a harsh life today!"

"Maybe you should've trusted Megumi-senpai more when she came up with any game idea." Izumi retorted, "You have always looked down on her, thinking she can't be any good. The games Blessing Software made recently are signs that she can create a good game."

"Izumi, what your brother said makes sense." Jay said, "Blessing Software was a declining company, and it still is today. Although, like you said, they have made better games, theirs don't sell well like ours. Our games broke world records for fastest units sold within twenty-four hours. They're nothing compared to us. I emailed Iori about the invitation to join Farebit. I gave him this chance because he's a very sincere man, and when I see your problems, I feel bad for you. Not only did this bring you a well-paid job, you get a free house sponsored by me and you can do what you like to do: drawing. He wants you to succeed in your career, and let you live a good life. He did all this because he cares for you."

"But..."

"Alright, Izumi. Let's not talk about this anymore. Right now, we need to concentrate on our game. We'll wait for Harry to write the story before we can decide on what to do. You two are dismissed."

Iori and Izumi bowed before they went out of the office. While they are walking, Izumi looked at her older brother.

"Don't you feel guilty at all for dumping your best friend?" She asked, "Or leaving Blessing Software?"

"I never had any regrets." He responded before rushing off. Izumi sighed and shook her head before following him.

In Uncle Yang's house, Utaha, Masaru, Tomoya, and Megumi are in the former's room. They are discussing about the story of the game they are about to create.

"Let's brainstorm for some ideas." Utaha said, "Tomoya-kun, let's start with you. What can you think 'bout time-travel?"

"Since it is going to be about time-traveling, we can write about the protagonist going back in time to save his parents from an accident." Tomoya voiced out, "Along the way, he finds out that there is more than meets the eye."

"That's very cliché, don't you think?" Masaru asked, "Most time-traveling stories would write that kind of plot, and it gets so oversaturated with those story plots that the genre became boring."

"I think I have one in my mind now." Megumi said, "An antagonist from the future comes to the past and tries to destroy it to make it his world. And it's up to the protagonist or protagonists to stop him."

"That's a better idea. We'll consider that." Utaha said, "Dear, what about you?"

"Hmm..." Masaru thought for a while before speaking up, "A scientist has built a time machine for himself. At first, all he wanted is to check the future out and come back to the world. He'd explore around the city before coming back. However, curiosity gets the better of him and he decided to live in the future. But each time things start to go wrong for him, he would transport himself to the future to start anew. He would keep doing that until he turns old and realizes he's been running his whole life."

Utaha nodded her head satisfyingly, "Not bad, Dear. You're getting better at coming up with storylines. Not the best, but still quite great."

"You flatter me, Utaha." Masaru replied, "You are the professional here, not me."

"What about Kasumigaoka-senpai?" Megumi asked, "Have you thought of anything?"

"Well, we could have this story where some history company hires this protagonist." Utaha explained, "The company would send the protagonist back in time to have interviews with famous historians such as Albert Einstein, Elvis Presley, or Michael Jackson, before they die a day later. The protagonist would then become a famous person after interviewing many historic figures over a long period of time. Soon, a young man approaches him, saying that he needs to interview the protagonist. The protagonist will then realize that the younger man is going to take over the interviewing job, and that he is about to die twenty four hours later. He has to find a way to escape from reality."

"Wow, you always manage to come up with the best plots, Utaha-senpai!" Tomoya awed at her.

"Your idea is certainly unique and awesome, Utaha," Masaru remarked, "However, it is only suitable for a movie or a novel. If we're doing visual novels, then this plot would not work. We can only give the player choices of the interviewees, the time periods, and perhaps the different outcomes when the player interview different figures. Nothing else. If we were to change anything else in the story, it wouldn't make sense."

"That's kinda true." Utaha responded, "Then let's analyze our ideas. Mine is out. For Tomoya-kun, his plot could certainly be a foundation block. Kato-san's idea can be developed further. Masaru-san's story plot can be used too as players can choose the things the scientist can do, and each choice can lead to a different path, and then a different ending."

"We'll take Masaru-san's idea then." Megumi said, "After all, his one sounds the most interesting and special out of the three ideas left."

"Looks like you're getting really good coming up with story plots, Masaru-san." Utaha patted her husband's shoulders, "Everyone likes your idea. Good job."

"Thank you, wifey." He then kissed her on the cheeks as a sign of appreciation.

"Alright, me and Masaru-san will work on the script." Utaha declared, "Give us four to six working days, and we'll get it done."

At two thirty the next morning, Eriri woke up with a hungry stomach. She didn't know why she felt so famished, but she decided to whip up some instant noodles.

She took a packet of curry noodles and tore it open. She then placed the block of noodles into the pot and stirred it with a pair of chopsticks. After five minutes, she was about done. She took a fork and spoon with one hand and took the pot with another. She then made her way towards the dining table.

As she is walking, she suddenly felt extreme pain her her lower abdomen. She dropped the pot and the utensils and fell onto the floor, grabbing onto her belly and groaning softly.

After a few seconds, the pain slowly subdued. She got up and looked down. She saw the noodles on the floor and sighed.

She took a mop and started cleaning up the floor. As she is wiping, she heard a voice talking to her, "Do you need any help, Eriri?"

She looked up and saw Megumi standing in front of her.

"You always got that stealth mode on, huh, Megumi?" Eriri asked. Megumi took the pot up, "You're hungry?" Eriri nodded her head.

Megumi placed the pot over the stove and started cooking some noodles. After five minutes, she poured the noodles into a bowl and gave it to Eriri.

"Thanks, Megumi." Eriri smiled at her before slurping the noodles, "This is really good!"

"I'm glad you enjoyed it." Megumi looked at her best friend worriedly, "But are you okay? I heard the pot dropping earlier on. Did you fall down?"

"I'm fine, Megumi. I'm just careless." Eriri lied, not wanting Megumi to be worried, "I'm probably sleepy. I'm relieved that I didn't wake Utaha's baby up, or she would've screamed at me like there's no end."

"After this, rest for a while before going to sleep, okay? We got to visit the museum tomorrow, so get enough rest."

"Alright, Megumi. Thanks once again for cooking this delicious noodles."

"No problem. I'll be going back to sleep now." Megumi then went back to her room. Eriri slouched on the sofa and prayed her mother to be safe as she ate her noodles.

The next morning, Jia Ying brought the team, George, and Seiren to the Nation Museum of Singapore. She wanted them to know more about the history of Singapore, and maybe draw some inspiration for the story from it.

As Tomoya, Utaha, Masaru, Michiru, George, and the Icy Tail members are exploring, Megumi and Eriri went to Jia Ying and talked to her.

"I just wanted to ask something, Jia Ying, if you don't mind." Eriri voiced out, "You seem to know Singapore very well. What made you interested to be a tour guide?"

"My brother has been a tour guide for six years." Jia Ying explained, "Every time before he would go for one his of his tours, he'd bring my mother and I around, talking about the different tourist spots in Singapore as a form of practice. I was very fascinated by it. He sounded very cool, and I didn't know much of Singapore until he told me. I realized I haven't discovered much at all. My brother has helped tourists all around the world, guiding them around Singapore. He has placed smiles on their faces, and they have also said good things about our country after the tour guide. I want everyone to know Singapore is a great country although it is small. I also like to interact with different people and get to know them. That's why I did this job." Eriri and Megumi nodded their heads in response.

"I see." The latter said, "That's a very good inspiration. I'm glad you're doing what you like."

"Don't mind me, but where's your brother?" Eriri asked bluntly, "He was supposed to be our tour guide, isn't he?"

"He's..." Jia Ying hesitated to answer, "He's..." Her phone then rang. She went to a corner and answered the call.

Eriri found something weird about Jia Ying. She hid the reason she skipped school, and now she's even hesitating to say about her brother. She told it to Megumi, who told her to just shrug it off.

"Sorry, Ms Megumi and Ms Eriri." Jia Ying ran back to them, "I need to leave urgently. I have a personal matter to attend to."

"How do we go back then?" Eriri asked. Jia Ying gave Megumi a piece of paper, "The bus driver will come in two hours. Give him this, and he'll bring you back to your house. I'll see you tomorrow." She then rushed off.

"See, she's very suspicious." Eriri growled.

"Relax, Eriri." Megumi patted her shoulder, "It's her choice whether she wants to say it or not. Don't force it out of her, alright?"

The team members then went to some of the exhibitions like Story of the Forest, Surviving Syonan, and An Old New World.

During lunchtime, Eriri went to the toilet to adjust her makeup. She took out her lipstick and applied it on her lips.

She then looked at herself in the mirror and nodded her head satisfyingly. She looked pretty and presentable enough. As she is about to walk out of the toilet, her pelvis suddenly felt pain. She groaned in pain as she grabbed her belly. Megumi rushed into the toilet and ran to her.

"Hang in there, Eriri." Megumi told her, "I'll call the ambulance here."

"It's...okay..." Eriri huffed, "Don't...call..."

"But you're in extreme pain now!"

"I'm...fine..." Eriri responded. A few seconds later, she got up, "How did you know I was here?"

"I suspected that there is something wrong from this morning's incident, so I decided to follow you. Luckily I did, or you would've continued to suffer alone."

"Megumi, thank you for your help." Eriri said, "Since now you know about this, can you not tell anyone else about this, please?"

"Eriri, you can't hide forever. Remember, your husband's a doctor. He will eventually find out about this."

"I don't want anyone else to worry about me. We have a game to make. We have no time to fret over things like this anymore. I want to keep this from everyone as long as I can. Can you accede to my request, Megumi? Pretty please?"

Megumi sighed before nodding her head, "But you're going to have a check up so that we can see what's wrong with your body."

In the clinic, the two of them sat in front of a female doctor. She is reading the results of the ultrasound scan she did on Eriri's body.

"Ms Sawamura, does your family have any special medical conditions?" The doctor asked. Eriri shook her head.

"Have you had your menstrual cycle yet?" The doctor questioned. Eriri, once again, shook her head.

"Alright then." The doctor concluded, "Ms Sawamura, I'm sorry to announce this, but you have a condition named Endometriosis."

"W...what's that?" Eriri asked with fear.

"Endometriosis occurs when endometrial tissue grows on your ovaries, bowel, and tissues lining your pelvis." The doctor explained, "The cause of this is a process known as retrograde menstruation. This happens when menstrual blood flows back through your fallopian tubes into your pelvic cavity."

"How serious is this?" Megumi asked.

"Well, if you don't treat it in the long run, you might be infertile. You might experience a lot of pain too. For Ms Sawamura, she's in the third stage of this condition."

Eriri looked at the doctor with shock.

"But no worries, it can be managed with some surgeries and medications." The doctor continued, "This condition is not cancerous, so you will not die. Make sure to have an appointment with your doctor to get rid of the lesions."

Eriri leaned back against the chair as Megumi patted her shoulder.

Outside the clinic, Megumi brought a depressed Eriri a cup of water as the latter sat on a bench, sulking.

"Drink some water, Eriri." Megumi told her, "Get yourself hydrated."

"I have no mood to drink it." Eriri muttered.

"You have not drank any water since the morning." Megumi retorted, "Drink up, or you'll get dehydrated. Dehydration is not good for your health, and it can lead to some undesirable outcomes. Don't risk your life and drink some water, alright?" Eriri turned around and looked at the other side.

"I know you are sad that you have this condition." Megumi spoke, "I know you feel very devastated and lost. But keep your head high, you know? There might be some good things coming our way. Let's look at the positives and not the negatives."

"How do you think I can do that?" Eriri turned to Megumi and started to tear up, "This endo bullshit can make me infertile. I can't disappoint George over and over again. He wanted a baby, and I wanted to do it after my mother recovered. But look what the fuck happened? This condition can't be cured at all! What happens if even after all the treatment, I still couldn't get pregnant? Would George leave me? Why is my life such a disaster? My mother's in the hospital, unconscious, and now my body has this stupid ridiculous disorder that affects me and my life! I really can't take it anymore, Megumi. I just can't." She then broke down in tears and hugged Megumi.

Megumi patted her shoulder and assured her that everything's going to be alright, and she will be here for her best friend.

In the Farebit Technologies building, Izumi is watching a video on how to bake cookies. It is her resting time now, and she is tired of drawing. It's all thanks to their storywriter, Harry, that she has to start drawing earlier. He only took eleven hours to finish the plot. She wanted to hit Harry in the face. Why did he have to be so fast? Why can't he let her have a longer break?

As she is watching the video, Jay came to her and pressed the lock button on her phone, "You shouldn't be resting if your drawings aren't even done."

"But, Liang-senpai, I've done some of them." Izumi whined, "Like three of them already."

"What's our goal, Izumi? Is it just three?"

Izumi shook her head, "It's ten."

"There we go. Ten. Minimum ten per day. If you're going to watch videos continuously, we will slow down at this rate. Besides, you should take a look at your drawings and see what's wrong with them. Like this one." Jay took up one and showed it to her, "The protagonist's face looks weird. The room has very less details. Redraw this. You're lucky Harry finished the script early so that we can finish early and improvise on the drawings. If you look at your phone again, I'll confiscate it. Now go back to work."

Izumi sighed and started drawing again as she thought, "Always finding a reason to criticize my artwork. I'll make sure I'll shine one day on my own and then I'll kick your ass around. For now, I'm going to listen to you."

Jay went back to his office and looked at the script. He read it over and over again. It is a wonderful and great storyline done by Harry, but Jay feels something is missing. He feels there needs to be an improvement.

A woman then knocked on the door. He looked up and beamed, "Ruyi, come in, please."

She walked in and sat on the couch, "I see you lecturing Izumi-chan earlier on. What happened?"

"She slacked for a while. She was watching videos." Jay replied, "She's supposed to do at least ten drawings every day until the deadline. Until then, she is not allowed to rest."

"Don't you think you're giving her quite a hard time?" Ruyi asked, "Ever since the first time they joined Gem Among Games, you've been pushing them a lot. They need to have breaks sometimes, Jay. Go easy on them."

"Hell no. If I were to do so, we wouldn't be sitting here with two Gem Among Games stamps on our games. We need to bring the potential out of Izumi, because she can draw freaking well. I need to be another Akane Kosaka. You know what makes them stay?"

Ruyi shrugged her shoulders. Jay placed his left thumb on his left index finger and moved his thumb from left to right, "Money." He grinned.

"You're making use of their personal situation to your advantage!" She exclaimed.

"I have no choice, Ruyi. Money makes the world go round. They need the money to help their mother, and it just so happens that I have lots of it, so they ought to work hard for it if they want it."

"Still, you shouldn't be so strict."

"Ruyi, I pay them a lot per month, and I even paid some allowance for their mother too. That's very good already. All I need them to do is to give in their hundred and one percent and let us win the competition again like the previous two times. This time, I want them to work extremely hard. Harder than before."

"Is there something special to get?"

"No, no, no. You won't understand." Jay said, "I have hired Izumi and Iori for a reason. And it's finally happening. I'm so ready for this moment. But, Ruyi, what are you actually here for?"

"Oh, this." Ruyi passed him a letter, "Your mother wrote back, and your uncle came passing it to me."

"Alright, thanks." Jay smiled at her. She smiled back before walking out of the office. He looked at the story script and took a pen out.

"I will make sure Farebit Technologies will win this year." He thought, "Blessing Software won't stand a chance. Especially with Izumi around. She would give it her all to win Eriri Spencer Sawamura. This is exactly why I hired Izumi and Iori. I will show the world Farebit Technologies is better than that overrated cringeworthy company. I'm going to show them who's the best gaming company in the world!" He then started scribbling on the paper.

In the evening, in Uncle Yang's house, Utaha and Masaru are talking about the story plot of the game. Eriri and George are taking care of Seiren while Megumi, Tomoya, and Michiru are talking about Iori and Izumi.

"I still can't believe it at all." Michiru said, "How are those two on the other team?"

"Beats me, either." Tomoya replied, "Me and Megumi were talking about it yesterday and we find it weird too. I can't believe Jay Liang told them to go over and quit our company."

"Jay or not, I don't care." Megumi growled, "All I want is for us to win this competition no matter what. We must work very hard to take them down."

"Holy, where did the motivation come from, Kato-chan?" Michiru asked. Megumi clenched her fists and glared at her, "I want to shut that brown-haired sucker's mouth up."

"Let's change the topic, shall we?" Tomoya nervously voiced out, "Michiru, how's the music part going?"

"Me and Icy Tail will be doing the music." Michiru replied, "Kato-san and the others can probably join if they want to."

"Since we're in Singapore, we can try to hire some Singapore talents, can't we?" Utaha is standing by the door, holding the story script.

"But how do we know if they're good?" Michiru retorted, "What if our fans don't like it? Or the judges?"

"We can judge good music, especially you, Michiru-san. Tomoya-kun, how about we create a contest for one singer to join us for this game? Whoever sings the best will join us."

"I'm fine with that." Tomoya replied, "Michiru, you and your band can be in charge of that, right?"

"If you say so." Michiru said.

"Oh yeah, this." Utaha passed him the script, "Please read this and see if this is alright. Once you give it the thumbs up, we will all start work."

"But, Kasumigaoka-san, what will you do?" Michiru asked, "You're only in charge of writing."

"I'm going to help you write your lyrics."

"Eek."

After dinner, Tomoya went on to read the script while Michiru posted a notice of the competition on the Blessing Software's social media page. Each contestant would have to send his or her cover of a song with his or her name on it and send it to Blessing Software's email. The deadline would be two days later, and the best singer would get notified by Michiru.

The next day, Tomoya, Utaha, and Masaru sat down in the latter's room. Tomoya told them about the errors they made in the story plot, and discussed on how to improve it.

Meanwhile, Michiru checked the submissions. So far, there are only two entries. Michiru listened to them, and didn't like them at all. One is too bad at singing, while the other one didn't satisfy her at all. He was rapping after all, and that's her least favorite genre.

When the night falls, Michiru went to check the email again, and received a new entry. She hoped that this could be the potential singer she is looking for. However, it was another rapper, and she was so disappointed by it.

Megumi walked to her room and knocked on her door. Michiru turned around and allowed Megumi to come in.

"How's the search, Hyodo-san?" The latter asked. Michiru shook her head, "Two rappers, one horrible singer. This is not going well at all."

"Have some hope." Megumi patted her shoulder, "I'm sure Singapore has some good singers. You'll listen to an excellent cover soon." Michiru nodded her head.

The next morning, when the deadline for the search is up, the team went to judge the last two entries. Both of them were not satisfactory at the least, and outstandingly terrible at most. Michiru decided not to contact anyone and left the music part to her and her band.

At night, while everyone is busy with their work, Masaru and Megumi volunteered to bring dinner back for the team. The two of them went to the hawker centre nearby the Choa Chu Kang Community Centre.

As they are queueing up, a man in sunglasses looked at them from a distance. He then walked to them.

"You must be Masaru Kobayashi and Megumi Kato, right?" The man asked.

"Who are you, may I ask?" Masaru questioned.

"I'm a singer, and my name is Jasper Tan." The man replied, "I have seen from your social media page that you're looking for a singer. I thought I could be the one you're looking for."

Megumi and Masaru looked at each other before looking at him. A few minutes later, they all sat around a table, and Jasper showed the duo some of his singing videos from Youtube. He did some covers and sang some original songs too.

"Not bad at all." Masaru told Jasper, "When did you start?"

"Around eight years ago." Jasper responded.

"You really sound like an experienced singer." Megumi commented.

"One question: are you famous in Singapore?" Masaru questioned.

"I don't think I'm that famous." Jasper looked at Masaru, "Well, I have a lot of subscribers online. Quite a lot of views on my videos too. But when it comes to real life, nobody seems to recognize me."

Jasper then passed Masaru his name card, "I do hope to get a call from you."

Masaru nodded his head in response, "We'll inform you if your music satisfies the rest of the team." He then shook hands with the singer, "It's been a pleasure meeting you."

"You too." Jasper then shook Megumi's hand before walking off. Masaru then told her that Jasper could be a good singer, and that he should be hired immediately. However, Megumi rejects the idea, stating that the others need to listen to come to a decision.

Back in Japan, Liam and Justin tried to find Furoshi by asking his friends. All of them didn't know where he had went. He had seemingly disappeared after the accident, and he could not be contacted at all.

The two police officers then went to Furoshi's house. Liam knocked on the door and waited for someone to open the door.

"You think anyone's at home?" Justin asked. Liam shrugged his shoulders. He knocked for once more before a frail old woman opened the door.

"May I know who you're looking for?" She asked. Liam took out his police card, "I am Inspector Liam Feng, and this is my partner Justin Miserfoosh. May I know if a guy by the name Furoshi Kawanawa is around?"

"Furoshi-chan?" The woman's eyes widened when she heard the name, "He's not with me. Have you seen him?"

"We have not, but he has did something against the law, and we need to find him."

"Come on in." The woman said, "I hope to learn of what he had done."

Liam and Justin went in and sat in the living room while the woman served them tea.

"My name is Nancy, in case you didn't know." The woman introduced herself, "I'm his mother. So now, fill me in on what he did. I don't have a radio or a television to hear the news, and I don't buy newspapers, so I am unaware of it."

Liam sighed, "He tried to kill a guy on the road, and inadvertently caused a woman to be hospitalized too."

"It's about his colleague named Larry, right?"

"So you knew about this too?" Justin questioned.

"Officer, can you help me?" Nancy pleaded, "I've tried telling him that it's okay and we can live the way we live right now, but he insists on doing it. Because of this, he's torturing himself. He swore to kill his friend for scamming, and since then I didn't see him for two months. He'd usually visit me every month before this happened."

She then started holding Liam's hand and looked at the duo worriedly, "Help me, officers. I don't want my son to keep on going down the wrong path anymore. I want him to know that he is all I need to survive. We don't need such a luxurious life. Please, officers."

Liam held her hand, "No worries, Ms Nancy. We will help him in the best way we can."

Back in Singapore, George and Eriri are talking a walk at the park nearby. They held hands and interlocked their fingers.

"I really enjoy romantic walks like this." Eriri said, "It reminds me of our first date."

"It sure does." George looked at Eriri, "You do look a bit pale though. Are you okay, Eriri?"

She nodded her head, but the truth is that her lower abdomen is hurting a bit, and she's holding it in. Luckily, it is not too much.

"If you say so, Eriri." George responded, "Tell me if you feel unwell, okay?" She nodded her head.

"Oh yeah, Eriri, today, I have watched a video on social media that one of my friends have posted." George told her, "And her baby daughter looks cute."

"Oh no, not this topic again." Eriri thought.

"C'mon, Eriri. I really want to try for a baby. I really longed for a baby. When I took care of Seiren, I felt the joy of having a..."

"George, we've talked about this a lot of times." Eriri uttered, "I do know you want it, but you got to consider what conditions we are in now. I got a game to make. I am worried about my mother too. I got things on my mind. So, for the time being, can we just stop this, and not think about it?"

She wanted a baby too. She couldn't, however. Her condition makes it bad for her as she feels constant pain. Yet, she doesn't want to disappoint George. Still, she has no choice but to do so.

George sighed and nodded his head dejectedly. Eriri looked at him with a sad face before looking to the front.

After dinner, the Blessing Software members sat in the living room. Megumi sent some of Jasper's songs to the team's chat group. All of them wore their earpieces and started listening to the different songs.

After a few minutes, all of them took out their earpieces and started discussing about Jasper and his music. Not only is the lyrics written well, the production is top notch, and Jasper can sing really well. The music styles in each song are also unique. Michiru stated that they should hire him. The rest agreed and Megumi went to contact Jasper through email.

At night, as everyone is sleeping, Masaru went to the balcony to call someone. Meanwhile, Utaha flipped left and right on the bed. She wanted to hug her husband for comfort, but when she tried to do so, there is no one beside her. She opened her eyes and realized he is not there. She got up and walked out of the room.

She saw Masaru talking to someone on the phone. She stood at the door of her room, trying to eavesdrop on his conversation.

"...he died due to natural causes?" Masaru said, "Well, I don't think I'll be attending his funeral, because I got a game to make...Send my condolences to him..."

"Utaha." Eriri whispered in Utaha's ear. The latter jumped up in fear, but heaved a sigh of relief when she saw Eriri.

"You scared the shit out of me." Utaha sighed, "I'm trying to listen to something. Why are you awake though?"

"I can't sleep." Eriri replied. She had some pelvic pain earlier on.

"What are you listening to, though?" She asked. Utaha placed one finger on Eriri's mouth and used her other finger to point at Masaru.

"...Call me if you need any help, okay?" Masaru told the caller, "I'll try to help you as fast as I can...Don't hesitate to call me...It's getting late now. You got school tomorrow. Go to sleep now so that you can reach on time for your class tomorrow...Alright, you too. Good night." He then ended the call.

"Who can Masaru be talking to?" Eriri asked softly, "I saw him waiting for everyone to sleep before he started calling. I find that a bit suspicious. Don't you?"

"He won't do anything disloyal to me." Utaha replied, "I trust him. Perhaps that could be his close friend in Singapore."

"If you say so." Eriri patted her shoulder, "As a good friend of yours, I suggest you be wary. Anyways, good night." She then went to her room. Utaha went back to bed and lied on it as she thought about it.

The next morning, in the Farebit Technologies building, Iori, Izumi, and Farebit's storywriter Harry is in Jay's office.

"Iori, Izumi, Harry." Jay said, "The reason I called you to my office today is to tell you how much you screwed up your jobs. Let's start with Iori. The budget you set here is too low. What makes you think we can make a game this great with such a little amount of money? And what's with this schedule you had made? I let you be in charge of this, and you made it look like a piece of shit. What's with the long breaks? What makes you think we have time to fool around? We got a competition to win, dumbheads. We have no time to slack!"

Jay then turned to Izumi, "Your artworks' quality has been decreasing these days. Where's that energy you had months ago? Did you become complacent just because we came in first two times? There is no room for laziness and slacking! We will always produce the same standard of games and art! From now on, I'll tear every drawing that I'm not pleased with! So you better make sure every drawing is of excellent quality!"

Jay turned to Harry, "Harry, I expected better from you. This is one of the most disappointing story plots I've ever seen. Sure, you've written some good points, but at this point, anyone can imitate them. Especially Blessing Software. They have a professional novelist and they can come up with this idea! We need our story to be unique and special! We need our story to be outstanding! We need our story to have strong emotions and impact! Rewrite it with the corrections I've made on the paper!

Jay then cleared his throat before speaking again, "Guys, I'm going to make this clear to all of you. We're going to win this competition, so you'd better give it your all. We're going to do whatever it takes to beat the other teams, especially Blessing Software. That team might win us if we slack, so we need to work extra hard. Our game needs to be better than theirs. Do you guys understand?"

Iori and Harry nodded their heads while Izumi just looked down. A few minutes later, the Hashima siblings sat down on the sofa in Iori's office.

Izumi complained on how tired she is from drawing. Now that Jay has given her more stress with his new conditions, she doubts that she's going to make it out alive at all. She suggests quitting the company now, and let Blessing Software win this time.

"Are you crazy?" Iori shook his head, "That ain't happening. We ain't quitting. That's a very bad idea you just suggested."

"But why, Onii-chan? We're suffering in deep hell. Liang-san's expectations of us keeps getting higher and higher."

"We got Okaa-san. She's suffering because of our useless father who ran away. Do you know how much we owed the loansharks because of him? A hundred and nine million, seven hundred, and twenty seven dollars. Even if we quit now, the money we made from the previous two games and Liang-san's bonus ain't helping much. If he gives the same bonus with this next game, then we can fully pay the debt off. So, we have to give it our all for this. Besides, I want to show Megumi Kato that I can promote a game to stardom without her and that company."

"You're still so anal about this? What about Tomoya-senpai? He's your best friend!"

"He was." Iori growled, "Now he isn't. Let's not talk about this and get back to work. You do your art, I'll replan the schedule." He then went to his table and sat down on his chair.

"Just promise me you won't do those unlawful stuff for this competition, like you did the other two times." Izumi sighed and walked out.

In Uncle Yang's house, George is taking care of Seiren in his room while the team, Jia Ying, and Jasper gathered in the living room. Tomoya has confirmed that he had finished reading the script, and that vetting is also done. They can start the process of creating the game now.

Eriri is going to do the art. Icy Tail, and Jasper are in charge of music, with Utaha helping to write some of the lyrics. Masaru is going to do the coding, with some help from Megumi. She observing everyone's works too, along with Tomoya. After a company cheer, the team members went straight to work.

Eriri is drawing one of the scenes for the game, which is a close-up shot of one of the two main female protagonists. This scene is when the male protagonist meets her.

Eriri is thinking of how to design the character when Jia Ying walked over to her. She wanted to see the professional artist draw. Eriri asked if the tour guide could be the model for the character. The latter agreed.

Masaru started typing some commands on his programming application in his computer. He tested it out every few minutes, and he would change it each time it didn't work for a specific scene. Megumi helped him with some of the codes too.

Utaha, the Icy Tail members, and Jasper discussed about the number of songs they should record for the game. Utaha had already told Tomoya if they can make a soundtrack album for it, and he gave it the green light. They have decided on nine, and Jasper and Utaha started writing the first song while Icy Tail composed the game's music.

During lunch, Utaha followed Masaru to a hawker centre as he waited for someone to come. Utaha assumed that this person Masaru's meeting is the one that he called the previous night, and she's interested to see who it might be.

Surprisingly, the reporter with brown dreadlocks, now in casual clothes, came over to their table and sat down.

"Jerald, my man." Masaru shook his hand and hugged him. The reporter hugged him back.

"Didn't we see this guy before?" Utaha asked. Masaru nodded his head, "He's one of the reporters at the Gem Among Games meeting."

He then turned to Jerald, "Thanks for not reporting about us and saying it in the radio station. I've seen the other news outlets, and they sure exaggerated the incident."

"I would help out a brother anytime." Jerald replied, "By the way, this woman here is your wife? The one you are talking about in our chats?"

"Yeah. She's beautiful, isn't she?"

"Of course, man. You guys look cute together."

"How did you guys get to know each other though?" Utaha questioned. Jerald looked at her.

"During our university days, me and Masaru fell for this girl." He explained, "God damn, was she so famous in school. We were fighting over her, and I was the first one to date her. The funny thing is that, she dated Masaru at the same time. We both didn't know until I caught her with Masaru. She then broke up with me and him at the same time. Me and Masaru got into a physical altercation, before we realized we're being played by the same bitch. We decided to team up and embarrass that two-timing bitch. With her classmates' help, we played a prank on her. It was nasty. She opened the classroom's door, and a bucket of water from the toilet bowl dropped on her. As she removed the bucket and walked forward, she tripped over a rope and her face fell flat onto a chocolate cake we placed on the floor. One of her classmates filmed everything. The whole class started laughing at her, and we did, from a corner too. We were hella glad we taught that witch a lesson. And that's how we became the best of friends."

"I...have never expected that she'd date the both of you." Utaha commented.

"Anyways, Jerald, thanks for taking some time off your work to meet up with me." Masaru said to Jerald, "I really appreciate it."

"No problem, man. I hope you win this competition, dude. I'll even buy your game if it ever has a public release. Farebit Technologies, in my opinion, is not a very good company. I have no idea how they keep winning. It's like they manage to pull off some stunts at the very end and make their game fantastic to the judges."

"No matter what tricks they might have up their sleeves, we won't lose to them." Utaha stated.

"I agree with my wife." Masaru added on, "Our top priority is to satisfy the desires and wants of the players, so that they would enjoy playing the visual novel. We have a very captivating storywriter, a creative artist, melodic musicians, and good directors."

"Not to mention a good coder and debugger." Utaha smiled at her husband. He smiled back and kissed her cheeks, "Thanks, Utaha."

He then turned back to Jerald, "We'll be sure to make the judges love our game."

"That's some good spirit." Jerald shook Masaru's hand, "I wish you all the best in this competition."

"Thanks." Masaru replied.

In Michiru's room, she stood in front of the microphone while Ranko gave her a piece of paper filled with lyrics. It is for the song Michiru is about to record.

"We'll be giving you space to record, so that our breathing do not get in the way while you're singing." Tokino told her, "We've did the instrumentals already."

"Mitchie, are you okay with singing those lyrics?" Echika asked worriedly, "You might be affected by the lyrics mentally. We can change it to a happier song if you want."

"It's okay." Michiru replied, "I'm fine. I can't delay our work. The sooner I get this done with, the faster we can move on."

"If you say so."

The three members then left the room, leaving Michiru alone. She placed the paper on the stand and started playing the instrumental on her phone.

She cleared her throat and started singing the first verse. It is all about unrequited love. Not so bad, she thought.

Then came the chorus. As she sang the lyrics, tears start falling from her face. Luckily, there was a break in between the chorus and the second verse, so she had some time to clear her tears. She thought she can make it through the song. She thought.

The second verse is all about the protagonist's lover leaving him, and the heartbreak he feels. The feelings of sadness and emotions immediately hit Michiru right in the face as she has felt the same with Liam. She screamed, tearing the paper into bits and pieces before she fell onto the floor and started crying. The Icy Tail members rushed in and comforted Michiru.

In the evening, Tomoya invited Jasper and Jia Ying to have dinner with the Blessing Software members. The singer declined the offer while the tour guide decided to join them.

They decided to eat at another hawker centre. This time, they went to the one under Block 143 of Teck Whye Lane.

They ordered some noodles and started eating. Megumi suggested that Jia Ying should talk more so that everyone would get to know her better. Jia Ying agreed, and told them some facts about herself.

She has picked up football as she liked the sport a lot. She would stay in her friends' house for the night and watch some football matches late at night with them. They would cheer when their favorite team, Barcelona, won. She has many different talents too, like sewing clothes, drawing, and dancing.

When Utaha asked her about her school, she just declined to answer that question. She didn't like people asking her about that at all.

She then told them some of the funny situations she's been in. Like when she forget to remove her phone from her pants while it was being washed by the washing machine. Or that one time where she was dancing in school and she slid down a flight of stairs all because she missed a step.

Her phone then rang. She answered it and got a shock. A few seconds later, she ended the call. She told the team that she needed to go to the hospital, and she apologized for leaving so suddenly. Tomoya and Megumi offered to ferry her there. Jia Ying agreed.

When the trio the hospital, Jia Ying ran to a ward and saw the doctors waiting outside. One of them told her the patient's condition is worsening, and that she has to prepare for the worst.

Jia Ying rushed in and saw a man on the bed, with lots of tubes connected to him. She sat down beside his bed and looked at him.

She started tearing up as she held his hand. She is devastated that she is about to lose him soon. She didn't want him to die. She wanted him to be with her forever.

"Don't...be...so upset..." He huffed, "Everything's...going to...be...alright..."

A few minutes later, Jia Ying, Megumi, and Tomoya sat outside the ward. Jia Ying explained that the patient in the ward is her older brother, Chen Han Sheng. He was supposed to be the one bringing the team around, but he had given the job to her when he knew she is a big fan of Blessing Software.

Han Sheng had always gave in to her, whether it was the last chicken wing on the table, who gets to bathe first, or the newest model of a mobile phone. He always treat her well and takes care of her often, even when she's sick. Their parents are killed in a robbery. To pay Jia Ying's school fees and support the both of them, he worked multiple jobs, including the tour guide job. That resulted in him staying up overnight to finish his school homework, drinking lots of caffeine. Jia Ying has told him to rest if he doesn't feel well, but he assured her that he would be fine.

Then a big problem occurred. He collapsed in his junior college suddenly. The doctors told her that he had been drinking too much coffee and too little water. He had also overworked himself, tiring the body. All these caused him to have a herrohagic stroke. He is placed under extensive care for days, and he still hasn't show signs of recovering at all.

Jia Ying quitted school because of this, and is now working as a tour guide to pay his hospital bills. She feels stressed now and doesn't know what to do. Megumi comforted her, saying that everything's going to be alright and that he's going to survive.

Jay and Ruyi went out for a date during dinner time. It has been some time since they started dating before they made it official. They went to a costly restaurant to take their dinner.

"How's the progress going?" Ruyi asked the Farebit director.

"I guess it's fine for now, but Harry has to finish his script quick, and Izumi has to draw some better art." Jay replied, "I got to admit, I'm a bit scared of Blessing Software. They might come up with a decent game out fo nowhere and satisfy the judges."

"Whoever wins and loses doesn't matter, Jay." Ruyi said, "All we need is to gain from experience. If we win, we can be happy about it. If we lose, we can find out the mistakes and correct them for the next competition."

"Yes, my dear Ruyi." Jay held her hand, "I care about you more than the competition though."

"Aww, that's sweet. I'll hold you to that."

"You definitely can." Jay then raised his glass of wine, "Cheers, Ruyi."

"Cheers." She smiled as she raised her glass of wine. They clinked the tip of their glasses together before drinking.

After dinner, they took a romantic walk in a nearby park, talking about their personal lives. Jay then says that he wants to marry Ruyi soon, but she told him that she is not ready for marriage yet. A few hours later, Ruyi and Jay kissed each other goodbye before she went home. Once she reached home, she slouched on the sofa in the living room and thought about the past.

She used to be best friends with Jasper. They me through a music convention, where she had met Jay too. Jasper and Ruyi would always hang out together to talk about music. From different types of music to songwriting. After a while, they got really close, and Ruyi had fallen for him.

Ruyi then invited him out for dinner. He agreed, and she was so elastic that time. She jumped in joy. She had hoped to go out one day with her crush. Even when Jay asked her out, she rejected him. But her hopes were crushed when she waited at the meeting spot for two hours and he didn't show up. What was worse is that it started raining halfway through, making Ruyi soaked from head to toe.

She then became sad and depressed from this. She tried calling Jasper, hoping he would pick up the phone and comfort her. Then the situation wouldn't be as bad as it seems, and she would not be so downcast anymore. However, he didn't call. At all. Still, she patiently waited for him to call back. For half an hour, to an hour, to two hours, to four hours, until midnight. No calls from him.

Instead, Jay was the one who answered her call. He had talked with her throughout the night, heard her cry and scream in agony, and even comforted her. After that call, she totally gave up on crushing on Jasper.

Back to the present, Ruyi shook her head and told herself to not think about the past again. Every time she thinks about it, she will get upset.

A week has passed. Both companies are doing pretty well in their games, especially Blessing Software. They are one-third done with their entry. They decided to celebrate the milestone by having their dinner in a restaurant. Tomoya invited Jasper and Jia Ying to join them. The former turned down the offer, stating he has personal issues to settle. The latter decided to take care of her brother in hospital.

During dinner, Megumi noticed that Jasper did not attend, and asked Tomoya if he had found anything weird about it.

"Weird?" Tomoya looked at her, "I don't think so. He just couldn't join us because he might be busy."

"But we asked him out twice, and he rejected us both times." Megumi retorted, "I can't believe he's busy every time we ask him out."

"Just let him be." Masaru interrupted, "As long as he does the music, and you two are satisfied by it, I don't think we will have a problem."

"But isn't it our job to care for our co-workers?" Megumi asked, "Masaru-san, me and Tomoya-kun are the vice-president and president of the company. We got to do something."

"We can't do much, Megumi." Masaru replied, "The most we can do is to ask him. But we have no time to do so. During work time, he's busy writing and singing. After work time, he disappears. Even if we ask him, he might not tell the truth. We won't know what he's going through, and he may not want to tell us. So it's best that we leave him be."

"I think Masaru has a point." Tomoya agreed. Megumi sighed, "But at least we should find an opportunity to ask. We never know until we try."

"I mean, that's true." Masaru said.

"Alright, we'll follow your plan." Tomoya uttered, "I'll try asking him if we have the time."

At three the next morning, Masaru is woken up abruptly by his phone, which is ringing loudly as it is near his ears. Luckiky, it didn't affect Seiren as she has earmuffs on. He groaned as he wearily sat up and answered the call.

"Hello?" He asked sleepily. A female voice then screamed in his ear, "Help me! I'm being chased by them again!"

"Okay, where are you now?" Masaru asked.

"I'm at Jurong East. Block 103. I am scared. Really, really scared. I don't wanna go with them again."

"Alright, I'll be there. Run away from them as long as you can, okay? I'll reach there in ten minutes." He then ended the call as Utaha woke up.

"Dear, where are you going?" She asked.

"Somewhere, Utaha. I'll be back soon before you know it. Go back to sleep, alright?" He then patted her head and kissed her cheeks. She nodded her head and went back to sleeping.

Eriri, who is outside his room all this while, had heard the conversation between him and the caller. She knew it is a woman who called him. She then heard footsteps. She quickly ran to the toilet in the kitchen and hid in it.

She heard Masaru muttering something and opening the door. As soon as he closed the door, she rushed into his room and woke Utaha up.

"What do you want, Eriri?" Utaha grumbled.

"I heard Masaru talking to someone on the phone." Eriri responded, "I find it suspicious."

"His friend is a male, Eriri. There's nothing wrong with it. You're thinking too much. Why are you even up at this hour?"

"That's not the main point." Eriri whispered, "The caller was a female. I clearly heard her voice. I suspect that Masaru could be cheating on you."

"You sure talk a lot of nonsense, Eriri." Utaha yawned. Eriri sighed and pulled her best friend out of bed.

Masaru flagged for a taxi as he looked at his watch worriedly. Utaha and Eriri just got to the first floor by the lift and hid behind a wall. A few seconds later, Masaru managed to get into a taxi. As soon as the taxi went off, Eriri rushed out to the sidewalk and tried flagging for a taxi. Fortunately, there is another one coming up to them.

"See, even God is hinting to us that Masaru's doing something fishy." Eriri told Utaha, "Come on, Utaha. Let's get in the car."

"Can we go back up?" Utaha sighed, "You're just wasting our time. I'm really tired, I want to..."

"No, you're coming with me." Eriri dragged her to the taxi, "Whether he's cheating or not, you're going to find out the truth today."

Once he reached the void deck of Block 103, he saw three men getting close to a woman. He rushed forward and decided to fight them. At the same time, Eriri's taxi arrived at the location. Eriri and Utaha got out and hid behind a wall. They then peeked out to see the fight.

Masaru kicked one of the men away and punched the other. As the third man is about to whack Masaru, the latter kicked the first man towards the third man and they both fell down.

The second man brought a knife our and tried to slash Masaru, but he missed. Masaru booted the knife away and pushed him away.

"I have informed the police about this!" The woman who was getting chased by the men earlier shouted, "There's a police post nearby and they might be coming soon, so you better run away before they come." The woman is revealed to be Jennie Kobayashi, Masaru's younger sister.

"You'd better watch out!" One of the men pointed his fingers at Jennie. The three of them then ran off.

"Brother!" Jennie went to hug Masaru, "I'm so glad you're here! They wanted to rape me, you know. I was so scared."

"Are you hurt or anything?" Masaru held her shoulders, "Any serious injuries?" She shook her head. Just then, Eriri came out of her hiding spot.

"Ha, I knew it!" Eriri walked to Masaru, "I knew you were cheating on Utaha! You lying scum!"

"Umm, Brother, who's this?" Jennie asked.

"Don't try to act and call him Brother! I know you two are not siblings!"

"What are you doing here, Eriri?" Masaru asked curiously, "Aren't you supposed to be sleeping at home? And why did you follow me?"

"So that I can expose you in front of your own wife, you dirty dickhead!" Eriri then brought Utaha out, "See, Utaha, he's not a loyal husband to you! I was right!"

"Sister-in-law?" Jennie asked, "Is that you?"

"Are you sure, Eriri?" Utaha questioned, "That is his sister Jennie."

"She's calling him brother for show only, Utaha. Don't believe these two!"

"Eriri, she is really the sister of Masaru-san." Utaha sighed, "Masaru-san has told me about this already. He just kept it secret because he don't want everyone to know."

"Really?" Eriri turned to Masaru, who nodded his head. Eriri immediately bowed down and apologized, "I'm sorry for doubting you earlier. It was foolish of me to jump into conclusions, and I will not do that next time."

"It's okay." Masaru replied, "Nobody except Utaha and Liam knew about it. Naturally, everyone would think I'm cheating on Utaha, but I'm glad she trusts me when I said that Jennie's my biological sister."

"We are husband and wife." Utaha held his hand, "Why would I not trust you?"

"But why are you meeting here?" Eriri asked, "And why were there men chasing her?"

"I think I need to explain it, since my brother didn't do so." Jennie explained, "Those three people are just the loansharks from before. We've paid the debt with my money from being a hostess in a nightclub and your money, and we have agreed that the debt is paid and thus the loansharks will not bother us again. However, they continued to bother me. They followed me around after my school hours. I had told them that we've done what we needed to do, but they just continued to stalk me like some perverts. If Brother did not arrive on time, I would have been raped by them."

"Guess they had their sexual pleasures." Utaha said, "In any case, Jennie, stay safe. If you need any help, report it to the police immediately. You can call me or Masaru-san anytime too."

"Thanks, sis-in-law." Jennie smiled.

A few hours later, Harry met up with a man for breakfast.

"Man, people are giving me such a hard time." The man sighed.

"What's wrong, Bernard?" Harry questioned, "You're the leader of a gang, bro. Anyone who gives you a hard time gets a hard life. I wonder who would be so daring to disturb a ferocious gang leader."

"Actually, I wasn't really given the hard time." Bernard replied, "You see, I sent some of my gang members to do something today. They are supposed to kill this woman. It's only right because her father is a dimwit and an asshole. Her father owed me money for very long, and as soon as the debt was paid, he straight up reported me to the police. Who knew, her brother came to save her."

"Oh, so you're not going to do anything with them?"

"Now my members are wanted thanks to those motherfuckers. My gang and I can only stay low for the time being. Stupid Kobayashi family. Thinking they can ruin my life just like that. They'd better watch out."

"Kobayashi?" That word piqued Harry's interest, "Sounds very familiar."

"Of course it does! Have you read the news, Harry?" Bernard growled, "Masaru Kobayashi, the infamous code of Blessing Software, is the damn brother of the woman I'm finding!"

"I see." Harry nodded his head. In the Farebit Technologies building a few minutes later, he told Jay about it.

"Masaru's pissed off someone in a gang?" Jay asked, "Are you sure that's real?"

"The person he pissed off is the gang leader, and he's my friend." Harry responded. Jay kept quiet for a while to think about something before he snapped his fingers.

"We can potentially use this situation to delay Blessing Software, and help us at the same time." Jay said, "It's a win-win situation for us!"

"Potentially use this situation?" Harry asked, "I mean, sure, my friend's going to hit back after some difficulties. But that might be a long time later, and Blessing Software might be done with their game already. And they might stand a chance to win against us."

"Oh, no worries, Harry. I've thought of a very good plan, and I need coordination from your friend."

In Uncle Yang's house, the team got together and started on their work immediately. They have only two weeks left, and every second to them is precious. Megumi helped Masaru in the coding this time. Michiru, the Icy Taul members, Jasper, and Utaha are in the former's room, writing song lyrics and singing them. Eriri is doing her art with Jia Ying watching her. The latter is awestruck by Eriri's drawings. She wished she could draw as well as Eriri.

In the afternoon, Jia Ying volunteered to buy lunch for the team. Each of then stated their orders. As she is about to leave the house, her phone rang. She whipped it out and answered the call.

A few seconds, shock is written all over her face. Tomoya looked at her and immediately understood that something must had happened to her brother. Tomoya offered a car ride to the hospital, and Jia Ying nodded with tears in her eyes. Megumi decided to go along with the two, and told the rest of the team to settle their own lunch and do their work after that.

When the three of them reached the hospital, they rushed to Han Sheng's ward. They waited outside patiently, with Megumi and Tomoya assuring Jia Ying that Han Sheng would be fine.

A few minutes later, a doctor came out of the ward. Jia Ying stood up and ran to them.

"How's my brother, doctor?" She held the doctor's hands, "Is he okay? Did something happen to him?"

"Something did happen to him..."

"What? What is it?" She looked at him. The doctor sighed, "I hope you are prepared to hear this. I'm really sorry to say this, but your brother...he passed away earlier on. We couldn't save him in time. We're extremely sorry."

Jia Ying started shaking her head, "This can't be true...this can't..." She pushed the doctor aside and rushed to Han Sheng, who is dead. She held his hand and started breaking down. She couldn't believe the fact that her brother is no longer alive. She couldn't take it in.

She shook Han Sheng's body and started screaming, in hopes of him waking up. Megumi and Tomoya watched from a corner sadly.

In the evening, Utaha and Masaru is walking back to Uncle Yang's house after buying their dinners. Tomoya told the team that he and Megumi will accompany Jia Ying for the time being. He also told them to buy their own dinner.

"It's sad that Jia Ying's brother passed away." Utaha sighed, "Although we've never met him personally except for Kato-san and Tomoya-kun, I pity Jia Ying. Her family just left her like that."

"To be honest, I understand how she feels." Masaru said, "I lost Uncle Yang. I know the thoughts going through her mind now."

"Should we comfort Jia Ying?" Utaha asked, "Should we visit her and talk to her? It might be of help to her."

"I think we can just let her be. She might need some alone time for herself to accept the fact, and we don't want to disturb her. Let Megumi and Tomoya do the talking, shall we?" Utaha nodded her head and placed her left arm over his right arm.

As they were walking, a car suddenly stopped beside them, and five masked men jumped out of it. Two of them held Utaha back. They pushed her hands behind her back and started tying her wrists together.

"Hey, don't touch my wife, you suckers!" Masaru tried to fight, but the other three men just whacked him to the ground. Utaha pleaded for them to let her and Masaru go, but what she got in response was a paper ball being stuffed in her mouth. One of the men taped her mouth and threw her in the trunk before closing it.

They tied each of Masaru's hands to one exhaust pipe of the car. The men went back into the car and started driving off. At the same time, George is bringing back dinner for him and his wife. As he was about to get into the lift, he saw Masaru's hands tied to the exhaust pipes of a car. He hid behind a corner and took note of the number plate before the car went off.

As the car is moving, Utaha muffled and used her heels to hit the trunk lid. Unfortunately, that did nothing. She continued kicking while muffling. Meanwhile, Masaru is coughing from all the exhaust coming out of the pipes. He is also feeling pain with his body being dragged against the rough, hard concrete road.

At an abandoned building, the men took Utaha out of the trunk and untied Masaru. Two of them held Utaha while three held Masaru. One of the three men that Masaru had dealt with earlier in the morning appeared with a bat.

"We meet again, Masaru Kobayashi." The man said, "You love poking your nose into other people's business, don't you?"

"Who...are you?" Masaru huffed.

"You've forgotten who you have beaten up in the morning?" The man asked, "You are such a genius. You parents really taught you well. Just like them, you are acting like nothing has happened. My boss isn't happy with what you have done, and I have been tasked to deal with you. This is going to be fun."

He then looked at Utaha, who looked at him with fear, "Mrs Kobayashi, you shall watch your husband suffer for being such a busybody. Men, attack him!"

The three men holding him nodded their head and started punching him. He tried defending, but he was outnumbered. Soon, he fell onto the floor while the trio kicked his body and face.

The man then whacked Masaru's face with a bat. Utaha muffled and tried to wriggle free, but to no avail. The binds are too tight, and the two men's grip on her is tight.

The man continued to hit Masaru in the face with the bat until the latter coughed out blood. The man then aimed Masaru's stomach and smacked it with the weapon. He did the same with Masaru's legs.

The more Utaha looked, the more she couldn't take it. She wanted to break free and save her husband. She wanted to, but reality hit hard on her as she knew she is all tied up and a weakling like her couldn't do anything.

The man then stopped beating Masaru up. He went to Utaha and felt her face, "You have a very pretty face, Mrs Kobayashi. I wonder what happens if I were to...scratch it."

He took out a knife and placed one side of the blade on her face. She breathed in and out rapidly in fear, muffling softly as he laughed.

"Now, your dear Masaru shall watch you suffer too. One for all, all for one. He did something wrong to us, you will get the punishment with him too. No worries, I won't hit a girl. I got something better. The two men will do what they're instructed to do."

One of the men groped her breasts while the other used his hands to go under her sky blue dress. This time, she muffled loudly in pain as she wriggled left to right. A badly injured Masaru could only look at her getting tortured.

After a few seconds of molesting her, the men pushed her to the floor.

"I shall leave the two of you alone." The man said, "Good luck making out of this alive. We'll be back, so if you try to run away, you'll get it."

The men then walked away as Utaha is left to struggle. Masaru finally got some energy to get up after a few seconds. He slowly limped towards the car's trunk. The lid is not close as the men had forgotten to close it. He found a toolbox and opened it. He took out a Swiss Army knife and went to Utaha. He slowly cut the ropes. A while later, he managed to free Utaha.

"Are you okay, Masaru-san?" Utaha asked worriedly.

"I'm...fine..." Masaru coughed, "Call...the...police...and...run...out of...here..."

"I'm not leaving you, Masaru-san." Utaha whined, "You're my husband. I can't just leave you like that!"

"Please...go..." Masaru groaned, "Tell...Tomoya...I'll...be...fine...quick..."

Utaha looked at him and sighed. She kissed him, "I really hope to see you alive, Masaru-san. Promise to not leave me, alright?"

Masaru nodded his head. Utaha then ran out of the building. She hid behind a wall, took her phone out, and called the police as she heard the men walking back into the building. She then saw police cars in the distance. She wondered who had called them here.

"Hey, where's the woman?" The man asked. Masaru shrugged his shoulders, "This is...only between...me and you, dickhead...Don't include...my wife...in this..."

The man clenched his fists and punched Masaru on the face, "You got some guts, don't you? Let's see how you react to death, my friend."

Utaha then took a peek. She saw the man punching Masaru's face continuously. The man then took out a knife.

"Once I find your wife, I will make sure she never escapes again." The man smiled, "But for now, bye bye, Masaru Kobayashi."

Upon seeing that, Utaha quickly rushed in and stood in front of Masaru. Instead of stabbing Masaru, who is the original target, the man stabbed Utaha on her lower abdomen. Utaha held her stomach before falling onto the floor, unconscious.

"Utaha!" Masaru got a shock. At this moment, police sirens can be heard. The men tried to run away, but all of them got caught. Masaru sat up and shook his wife's body, "Utaha! Wake up! You can't die on me today! Utaha Kasumigaoka!"

In the hospital, Masaru got his injuries treated. He, Megumi, George, Tomoya, and Eriri are waiting outside Utaha's ward. Michiru and Icy Tail helped take care of Seiren for the time being.

"Utaha-senpai's going to be okay, Masaru." Tomoya assured him.

"Man, you're lucky I saw you." George told Masaru, "If I didn't, you two would have been dead by now."

"Thanks, George." Masaru sighed, "I just can't believe this happened to me. I should have been the one in the ward, not her."

"What are you talking about, Masaru-san?" Megumi asked. The doctor then came out of the ward.

"Are you all family members and friends of Utaha Kasumigaoka?" The doctor questioned.

"I am the husband, and these are her friends." Masaru replied, "Doctor, may I know how my wife is now?"

"She is alive now. She's out of the critical condition. But..."

"But?" Masaru is curious, "But what?"

"She suffered a serious injury on her spine. Thus, that caused her to be paraplegic. In other words, her legs are paralyzed and she cannot walk."

Everyone is stunned, especially Masaru.

"But no worries, she has a chance to regain the ability to walk, so there's still hope." The doctor continued, "If there's nothing else, I shall leave."

Masaru and the rest then went into the ward, where they saw Utaha looking at her legs before looking at them.

"Oh, hello, guys." She uttered. Masaru took a chair and sat beside her bed. He looked at her legs before looking at her.

"I know what happened to me, Masaru-san." Utaha smiled at him, "Don't need to try and come up with a way to tell me about it."

"This is all my fault." Masaru said, "I didn't protect you in time at all."

"It's okay, Masaru-san." Utaha replied, "If this is all for you, I don't mind suffering the pain."

"I feel really guilty, Utaha. I didn't protect you when you were molested. Instead, you protected me. It's all my fault that I'm useless and I can't protect you."

"It's not your fault, Masaru-san." Utaha comforted him, "I'm quite glad that I get to save my husband from danger once, you know. You saved me so many times, so I should save you too."

"But..."

"It's alright." Utaha hugged him, "I will still be able to walk if I go through treatment, so you don't need to worry too much about me. I'll do the writing here in hospital. I can't be dragging the team down with me because of this, right? We'll continue working for the game."

A few minutes later, Masaru slammed the railings outside the ward. He couldn't believe that Utaha is now paraplegic. Even though it could be cured, he still didn't feel happy at all.

Megumi came out and saw him, "Masaru-san, you okay?"

"Does it look like I am?" Masaru sighed, "My wife's paraplegic. Can I be okay about it?"

"It's not your fault..."

"It is. The people who kidnapped me and Utaha are those who are disturbing my family members. Only I was supposed to be involved in this. Somehow, Utaha got into it too and she took the blow for me. I should be the one on that bed. I should be the one being paralyzed, not her. The more she said it's okay, the more I feel guilty. This is obviously my fault, and she was okay with it. I can't stand it."

"She's very understanding towards you, Masaru-san." Megumi patted his shoulder, "She doesn't mind doing anything for you at all."

"That's not what I want to hear from her." Masaru responded, "I want her to get angry. I want her to scream at me. I want her to hate me."

"She won't bring herself to do that." Megumi said, "All that matters now is that you accompany her throughout her therapy. You know, she needs lots of moral support, and getting it from her own husband will cheer her up a thousand times more."

"I definitely will."

Izumi and Iori are still in their office rooms, doing their work. Izumi decided to take a break and went out to the garden for a walk.

She is getting a lot of stress everyday. Not only does she have to do lots of arts each day, the art pieces has to be of satisfactory condition for Jay. He expects a lot, and when the art does not meet up to his expectations, he will take it and tear it apart. He will then reprimand her for her sloppiness and orders her to do another one.

She regretted following her brother to another company. She went along with him stupidly when she could just stay rooted to the ground and stated that she wanted to stay. She wanted to stay in Blessing Software. She enjoyed the small talks with Megumi. She enjoyed making fun of Michiru. She enjoyed being with Tomoya too. She missed all those moments.

Now, she can't turn back the time. She has to look forward to the future. She has to live on her life as a Farebit artist until her father's debts are paid off. She has to...

A call then interrupted the quiet scenery. She groaned and answered the call, "Who are you, and why are you disturbing my peace?"

"Why did you even go out, Izumi?" Iori is on the other line, "Liang-san doesn't like you going out during your rest time and wants you to make use of it to improve on your art."

"Oh my god, cut me a damn break." Izumi replied, "I'll be back in five minutes." She then ended the call. It looks like her boss is requesting some more artwork again. She sighed and turned back. Her phone then vibrated. She took it out and thought that someone had called her again. Instead, it is a notification from the news app.

In Jay's office room a few minutes later, he scolded her for going out for breaks when he stated clearly that she should look at her work and improve it. He gave her a slight warning before letting her off.

Jay then leaned against his chair as he read the news from his phone.

"Blessing Software members Masaru Kobayashi and Utaha Kasumigaoka kidnapped by gang members." He muttered, "Well, it's great they will get delayed by it."

"Hey, Boss, I'm here." Harry came in with the story script in his hands, "I've edited most of it. You can read it if you want to."

He then gave the script to Jay and went off. Jay went to read it and was satisfied with the result. Harry indeed did improve this plot.

At night, Masaru and Eriri decided to stay back in the ward to take care of Utaha. While Masaru went to buy dinner, the two best friends decided to talk.

"So, what's the story behind it?" Eriri asked, "How did you become paralyzed?"

"From what I heard, the guys we met early in the morning kidnapped me and Masaru-san and brought us to this unknown place." Utaha explained, "They did some horrible things to us. When Masaru-san untied me from my binds, he told me to call the police and run away. Who knew, George-san already did it. One of the men was about to stab Masaru-san. I couldn't see him die. I wouldn't bear to live if I ever saw that sight. So I decided to take the stab for him. I thought I was going to die. The doctor told me I'm lucky to even survive the blow when I could have been fatally killed. Taking the blow for Masaru-san is all worth it. This paraplegic thing...it's curable."

Masaru is outside the ward when he heard Eriri talking to Utaha. He waited outside to eavesdrop on the conversation.

"So in other words, this is his fault." Eriri told her, "I don't get it. Why are you not angry at him at all? He caused you to be in this state, after all. I'm not trying to be a bitch, and I'm not bias against him, but this is just wrong of him."

"He saved me many times, Eriri." Utaha answered, "Besides, this all happened because he wanted to protect his own biological sister. He's helping his own family."

"But he isn't helping you at all. He..."

"Eriri, let's not talk about it anymore, alright?" Utaha asked, "I just don't blame him for it. Can you respect my decision?"

Eriri sighed and nodded her head. Masaru then opened the door with the packets of porridge in his hands. Eriri took one packet and looked at Masaru, "I will leave you to talk in private with her." She then left the ward. Masaru sat on the chair beside the bed. The couple looked down for a while before Masaru spoke up.

"I heard everything just now." He said, "Eriri's right. This is all my fault."

"Masaru-san..."

"Don't try to talk me out of this, Utaha. This is obviously my fault. In the midst of trying to solve my family's issue, I dragged you into it. I'm sorry, Utaha."

"Masaru-san, listen to me..."

"The more you say it's okay, the more I feel like shit. I really want you to show your true feelings. I know you feel angry. You feel devastated. You can't walk until you are being treated. You can't feel your legs anymore. And this is all because I caused it. I'm the cause of this whole tragedy. Blame me if you must. Hate me if you want."

"But what's the point, Masaru-san?" She screamed at her husband, "If I blame you over and over again, would my legs recover at all? It won't! It fucking won't! Should I then hate you, before filing for a divorce because of this?! You tell me, Masaru-san! Tell me!"

Masaru looked at her with tears in his eyes, "I don't know, Utaha. I don't."

Utaha then started sobbing, "You know, I've been trying to hold in the sadness and angriness, Masaru-san. How could I blame you for everything when it was me who wanted to jump in and save you? I don't want to see you die, Masaru-san. I rather be paralyzed for life than to see you die in front of me! Do you know what happened if you die? I will be depressed! I will hate myself forever!"

"I'm sorry, Utaha." Masaru broke down in tears, "I'm sorry I can't protect you. I'm sorry for causing all this mess."

"Masaru-san, don't blame yourself further." Utaha cried, "I know you didn't want it to be this way. The more I blame you, the more guilty I will feel. You're the man I love so much, and it's normal instinct for me to want to protect you. That's what we said in our oaths. To be there for each other. I am paralyzed, and I do feel angry and sad, but it's all for you, so I'm fine with it. I just want to be the best wife for you. So stop blaming yourself, alright? I will feel more upset if you do so. Let's work together as a married couple to make my legs work again, okay?"

Masaru nodded and they both hugged each other, crying out loud. Eriri looked from the outside of the ward and smiled. She is happy that they finally let out their thoughts.

The next morning, Tomoya and Masaru visited Utaha. They brought Seiren along and asked Utaha if she's okay for now. Utaha nodded her head.

"Oh yeah, Tomoya, I think I'm going to be doing my coding here." Masaru told the president of Blessing Software, "I want to accompany my wife here. She'll be lonely if no one stays here, you know."

"Aww, Masaru-san." Utaha smiled at him, "You're so sweet."

"Sure, Masaru." Tomoya said.

"And, um, can you tell George to help us take care of Seiren for the time being?" Masaru asked.

"Sure." Tomoya nodded his head before passing them the story script, "I've re-read this again, and I felt it could have some improvement to make the game more interesting. I have circled the parts that I feel could be expanded. If you think it's fine, you can return it to me tomorrow."

"We'll try our best to edit it, Tomoya-kun." Utaha said.

"Alright, I shall return back to check on the team. I'll take my leave." Tomoya bowed down before he carried Seiren and left the ward.

"It's just the two of us alone now." Utaha said. Masaru took a chair and sat beside her bed. He held her hand and kissed her forehead, "I like times like these. Do you?"

"You don't need to ask me that." Utaha smiled and they both shared a kiss before they started analyzing the script.

In Japan, Liam and Ayako met up for lunch.

"How far are you on the case?" Ayako asked him.

"He have identified the criminal. We have deployed police officers to search for him. Hopefully, he pops out soon so that I can finish this case and get to Singapore. I really need to cheer on for my wife."

"So, about the thing you told me, are you still planning to do that?" Ayako questioned, "Is it really necessary? You'd better think about it."

"I think it's for the best." Liam sighed, "I always make my wife disappointed because of my empty promises. I have made up my mind about this."

"I'll respect your decision." Ayako sipped on her cup of coffee.

Back in Singapore, Izumi went to the hospital with a basket of fruits. She walked to Utaha's ward and knocked on the door.

"Come in." Utaha's voice could be heard. Izumi slowly opened the door and saw her sitting on the bed, touching her legs with her hands.

She looked up and saw Izumi.

"I...brought you some fruits." She placed the basket on the table beside Utaha's bed, "I've heard the news. Are you okay, Kasumigaoka-senpai?"

"Does it look like I am?" Utaha asked with annoyance.

"I..."

"Why are you here anyways? To gloat?" Utaha questioned, "Or is it pity? I need neither of them. Tell your boss that I can do fine and well on my own. Blessing Software will win Gem Among Games this year."

"I'm here because I genuinely wanted to see how you're doing." Izumi replied, "I know we had our differences, and..."

"You and your ugly brother left Blessing Software for some other company that gave you more money. You sacrificed the relationships you had built with Kato-San and Tomoya-kun for a higher salary. You and your brother left Kato-san with no choice but to ask for me and Eriri's help. You're so selfish, leaving your best friends for some moolah. You think you could just come here and expect me not to get angry? You're such a despicable person. I really can't stand the sight of you. The sight of you and your brother irks me."

Utaha looked at the basket, "I would like to thank you for having the effort to bring a basket of fruits here, but I don't eat fruits from a heartless person." She then pushed the basket onto the floor, and all the fruits dropped out.

"Get out of my ward now, and never appear in front of me again." Utaha growled. Izumi bowed before she left. Masaru then came in.

"What's with all these fruits on the floor?" Masaru picked them up, "Let's not waste these fruits, though. They really looked fresh."

"They are from the backstabbers that left Blessing Software." Utaha crossed her arms, "You can eat that if you want, but I won't take stuff from the Hashima siblings."

"Chill, Utaha." He sat beside her and placed his arm around her shoulders, "I didn't know you hate them this much. But whatever it is, if you hate it, don't give it too much attention. Not only will it drain you mentally, it'll can ruin your day too. Focus on the positive and important stuff, alright, Utaha?"

She nodded her head in response. She then laid her head on his shoulders and smiled at him.

In Iori's office room, he asked Izumi about the visit.

"It was terrible." Izumi sighed, "Kasumigaoka-senpai didn't welcome me at all. She was so hostile towards me because we left Blessing Software years ago. She even dumped the basket of fruits that I gave her on the floor."

"Geez, it's not like they treated us well, or at least me." Iori grumbled, "She insulted us, didn't she?"

"Well, it's just a bit, but..."

"Ha! I knew it! They would always find ways to try and push the blame to us when it's their fault for treating us like pieces of shit! And how dare that stupid bitch bully you! Seems like the accident that happened to her is not enough. Fine. I shall show her that no one can ever bully or insult my sister."

"What are you going to do?"

"Relax, it's nothing big. It probably won't even affect her a lot."

Two days later, as Utaha is waiting for Masaru to come back with her lunch, Iori came into the ward to visit Utaha.

"What are you doing here?" She asked. Iori sat beside her bed, "I just wanted to visit an ex-colleague. You may not welcome me or my sister, but I'm here to see how you're doing. On your game, especially."

"I don't need your concern or your damn presence." Utaha looked at the other side, "And why should I tell you the progress of Blessing Software's game? You are our opponent."

"Man, oh man, what's with that hostility?" Iori shook his head, "I came here to see you, and yet you just want me to get out. Is this how you treat your ex-colleague?"

"This is how I treat you, and you deserve it." Utaha glared at him, "You deserted Kato-san and Tomoya-kun all because you wanted more money."

"So what if I do?" Iori asked, "You have never knew the way Megumi treats me like. You will never understand, because before that you were with Akane. You were not there, so you can't judge."

"But that doesn't mean you can just leave her and Tomoya-kun." Utaha retorted, "They are the friends you grew up with. You clearly knew that they were making a game, and yet you left halfway."

"Well, you will never get it." Iori stood up, "I shall take my leave. May you recover well." He then went out of the ward as Masaru entered.

"Someone came to visit you?" Masaru gave her a packet of chicken rice. Utaha nodded her head, "I'm not that hungry. Can we look at the story script first? We still got so much left to edit."

"Alright." Masaru took out the story script and started discussing about it with Utaha. In the carpark, as soon as Iori went into his car, he took out his earpieces and plugged it into his phone.

Soon, another week has passed. Blessing Software has gotten half of its work done. They are quite slow as they dealt with Utaha's kidnapping case and the funeral of Jia Ying's brother. Thus, they are behind schedule. Jia Ying apologized and offered to make up by helping them to buy their meals.

Masaru and Utaha had also sent back the script to Tomoya, who agreed that the story plot is perfect. With that out of the way, Masaru decided to do the coding of the game in Utaha's ward while she writes lyrics for some songs in the game's soundtrack. The rest of the team worked in Uncle Yang's house.

In the evening, when work has ended for the day, Jasper is ready to pack up and go home. Tomoya and Megumi then went to him.

"Hey, Jasper, the team is having dinner soon." Megumi told him, "Do you wanna join?" Jasper shook his head, "I'm going home first."

"Jasper, one question." Tomoya looked at him, "No offence to you, but why do you always shy away from our gatherings? Do you dislike anyone in the team? Or perhaps the food we eat is not your favorite? Is there any particular reason for it?"

Jasper sighed, "Follow me to my home. It'll be easier for me to tell you everything there." Megumi and Tomoya agreed.

Jasper brought the two to his house, which is located in Toa Payoh. Jasper opened the door to his house and let the two in before closing the door.

"I'm home, Johnathan." Jasper called out. A man stepped out of his room and looked at Jasper before looking at the other two people.

"Who the hell are they?" He asked.

"My bosses. Mr Tomoya Aki and Ms Megumi Kato." Jasper replied.

"Oh, so this are the people from the company you had just joined." The man said, "Look, Jasper. You should've joined my band. I can make you a very successful musician. You don't need a game company to help you boost your rep."

"It's okay, Johnathan. I don't really intend to get super successful and famous. I'd rather live a quiet life and just write and singing music in my Youtube videos. Besides, I don't really like rock, so I don't think I'll join it. Thanks for the offer, but I'll pass."

"Whatever." Johnathan then went back to his room and closed the door.

"Is that your brother?" Tomoya asked.

"Yeah. He is the leader of his band Outospace."

"Outospace? Isn't that the band that worked with Ayako?" Megumi asked.

"You guys knew Ayako?"

"Yup. We worked with her a few years back."

Jasper then brought Tomoya and Megumi to his own recording room.

There are lots of books on the bookshelves and a notepad on his table. There's even a stress ball, and a microphone.

"My parents used to be musicians." Jasper said, "My father used to play lots of instrumentals, especially the guitar. He was especially good with it. Strumming it like an expert at hand. I was fascinated by it and started learning it online. My mother was a singer. I liked her singing so much. She could hit the high notes, and could sing really, really well. That's when I wanted to sing too. Both of them influenced me to become who I am today.

"When I was just an amateur in singing, my father gave me a room for my birthday. A room for me to play my guitar and record my vocals in. My mother gave me a microphone, a filter, a stand, and a table to go with the room. I was, of course, elated. I could finally record songs with the right equipments, and it really felt good. I first started writing for other singers. Then I sang my own song and posted it online. There were so much praise, I cried out in joy. Since then, I made more music.

"This room gives me lots of motivation for some reason. Maybe it's because I like this room so much. I like to work in peace too, because it allows me to think deep. Most of my songs on Youtube are emotional because I went through this big incident that affected me mentally. There's this woman named Ruyi that I used to talk to frequently. We'd have a lot to converse about, especially music. Like me, she is fond of music.

"One day, I decided to ask her out for dinner, but at the last minute, I had to attend to my mother in the emergency ward. She got into an accident, and she was totally devastated to find out she could no longer sing due to a throat problem she had for years. She was depressed, so I looked after her and didn't really care about Ruyi at all. I really regretted not talking to her. Now, she no longer talks to me. She's in Farebit Technologies. She and Jay are a couple now. I get quite sad sometimes. What's worse is that Jay has been my enemy since young. We've been in the same schools coincidentally, and he does better than me in grades every year. In fact, I scored quite bad. And then now, Jay got Ruyi, and I don't have anyone. I feel like I'm nothing now. My only good point is music, but it's not even doing that well."

"Look, Jasper, you can join us for gatherings, you know?" Megumi smiled at him, "Come and join us after work. You don't really have to coop up in your room. There's a worth in everyone."

"That's right. We always welcome you." Tomoya added, "We have very friendly team members, so don't be shy. You can make yourself feel more involved by joining us for meals too. We won't bite."

Jasper nodded his head, "Alright. I'll join you guys tomorrow. Thanks for comforting me today."

"No problem." Tomoya patted his shoulder.

After dinner, Eriri is sitting in her room with the door closed. She had just got off the phone with Liam, and he told her that her mother is still unconscious. Eriri is worried. She's scared that her mother might not wake up at all. She has never felt so stressed in her life before. Besides worrying about her mother, she has to finish the art for the game and care about her own condition too. She sighed as George opened the door, got into the room, and then closed the door before sitting beside her.

"You know, Eriri, Seiren is so cute." George said to her, "The way she eats and talks and looks at me...they're all too cute for me."

"George, can we just not talk about babies? You've been rambling on it ever for a very long time."

"Precisely. This is why we should do it now." George said, "Don't you want to have a baby too, Eriri? If we..."

"Enough is enough, George. I do not want to discuss this at all. When I say I'm not ready, I really mean it."

"Why are you always saying you're not ready?" George asked angrily, "You've been rejecting me every single time I bring this topic up. I'm always scared that if we don't do it now, we won't do it ever because you're so god damn busy with this game-creating thingy. I really want to know the reason why, Eriri. I do really want to know."

"You think I didn't want to have my own child?" Eriri screamed, "I have a condition named endometriosis, and I have a high risk of not conceiving because of this! You think I wanted this to happen? Instead of asking me if I'm okay, you're always asking me about babies! I'm already so stressed about my mother and my own fucking condition! Why don't you ever care for me at all?!" She then covered her face with her hands and sobbed.

George went to her and hugged her, "I'm sorry for asking too much, dear. I didn't know you had this condition, and I kept probing you about this. I promise I won't do so anymore. I love you so much, Eriri. I don't want to do anything that would hurt you."

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you about it, George." Eriri sniffled, "I know we're not supposed to keep secrets from each other. I don't want you to worry about me. I was so stressed that..."

"No, it's mine. I didn't bother to ask at all. I do hope you can tell me next time, alright? I'll always be right by your side." Eriri looked at him and agreed. They both got into a hug.

The next morning, Tomoya visited Utaha while Masaru went to the toilet.

"Did you do any treatment yet, Utaha-senpai?" Tomoya asked. She shook her head, "This afternoon will be my first physical therapy, according to the doctor. Masaru-san will be accompanying me there."

"Ah, so that's the reason he's not attending the interview with us later."

"Interview?"

"Yeah, we got an interview because a magazine company called us, stating they wanted to interview us. I wanted to give it a shot, so I told the team about. Me, Eriri, Michiru, and the Icy Tail members will attend it."

"What about Kato-san? She's not going too?"

"She's coming, but she's having a stomachache for now. I need to leave here in ten minutes so that I can reach the destination in time."

"Ahh, I see."

Masaru then cane out of the toilet and waved to Tomoya.

"Sorry for not joining you today." Masaru told him, "I wanted to accompany my wife through her first therapy to give her moral support."

"Yeah, sure, of course, don't need to be sorry about it." Tomoya replied before looking at his watch, "I need to leave now. I'll see you..."

As he stood up, he saw something under her bed. He squatted down and saw that it is a small device. He took it out.

"What happened?" Masaru asked.

"I want to meet you outside for...the coding stuff." Tomoya said, "There's a bit of a problem in your coding and I want to show the error."

Masaru nodded his head as he got the hint, "Alright. Utaha, I'll talk to Tomoya outside first. I'll come back in later."

Tomoya and Masaru then went out of the ward. The former took out the device and showed it to the latter.

"I found this under Utaha's bed." Tomoya said, "Did the doctors place this?"

"Why would they do that even?"

"Then, do you know who visited her these past few days?"

"If I'm not wrong, only the Hashima siblings came, from what Utaha told me."

"It must be Iori Hashima, that pesky man." Tomoya growled, "I don't know what he placed this here for, but it is surely for some bad reason."

"We don't have any evidence to prove that, Tomoya. How about we just throw it away?"

"Good idea." Tomoya then stomped on the device before throwing it into a dustbin nearby.

"Go on for your interview." Masaru said, "Don't be late for it."

"Alright, man. I'll see you later." Tomoya then ran off. Masaru went back into Utaha's ward.

In Uncle Yang's house, Megumi came out of the toilet donning a white buttoned collared shirt with a ribbon tied around her collar, a pink thin blazer, and a black knife pleated skirt. She then wore white socks and her black ankle-strap stilettos and went out of the house.

She took a taxi to the food centre nearby the interview building to get her lunch. It turns out that Tomoya and the rest have taken their lunch except her. When he suggested to buy it for her, she kindly rejected it and told him she will buy her own lunch before bringing it to the interview building to eat after the interview.

As she is walking to the food centre, Iori walked to her.

"Long time no see, Megumi Kato." Iori smirked.

"What's with that smirk of yours?" She glared at him, "I want to buy my lunch, so please get out of my way."

"My god, all of you are so hostile towards me." Iori shook his head, "Very bad attitude I see. Did I really leave such a big impact on you guys?"

"You did, and it's a bad one." Megumi replied, "Now, get lost and let me buy my food." She walked past him and went to one of the stalls to buy.

"Stupid Blessing Software." He thought, "As if Utaha's voice isn't hard enough to follow because she speaks fast, Masaru's voice got to be so deep I can't hear shit. Now this Tomoya threw away the device. I have no choice but to do this."

After buying the food, Megumi walked to the carpark and called for a taxi to pick her up and bring her to the interview building. She had fifteen minutes left to the interview.

While she is waiting, a van stopped beside her. Some masked men came out and placed a vomit bag over her head, blocking her sight. They then pushed her into the van and closed the door. They tied her hands behind her back as she started screaming for help.

The driver took her handbag and searched for her house key before getting out of the van.

In the interview building, Tomoya looked at his watch frantically. It has been thirteen minutes since she texted him, saying that she's at the food centre nearby. There's only a hundred and twenty seconds to the interview, and yet she has not arrived.

"Is the queue really that long?" He thought worriedly. Michiru then went to him, "Is Kato-san even coming?"

"I don't know." Tomoya replied, "She has not been answering my calls or replying to my messages at all."

"Maybe she's getting stuck up at somewhere." Michiru responded, "Anyways, let's do the interview. I'm sure she'll come later."

"Do we really have to do it without her?"

"It seems like there is no choice, Tomoya."

Tomoya sighed. He hoped Megumi would come soon, so that they can all do the interview together.

In a house, Megumi is on the floor, squirming to try and break free of the ropes binding her. Her hands are tied tightly behind her back, and her legs were tied together too. She is gagged with a cloth in her mouth and tape over her mouth.

Her captor, an old man with a long beard, walked to her and squatted beside her.

"Hello there, pretty lady." He smiled, "I'm glad my client kept his promise. You're such a pretty woman, you know that?" He then used his hands to touch her face. She muffled and turned her head the other way.

"Giving me the cold shoulder? That's not going to help." The man stood up, "I shall receive the ransom soon, and then I'll be filthy rich." He laughed as he walked to his room.

She muffled for help, but to no avail. She could only wiggle around to try and free herself while she pray for help.

In the hospital, a physiotherapist is helping Utaha while she gripped onto the parallel bars. Masaru is beside her.

"Take a deep breath, and try to take a step forward slowly." The physiotherapist told her, "Do not rush, or you'll fall down." She looked at the front and then looked at her legs.

"I can't do it." She said, "I can't do it."

"Utaha, I know you can." Masaru patted her shoulder, "You just have to compose yourself."

"Masaru-san, I'm stuck. I can't move!" She gulped in fear, "I'm so scared that all I'm going to do is to fall down onto the floor once I even move."

"I'll be right beside you." Masaru held her arm, "You won't fall down, I assure you. I promise you. Do you trust me?"

She looked at him and nodded her head. She breathed in and out and closed her eyes before she slowly moved her left leg in front.

"Good job, Mrs Kobayashi." The physiotherapist said, "I see that you have moved a bit to the front. Keep it up."

"You did it, dear." Masaru smiled at her. She smiled back and let go of the parallel bars.

"I did it!" She screamed before losing her balance and falling flat onto the floor.

"Oh, fuck." He cursed as he and the physiotherapist quickly went to help her up.

After a few hours, they called it a day. Utaha sat on her wheelchair while Masaru sat on a chair beside her.

"You made good progress, Utaha." Masaru said to her, "Be proud of yourself."

"But I only moved a small distance today." Utaha sighed, "That amount of distance is equals to you walking from the start of a table to the half of it. It's very little."

"Don't think of it that way. You are learning how to walk again, and the fact that you can walk a bit of a distance on the first session is remarkable. Don't get so discouraged, alright? I'm so proud of you, Utaha."

"Your words always make me feel better about myself." Utaha kissed his cheeks, "Thanks, Masaru-san. I love you."

"I love you too." He kissed her forehead.

George is coming back from a walk in the nearby park with Seiren. Being alone at home with a baby isn't that interesting, so he decided to go out for a while. He then went up to the home and went into his room.

As he walked past Megumi's room, he saw a strand of purplish red hair on the floor.

In the abandoned house, Megumi leaned against a sofa and slowly stood up. The kidnapper is asleep now, and she is executing a plan she has in mind to escape. She is planning to hop all the way to the main door and try to get out before the kidnapper is awake.

She slowly hopped towards the door. She tried to make a soft landing each time, but her heels are making it hard for her.

At last, she is one hop away from the door. She hopped one last time and reached the door. She looked around and heaved a sigh of relief as she didn't see the captor anywhere.

She turned around and used her hands to try and open the door, but it is locked. She kept turning the knob to no avail.

As she is doing so, the kidnapper saw her and quickly ran to her. She muffled in fear and tried to push him away, but her efforts are futile.

"You trying to run away before I get my money? Impossible." The man pushed her onto the floor. He took out ropes and tied her hands and legs together, effectively hogtying her.

"You are one naught girl, you know that?" The man shook his head, "To think you'd actually tried to escape my clutches. I have just the perfect punishment for you, my dear lady."

He squatted down and lifted her skirt up, making her white panties visible. She muffled loudly as he took pictures of her before patting her head.

"This will teach you a lesson for disobeying me. We'll wait for your friends to help you out." He then walked away. Megumi muffled in pain and tried to break herself free from the ropes, but it is so tight it is hurting her skin.

She gave up trying, and prayed that Tomoya could come and save her quickly.

After the interview, Tomoya started calling Megumi. She didn't respond to his calls at all.

"Where's Megumi?" Eriri asked, "I thought she would be here with us, but she's missing throughout this whole interview."

"I'm trying to reach her." Tomoya replied frantically, "It's been hours. Where the hell could she even be?"

"I'll call Masaru and ask her about it." Eriri said before whipping out her phone. She called him and waited for him to pick up the phone.

"Hey, Eriri, what did you call for?" Masaru asked.

"I wanted to ask you and Utaha if you had seen Megumi earlier on."

"Megumi? She didn't visit either of us at all. I thought she was with you guys? Why are you asking us this?"

"Megumi went missing. She wasn't with us this whole time."

"What? Have you reported to the police yet?"

"Nope. We are just done with the interview. We should be making one later."

"Alright. Update me on this situation." Masaru replied. Eriri responded with a 'yes' before ending the call.

Tomoya kept calling Megumi for a few minutes, but but he couldn't get through. Disheartened, he is about to report to the police. He called for the last time, and finally, the kidnapper answered the phone call.

"Megumi!" Tomoya exclaimed, "I'm so worried sick for you! Where..."

"Are you related to Megumi Kato by any chance?" The kidnapper asked.

"Who the hell are you?" Tomoya questioned, "Why did you have her phone? Where is she?"

"I want you to answer my question first, or not I won't say anything at all."

"I'm her husband, Tomoya Aki. Now, may I know where she is?"

"Oh, you're the husband of that beautiful lady?" The caller asked, "Well, listen up. I'm holding her captive for 50 million dollars in hard cash. You want to know if I'm speaking the truth?"

The kidnapper walked to the living room and slapped her thighs as Megumi muffled loudly in agony.

"Don't hit Megumi, you motherfucker!" Tomoya shrieked, "I'll give you the damn money! Just let her go!"

"We'll meet at where I want us to meet. No cops, or I'll kill her." He then ended the call. Tomoya sighed and shook his head.

In the hospital, Tomoya and Eriri went to Utaha's ward to talk to Masaru about the kidnapping.

"Fifty million dollars is a very big deal." Eriri said, "I don't even think we have a lot of money at all."

"Did the kidnapper say anything else?" Masaru asked.

"He told me that he didn't want any police coming, and we'll meet him at wherever he wants to meet."

"How did so many did things happen to us?" Utaha asked, "First, it's me and Masaru-san. Now it's Kato-san. This can't be a coincidence, right?"

"What are you saying, Utaha?" Masaru asked.

"The Hashima siblings might be the ones behind this, especially Iori." Utaha replied, "Iori doesn't like me and Kato-san in Blessing Software. Remember the device you took out, Tomoya-kun?"

"You knew it was there?" Tomoya asked. She nodded her head, "I suspected he placed it there to spy on us and hear our conversations."

"So is that why you didn't want to go through the story mistakes in the ward?" Masaru asked.

"Yeah. I also think he's behind Megumi's kidnapping."

"But we don't have any evidence at all." Eriri uttered, "We can't just accuse Iori Hashima just because we hate him too."

"I don't believe Iori would do all these kind of things." Tomoya responded, "Sure, he may be unreasonable and sometimes a jerk. But I'm sure he won't do it. He's not that kind of person. It's just our imagination that he's sabotaging us. The real problem is, what are we going to do to save Megumi?"

"We can put some papers in the bag to make it heavy, and to make it look like we have fifty million." Masaru suggested, "I'll try to find Megumi and call the police while you distract him with the bag."

"Alright..." Tomoya's phone then rang. He took it out and saw an unknown number call him. He guessed it is the kidnapper and answered the call.

"I'm about to send you the location we are going to meet. You'll pass me the money there." The kidnapper is on the other line, "Remember. No police, or I'll kill her." He then ended the call. Tomoya then got a message.

"He just sent me the location." Tomoya said, "Let's get some papers and a bag. I hope your plan works."

"If we're careful enough, it will work." Masaru said. Utaha then held his hand.

"Do you really have to go?" She asked. Masaru sighed, "You want Kato-san to be safe, don't you? I'll be fine. I'll come back to you in one piece, I promise you."

He then kissed her lips, "Just wait for me here, okay?" She reluctantly nodded her head. He and Tomoya then went off.

In the evening, Tomoya met the kidnapper in the food court under a HDB apartment in Clementi.

While Tomoya is meeting the kidnapper, Masaru sneaks up to the houses to try and find Megumi.

"Where's the money?" The kidnapper asked.

"I want to know where my wife is now." Tomoya said, "If I don't see my wife, you don't get my money."

"I'll let you see your wife once you pass me the bag."

"I don't trust you. What happens if I give you the money and you just run away?"

"I won't, I swear. I'll bring your wife down if I get my money and then we both can get out of each other's way."

Meanwhile, Masaru went to every house on the second floor, trying to hear sounds of Megumi, but all he heard is television sounds and people talking.

"Second floor is out. We have third and fourth floor left." He thought. Back on the first floor, Tomoya is still talking to the kidnapper.

"Can you promise me that you'll bring me to my wife after I pass you the money?" Tomoya asked.

"Yeah, yeah, of course. Now give me the damn money!" The kidnapper just snatched it from him and patted it.

"It's heavy." The kidnapper nodded his head, "I'll trust that you have exactly fifty million dollars inside this bag. Not one cent less."

"Yes, sir. Now, please, bring me to my wife."

Masaru is walking by some houses when he heard a muffling sound. It sounded like a muffled call for help. He peeked through the window and saw Megumi hogtied on the floor.

He took out his phone and texted Tomoya that he had found Megumi, and told him the house unit. Tomoya replied with an 'okay'.

Masaru tried opening the door, but it's locked. He then tried turning the knob left and right, but it didn't work either. On the ground floor, the kidnapper heard someone turning his door knob. That's when he knew someone is trying to break into his house. Tomoya quickly took this chance to run to the staircase and up to the third floor.

The kidnapper opened the bag and realized that the contents in it are paper, not money. Enraged, he chased after Tomoya.

Masaru is still trying to turn the knob and open the door. Tomoya then ran to Masaru.

"The guy's catching up!" Tomoya exclaimed, "We got to hurry!"

"It's not like I didn't know that!" Masaru screamed, "The door's locked, and the only way to open it is to break it is to kick it."

Tomoya nodded his head. Masaru used all his force and kicked the door open. Both of them then ran into the house. Tomoya untied Megumi and took out her gag.

"Are you okay?" He asked worriedly. Megumi hugged him while crying, "I was so scared I was gonna die, Tomoya-kun. I really was."

"I'm glad I found you. I thought I was gonna lose you." He then looked at her skin, "You got some rope marks. Are you really okay?"

"I'm fine. It's just a bit pain, but I think I can handle it for now."

"I'll apply some medicine on your hands later." Masaru told her.

"How did you guys find me though?" She asked.

"It's all thanks to Masaru." Tomoya replied. The kidnapper then appeared at the doorstep. He tried to attack Megumi, but Masaru pushed him towards the kitchen.

"Tomoya, get Megumi out of here as soon as possible." Masaru told the Blessing Software director, "I'll make sure he doesn't leave this house."

"Okay." Tomoya then brought Megumi out of the house. The kidnapper tried running out to chase after the two, but Masaru head-butted him back into the kitchen.

As the other two are running to the lift, Megumi stopped in her tracks. Tomoya looked at her, "What's wrong?"

"You really think Masaru-san's going to be okay?" She asked, "He came to save us, yet..."

"The police are arriving, Megumi. They will assist him."

"What happens if they don't come in time, and Masaru-san gets killed by that creep? I won't ever let that happen. I'm going to help Masaru-san. You go to the ground floor and bring the police up here."

"But..."

"Just do what I say, Tomoya-kun." She then ran off to the house.

In the house, Masaru got pushed onto the floor by the kidnapper. The latter then took a knife, "You are one annoying asshole! I'm going to get rid of you first, then get the girl back!"

As he was about to stab Masaru, Megumi rushed in and pushed the man away.

"Megumi, what the fuck are you doing here?" Masaru is shocked, "You're supposed to get out of here! This man's dangerous!"

"And you expect me to dump you here alone?" She asked, "Since you came to help me, I will return the favor and help you too!"

The kidnapper then rushed to Megumi and tried to stab her, but Masaru punched the man's face and kicked the knife away.

At that moment, Tomoya and the police officers barged in the house. The officers arrested the kidnapper on the spot.

"Are you okay, Masaru-san?" Megumi asked.

"I'm fine." Masaru replied.

At night, outside Utaha's ward, Masaru is applying some essential oil on Megumi's hands and legs. Both of them are sitting on a bench.

"How's the game progress going?" Masaru asked. She shook her head, "Not well. I don't even think we're done at all. We still got a lot to touch up. We've wasted a day."

"How did you even get kidnapped?"

"I don't know. Some people just took me away, and that's it. By the way, Tomoya-kun told me that you went to every house just to find me?"

"Yeah. I figured that the kidnapper might be living around the area he wanted to meet Tomoya at."

"Thank you, Masaru-san." She hugged him, "Without your help, I think I'll still be held captive now."

"Don't sweat it. But are you sure you don't remember what happened when you are being taken away, or before that? Have you told Tomoya about it?"

"I did tell him. Umm, let me remember what happened...I remember being approached by Iori Hashima. Then I went to buy lunch. As I was waiting for my cab to come, some men came to take me away."

Masaru nodded his head and patted her head.

"I still don't believe it." Tomoya shook his head at Eriri. Both of them are currently in Uncle Yang's house.

"You'd better believe you eyes, Tomoya." Eriri told him, "If it isn't for George who found the strand of purplish red hair around lunch time, I wouldn't believe it would be Iori Hashima."

"But I knew him for a few years already. He ain't the type to try and take us down in such a personal way. He will stick to his skills."

"I'm starting to trust Utaha's instincts. Perhaps you don't know Iori anymore." Eriri sighed, "He's a changed man. He insulted your wife. I'm pretty sure he's the one who placed the device under Utaha's bed. About Megumi's kidnapping, he's definitely behind it. Megumi told us that she had seen Iori before she was captured."

"Maybe it is all a coincidence."

"Are you this stubborn, Tomoya? Wake up and smell the coffee. Iori Hashima's out there to fuck us up. And we got to do something. We got to report it."

"I don't know about this." Michiru added, "I feel he's still the same as old times. However, if he ever did break into our house, then he should be reported and arrested."

"Okay, so how do we check if it is his hair?" Tomoya asked, "We ain't going to send that to the police. That ain't substantial evidence."

"Oh hell yeah, I'm submitting it." Eriri challenged him, "I'm going to report it to the police. I'm going to show you Iori Hashima isn't as innocent as you think." She then stormed out of the house.

"I don't think she will be successful in starting a case at all." Michiru said to Tomoya, "I just hope Iori's not the person Eriri make him out to be."

"Me too." Tomoya looked at her, "I really wish Eriri's wrong about Iori."

In Japan, Liam and Justin are sitting in the former's office, waiting for news of Furoshi Kawanawa. It's been two weeks, and he hasn't appeared at all. No signs of the criminal.

"This guy really knows how to hide, doesn't he?" Justin asked, "Oh yeah, how's your relationship with your wife?"

"Still not good." Liam shook his head, "I really, really hope that I can get to Singapore before the competition starts. That way, I can cheer her on. But by the looks of it, I don't think I can even make it there."

"C'mon, look on the bright side." Justin placed his arm around Liam's neck, "We will definitely close this case soon. Trust me on this one. How about we get some donuts? It's on me, man."

"But what happens if any of the officers call us, saying that they've found Furoshi?"

"It's okay. We can just stuff the donuts into our mouths and chase after him. Don't be a stinker and let's get some delicacies!"

Liam followed his partner to the bakery and bought some donuts. While Justin is paying, Liam decided to walk around the bakery.

As he is walking, he bumped into someone. Liam looked at the man, who bowed down and turned away from the officer. Something about his face seems oddly familiar. Maybe he could be the one Liam's looking for.

"Furoshi?" Liam touched the guy's shoulder, "Are you..."

The guy turned around and kicked Liam away before he ran into a car and drove away. Liam quickly pulled Justin into the police car.

"Hey, wait, my donuts!" Justin went back into the bakery to take his donuts and then got back into the car. Liam got onto the driver's seat and drove after the guy's car.

Liam sped through several traffic junctions and a highway before losing sight of the guy's car.

"Shit." Liam cursed, "Justin, this is all your fault. If you didn't care about your donuts so much, we would've definitely caught up to Hiroshi."

"Donuts are essential to me, you know that? It keeps me energetic. Besides, are you sure that's Hiroshi? For all you know, you might be mistaken."

"No, he has a scar on his face. On his nose, to be exact. Furoshi also has a scar on the nose too, and it's the same scar."

"If he's really Furoshi, then I know where he might be." Justin said. A few minutes later, both of them reached Nancy's house. There, they saw the guy's car parked outside.

They got out of the car and went to knock on the door. The same guy opened the door.

"Can I talk to my mother for one last time, please?" He asked, "I know you guys are from the bakery, and you're here to arrest me. I'm willing to surrender myself. I'm sick and tired of running. I feel guilty for almost killing someone. Just let me converse with my mum, okay?"

Liam nodded his head and waited with Justin and him in the house. A few minutes later, Nancy came back home from the supermarket.

Upon seeing the guy, she dropped her groceries onto the floor and walked to him with teary eyes.

"Is that you, my dear Furoshi?" She placed her hands on his cheeks. The guy nodded.

"I'm sorry, Mum." He tearfully said, "I realized what I have done wrong. I know I have made you worried. I promise to repent once I'm out."

"It's okay, boy." She hugged him, "Mum knows you're a filial boy. You did it to help us. I just want you to know I don't need money to live a good life. I just want you to be with me. That's all I want."

The mother and son hugged each other for a good five minutes before they stopped it.

"Mum will visit you in jail, so you won't feel lonely." Nancy said. Furoshi nodded happily before turning to Liam.

Liam took out the handcuffs and handcuffed Furoshi. As he and Justin escorted Furoshi to the police car, he took one last look at his mother, who is waving goodbye. He smiled back and got into the car.

Back in Singapore, Eriri told Tomoya that the report wasn't successful as there is no evidence that Iori had broken into the house. There are no cameras in the house too. Additionally, no items were stolen, which means it isn't a burglary or a robbery.

"It can't be though." Eriri said, "This red hair is definitely like Iori's hair. I still don't believe he wasn't behind this, or Megumi's kidnapping." Eriri said, "Something's amiss."

"I've checked, Eriri. The neighbor living one floor above us also has purplish red hair, so I'm pretty sure it's not Iori."

"Am I just thinking too much?" Eriri asked, "But what about the kidnapping?"

"I think it's just our bad luck." Tomoya said, "Maybe the people that had aimed Masaru and Utaha-senpai are the ones who took Megumi away."

"You can be true. Maybe I'm just overthinking it too much." Eriri said, "I think I should let the matter rest."

"Yeah, you should."

Eriri's phone then rang. She saw that the caller is Liam and answered the call.

"Hey, Liam-san, what's up?" She asked.

"Hey, Eriri, I got some good news for you." Liam said happily, "Your mother...She's woke up a few minutes ago."

"Really?" Eriri's eyes lighted up with delight.

"Yeah. She talked to me and your father earlier on, and she's feeling okay now. She's out of the woods now. Also, I've caught the perpetrator. You can feel at ease now."

"Thank you so much, Liam-san." Eriri replied.

"Thank your mother for having the determination to wake up. Now that she has woken up, you must do her proud. Win the competition, alright?"

"Okay!" Eriri then said goodbye to Liam before ending the call.

"Your mother's awake?" Tomoya asked. Eriri nodded her head and squealed in delight. George came out of the room, looking confused.

"What happened, and why is she so happy?" He asked. She went to hug him, "My mother's awake! My mother is safe and sound!"

"Oh, really?" George smiled at her, "I'm glad she's okay now."

The next morning, the Blessing Software team (except Masaru and Utaha), Jasper, and Jia Ying gathered in the living room.

"As we all know, we got less than 96 hours to finish this game." Tomoya told the team, "We do not have much time left. Masaru is waiting for us to finish so that he could code the game. I hope the rest of us could finish it earlier so that we have some time to test run. Give it your all for the next few days, alright?"

The team roared in agreement and immediately got to work. For the next few days, they worked hard to finish the game with quality. Tomoya and Megumi checked the overall standard of the game, while Jasper and Icy Tail replayed their music to see if they could improve it. With the newfound confidence and energy because her mother is alive, Eriri drew the rest of the required art with skills and dedication. Jia Ying bought all three meals for them every day.

For Masaru, he would accompany Utaha for her physiotherapy sessions in the afternoon, and do some coding in the night.

On the evening before the competition, Jia Ying and Megumi had went down to buy some dinner for the team.

While they are walking back to the house after getting the food, Jia Ying looked at Megumi, "I heard about yesterday. Are you okay?"

"I'm fine." Megumi responded, "It's just some minor bruises. Thank you for asking. How about you? Have you been coping well?"

"I guess I am, but I'm not at the same time. I'm still trying to figure it out."

"It's okay, take your time, Jia Ying."

As they walked to the lift lobby, they saw Liam, Ayako, and Lucy waiting for the lift.

"Liam-san? Ayako-san? Lucy-chan?" Megumi is surprised, "What are you doing here?"

"Tomoya told us where you guys are at." Liam replied, "I want to see Michiru. I'm going to talk to her. Also, I'm here to support you for the competition tomorrow."

"Don't you have a case to solve?" Megumi asked. Liam shook his head, "I'm done with it."

The team members is waiting in the living room for their dinner. They are taking a break from their work before going for their last push after dinner. Everything must be done by tonight, so that they can submit the game.

Megumi opened the door and announced that dinner has arrived. Tomoya and Michiru went to the door to help them, but are shocked to see Liam, Ayako, and Lucy with her and Jia Ying.

Lucy ran to Michiru and hugged her. Michiru patted her stepdaughter's head.

"Michiru, can we have a private talk outside?" Liam asked. Michiru nodded and went out of the house with him. They went to the staircase.

"Michiru, I'm sorry." Liam said, "I know I always break my promises because of my work..."

"Don't blame yourself. I'm to blame too." Michiru uttered, "You're a policeman. You are supposed to be ready anytime to protect the city. Yet all I do is to keep asking you to do the stuff I want you to do. I never spared a thought for your job..."

"Michiru," Liam held her hands, "This is my fault, and you had nothing to do with it. Despite me being busy with my work, I still agreed to your requests. I keep giving empty promises to you, and I understand how you feel."

"I'm glad you came here." Michiru smiled at him as she had tears in her eyes, "I'm really glad you took your time off to come to Singapore. During the times you weren't around, I have been doubting myself about this marriage. Whether I'm cut for this or not. I really love you, Liam. I can't bear to leave you at all, but sometimes I just wonder if we can even make it out like this. All the sleepless nights thinking about you, crying because of you...I don't want this marriage to end horribly, you know."

Liam looked at her, "I promise not to give you any more empty promises, Michiru. I promise to be by your side all the time. I won't let you doubt our marriage again. Would you forgive me please, Michiru?"

She nodded him and hugged him while crying. Even though she didn't like how Liam is always busy, she understands him and his job thanks to the talk her Icy Tail friends gave to her a few nights ago.

"Liam, I will try to be more understanding now." Michiru told him, "I know you are a policeman, and you are needed any time without warning. I will try my best to accommodate to you. I know you enjoy your job like how I enjoy mine."

"Speaking of that, I got some news for you." Liam patted her head, "I decided that I would quit being a policeman."

Michiru immediately stopped hugging him and looked at him, "Why, Liam? You told me that is your dream job. You got in through hard work and dedication. Why would you just quit it out of nowhere?"

"It's not really nowhere. I did this for us. I'm always busy, and have no time for your events. By me quitting my job, I would definitely have time for you. I would be able to spend quality time with you."

"But..."

"Michiru, don't talk me out of this. Yes, I love my job a lot. But between my job and my family, I choose family. I don't want to lose my family, especially my loving wife, because of my dream job. I can't bear to lose you, Michiru."

"Thank you, Liam." She smiled as she cried tears of joy. He cleared her tears, and they both shared a kiss together. Ayako, who is watching from the side, smiled at them. She is finally happy the two ironed their issues out.

After dinner, the Blessing Software team members gave it their all to finish up the game. Masaru came back to the house to finish the coding too.

Around midnight, the game is finally completed and tested. It is a successful project, and everyone cheered in joy.

"I really hope we would win this competition." Michiru said.

"Me too." Tomoya said, "Let's be positive and hope for the best. Whether we win or lose, it's all experience. Me and Megumi are going to test the game out right now. You guys can whatever you want."

The members then all went to sleep. Jasper waved goodbye and went back to his home.

At one in the morning, Tomoya started to get tired. Megumi saw it and told him to go to sleep.

"Are you sure you can do this all alone, Megumi?" Tomoya asked. She nodded her head, "I'll be fine. I'm not that tired anyways. Besides, I can code if I find any mistakes. If I were to sleep, you wouldn't be able to code well if you were to come across a coding problem, right?"

Tomoya nodded his head, "You're right. Just remember to sleep as early as possible. We need to be at the venue early. Get some sleep, alright? And submit the game before you sleep too."

"Sure, Tomoya-kun. Good night."

"Good night, Megumi." They then shared a kiss before Tomoya went to the bed and slept. She continued to look through the game. She wasn't pleased with one of the main protagonist's routes, and thus she started to edit the coding and the story plot.

At ten in the morning, all the teams gathered for the Gem Among Games finals in Hall 606 of the Suntec Convention and Exhibition Centre. Everyone is excited to find out who's the winner.

George brought Seiren to Utaha's ward, and the three of them watched the event from the television in the ward.

Jia Ying, Liam, Lucy, and Ayako took seats in the audience as they waited patiently for the event to start.

"Do you think Mummy will win this competition, Daddy?" Lucy asked.

"Of course! Your mum's a genius!" Liam replied proudly, "She and Blessing Software would obviously be the judges' first choice."

"I have faith in them." Ayako added on, "After all, I was with them for a few months. They can really produce visual novels of excellent standards!"

A few minutes later, the event officially started. The host, Mr James Watson, came up to the stage.

"Welcome, ladies and gentlemen, to the Gem Among Games finals!" James said excitedly, "I'm so glad all of you could be here today. Be it friends or family of the team members, I thank each and every one of you for coming so that you can support them. As you know, only the best game that the four judges agree on will receive the stamp, and it's not going to be easy. Without further ado, let's introduce the judges!"

The judges are Chase Tan and three other people. All of them are professional visual novel creators.

After the interviews of each company's director has been shown, the teams went up onto the stage, and the judges began telling the results. For Farebit Technologies, only Jay, Ruyi, and Harry showed up. Iori and Izumi are nowhere to be seen.

GameZ came in fifth, as they had some minor bugs in their game. Orion Games came in fourth, all because their plot is a bit cliché, and the judges expected the so-called 'superb' ending. Paperrock Interactive came in third due to its music not being that nice to listen to. Its plot is also a bit far-fetched.

Now, it is Blessing Software against Farebit Technologies. The judges looked at the two teams.

"We'll start with Farebit Technologies." Chase said, "Farebit, we are always stunned by your versatile game creating skills. Three years ago, we asked you to create an action game, and you did it without a hitch. This year is the same. We asked you to create a visual novel game, and you guys seemed to be perfect in this. Not only is the story enticing, the routes are fantastic, and the characterization here is magnificent. The music in this is really great too. As usual, Ruyi's melodic voice is always a blessing to hear. The graphics are top notch, and there isn't a single bug. Well done, Farebit."

The audience clapped their hands. Chase then continued, "Blessing Software, you have surprised me with what you have submitted to us. Not in a bad way, of course. This visual novel is one of the best works you guys have created so far, and we judges find it really impressive and outstanding. Your plot's very special, and we have never ever seen such a story before. It made us really interested to see what happens next. Routes are awesome too. One route reminded me of the Matrix movie, and I like the film, so that's marvelous. Your music...it always satisfy the judges. You have this up and coming rising singer named Jasper Tan singing some of the tracks and playing the guitar in your soundtrack. We judges would like to say we liked it, and it is indeed better than Farebit's music."

Jasper bowed down as a way of saying thanks.

"One thing is that I find your games oddly similar." Chase said, "Some elements in your games have some resemblance. I don't think you guys contacted each other or anything, so I'm just going to count that as coincidental. We have a lot of difficulty choosing which company should emerge as the champion. Give us some time as we discuss." Chase then turned to the judges and started discussing among themselves.

"It looks like the judges are conflicted on who should win." Mr James said. Jay then gave a smug face to Tomoya.

Tomoya remembered Chase's words. There is no way the two games could be similar. There is absolutely no way, unless...Tomoya is trying to think of other ways that this could happen, but his mind is only telling him one.

The red hair in their house...Megumi's kidnapping...the device in the hospital...all of them are done by one person only.

There are some murmuring coming from the crowd.

"I really hope we win this." Michiru whispered to Tomoya. Jerald, who is one of the reporters at the side taking notes down, is looking at Masaru. He prayed that Blessing Software would win the competition.

Finally, the judges turned back to the two teams.

"After much discussion, we have finally reached a decision." Chase announced, "And now, we shall reveal the winner. The champion of this year's Gem Among Games is..."

The whole venue is filled with suspense. The two teams looked at each other before looking at the judges.

"...Farebit Technologies!" Chase declared. The crowd cheered in delight. Ruyi cried in joy and hugged Jay while Harry screamed happily. The Blessing Software members, Jerald, Liam, Ayako, Lucy, and Jia Ying are all in shock.

"What the fucking hell?" Masaru cursed.

In the hospital, Utaha and George were stunned by the results.

"How...how did this happen?" Utaha asked, "We...lost..."

George looked at her and patted her shoulder.

Back in the hall, the judges took the trophy and passed it to Jay, who is smiling gleefully. The Blessing Software, along with the crowd, clapped their hands to congratulate Farebit Technologies.

Out of the blue, Megumi had a very bad headache. She felt very dizzy. A few seconds later, she fainted and fell onto the floor.

"Megumi!" Masaru squatted to shake her body, "Megumi! Are you alright?" The other team members heard the thumping sound and are horrified to see Megumi unconscious.

Masaru carried Megumi and ran out of the venue. The rest of the team followed. Liam, Ayako, Lucy, and Jia Ying got out of their seats and out of the venue.

Jerald is taken aback by the events that happened earlier. Not only did Blessing Software lose, but the director also fainted on the spot.

Outside the hall, Tomoya looked at the windows and saw Izumi and Iori on the first floor. He ran down the escalator angrily. Masaru looked at the windows and saw the Hashima siblings. He then knew what Tomoya is about to do.

"Eriri, Michiru, can you attend to Tomoya?" Masaru asked, "I feel he's going to do something bad. I will bring Megumi to the hospital, and I'll meet you guys there."

"Okay!" Eriri replied before chasing Tomoya. Michiru followed suit.

On the first floor, Izumi and Iori watched the competition live on their phone.

"Farebit won..." Izumi said with distraught, "Farebit won..."

"Isn't that good?" Iori asked, "Our company won. Our efforts are paid off."

"With what you had done? All the more I wished we didn't win." Izumi replied, "You did some shady shit, and if anyone knows it, we could be doomed!"

A few days ago, during the afternoon when Megumi was kidnapped...

In Iori's office, he told Izumi about his break-in, and how happy he is to finally get some information on Blessing Software's game.

"You broke into their house?" Izumi asked, "Are you courting death? What if anyone saw you? And why you would even do something against the law?"

"Relax, sister. It's what we've been doing for the past two competitions too. I've done this countless times, and I didn't get caught for it. To have an advantage over our opponents, we need to know what they are doing."

"This is obviously wrong!" Izumi screamed, "You are breaking the law and that's never fair sportsmanship! Ever since Megumi-san and her company stepped into Singapore, you've been targeting them non-stop!"

"That's exactly what I want to do!" Iori shouted, "They treated me like shit, and they gave us so little salary too! They expected us to be one of the best in one of the worst environments ever! We are rotting every day in there, making sex-orientated shit! Liang-san is smart to see our talents and he didn't want it to go to waste, which is why he wanted us on his team. Remember, Izumi, he saved our ass, not that stupid brown-haired bitch or Tomoya."

"I don't get it." Izumi glared at her brother, "Even if you hate Megumi-san so much, you shouldn't resort to underhand tactics. You and Liang-san are so despicable. You guys will do anything to achieve your goals. Liang-san wanted Farebit Technologies to win the competition, so he resorted to using moles to help him know what other teams were doing. You hated Megumi-san and Blessing Software so much, you hired a few men to kidnap her, and then you broke into their house."

"Wait, how did you..."

"I overheard your conversation." Izumi crossed her arms, "Okaa-san would be so upset if she ever knew what you are doing. I'm so disgusted by you and Liang-san. After this competition ends, you can choose to stay. I will leave. I will no longer work in such a dishonest company anymore." She then left the room.

Back to the present...

"I already told you no one will find it out." Iori leaned against a wall, "If you and I don't say anything, no one will find out."

"You and Liang-san really go all out to destroy your enemies, don't you?" Izumi smirked, "You destroyed our friends with your disgusting tactics."

"Correction. It is your friends, not ours."

Tomoya then marched up to Iori and punched his face.

"You son of a bitch!" He screamed at Iori, "How dare you fuck us up!"

"What did I do, smarty pants?" Iori rubbed his own face, "I didn't do anything."

"You know it yourself." Tomoya said, "You must have broke into our house to see our work. That's why our games are so similar."

"Not only you and your bunch of dickheads can come up with what you came up with." Iori retorted, "I can too, and that's a fact." At this moment, Eriri and Michiru arrived behind Tomoya.

"Don't talk all that shit. You didn't even show that during the times you were with us!" Tomoya shouted, "Also, I knew you planned Megumi's kidnapping so that you can conduct your break-in! And that device you placed under Utaha-senpai's bed! You placed that to try and steal our story plot!"

"Excuse me, are you done accusing me?" Iori asked with annoyance, "You don't even have evidence that I did it at all. I, on the other hand, can sue you for slander for all that shit you've been talking."

"You..."

"Tomoya-senpai, he didn't mean to do this." Izumi tried to calm the situation down, "It's because..."

"I don't need to hear it. I know why." Tomoya said, "You wanted to win this competition so badly, you cheated your way. Congrats, Hashima siblings. You've achieved your goal. You'd betray your own childhood friends for some fucking competition."

"You weren't even my friend ever since you and your stupid wife treated me like a piece of dirty shit." Iori laughed, "Oh right, your wife fainted earlier on, didn't she? When she wakes up, tell her that she still sucks at being a director and this is what she deserved for doing this to me in the past. This is karma."

"How dare you curse my wife, you motherfucking asshole!" Tomoya punched Iori one more time. Eriri then went to Tomoya, "Leave them alone. Those two are not worth getting angry for. They are already worthless enough. Let's get to the hospital quickly."

Tomoya nodded his head and stormed off. Eriri and Michiru glared at them before following Tomoya.

"Pissing them off makes you feel very happy, don't you?" Izumi asked angrily.

"It does not just make me happy. It makes me feel so much joy!" Iori exclaimed, "Taking them down feels so good!"

"I am so disappointed with the things you have done since you ever stepped into Farebit Technologies." Izumi shook her head, "I'm done talking to you. I'm writing my resignation letter now."

"Izumi, I did this for us. For Okaa-san. To help us live a good life and repay her debts!"

"No, Onii-chan." Izumi scowled at her brother, "You did it because of your thirst for revenge." She then walked away from him. Iori sighed and watched Izumi go.

In the radio station, Jerald's boss told him to talk about the incident that happened earlier. Jerald didn't want to do it because Masaru is his best friend, and he didn't want to upset the team further. The boss commanded him to say it, telling him that he is a radio DJ for a reason. Jerald sighed and agreed to it. He couldn't lose his job because of this, couldn't he?

A few minutes later, Megumi and Utaha, who is in a wheelchair, are both discharged from the hospital. The team members and their friends went into the shop they had set up at the start of their trip. It turns out that Megumi did not sleep throughout the night because she wanted to edit one route. She also did not drink enough water, thus she fainted.

"Why didn't you tell me about it, Megumi?" Tomoya asked, "You got me worried for a moment."

"I didn't want to make you worried before the competition." Megumi replied, "I know you will lecture me on it."

"Just tell me next time, okay?" Tomoya held her hands, "We are husband and wife. We shouldn't keep anything from each other."

"Alright." Megumi replied, "I'm more worried about the team's condition. We just lost the competition, and everyone looks so sad and depressed."

Tomoya looked around and saw most of the people in the shop looking disheartened, except for Liam and George.

"I mean no harm, but second place is good too." Liam said, "We have all worked hard, and at least we're second. You should be proud of yourselves for making it this far."

"That's right." George added on, "It's all about the experience, guys. You guys have experience now, and that might enable you guys to work even harder and win the next competition."

Seeing that the team ignored them, the two sat down on the floor. Jasper stood up and went to Tomoya.

"Tomoya, Megumi, it's been a pleasure working with you guys." Jasper shook Tomoya's hand, "I had a lot of fun being in this project. At least now I know I'm better than Jay in music. I feel confident again."

"Always feel confident about yourself, Jasper." Tomoya said to him, "Never look down on yourself. You are such a super talented musician, I'm sure everyone would rather hear your music."

"We really hope you could do very well in the future with your songs." Megumi smiled at him, "If you got any personal problems, you can speak to us if you want."

"I will, and thank you guys so much for helping me both in career-wise and personally." He hugged both of them, "I wish you success in your future endeavors."

"You too." Tomoya uttered. Jasper then waved goodbye as he walked out of the store.

"Blessing Software," Tomoya told the team, "We can treat this as experience. Yes, we lost. That's a very unsatisfying feeling and it feels like all our efforts have went down the drain. No, it has not. We made a game the judges like. We have fans who always constantly support us. We can't let those fans down. We got to continue making visual novels like we always do. We might lose this time, but that doesn't stop us from doing what we want. This competition will not deviate from what we will always do. That is making our fans happy by creating more light novels game!"

"I agree." Masaru spoke up, "Let's all enjoy ourselves for the rest of the trip and forget about this competition. We lost, but we all know we have tried our best, and that's all we need to know. We all have worked very hard, and we ought to pat ourselves on the back. We tried to win. At least we tried. When we try, there's a fifty percent chance. If we don't, it's a straight zero."

"I hope you guys won't be disheartened by this." Megumi said, "This competition is already over, and we know our game is a very excellent game. So let's just relax and enjoy ourselves for the rest of the time we're in Singapore."

Jasper then came back into the shop, "Yo, I wanted to tell you something, Tomoya."

"What is it?"

"A whole lot of your fans are outside your shop right now." Jasper then opened the door, and many people are outside, cheering for Blessing Software.

The members looked at the crowd with surprise.

"Holy...shit..." Michiru opened her mouth in shock.

"Is this how many fans we have in Singapore?" Utaha asked, "It's a lot."

"Blessing Software, don't feel discouraged." One fan said, "Even though Farebit won, we will always support you as your fans. We like your visual novels because they are really fun, interesting, and awesome to play."

"Yeah, please don't stop making games after this." Another fan said, "We would be sad if you were to stop because of this competition. Not winning it doesn't mean you suck. You guys rock!"

The fans then continued chanting Blessing Software. Megumi, with tears of joy, cleared her throat and looked at her fans.

"I want to thank you all for coming to support us throughout our journey as Blessing Software." Megumi talked, "We are really, really touched that you came all the way here just to support and comfort us. I really appreciate you fans. Each and every single one of you. I promise you that we won't stop making visual novels at all. We will continue what we always want and love to do. I hope that you would continue to support us, and I really want to thank you guys from the bottom of my heart. Singapore fans, you are awesome!"

The fans roared in delight and clapped their hands as she bowed.

"Just to add on, I was wondering if I had printed the CDs for wasted." Tomoya said, "Earlier this morning, I went to make some CDs for our new game that was shown in the competition. I thought if we won, lots of people will buy it. Now that we lost, would you still buy it?"

The crowd replied with a yes.

Tomoya grinned at them, "Thank you for all your support. It really means a lot to us. Because you guys made an effort to come here, for today, we're going to sell our games at a thirty percent discount!"

The crowd cheered in joy. The other members smiled at each other, knowing that their efforts are not for wasted. For the rest of the day, fans bought the store's worth of games.

As the fans are busy buying, Megumi and Masaru looked at them.

"It is so good seeing fans, isn't it, Megumi?" Masaru asked.

"Yeah." Megumi replied, "They lightened up the mood, and made us really happy. I really cherish our fans. Without them, we won't be where we are today, being famous worldwide."

"We don't need to win a competition in our lifetime." Masaru said, "As long as our fans are there to support us, we are contented enough. We have won their hearts."

"I agree, Masaru-san." Megumi smiled at him. At the end of the day, the games are all sold out. Tomoya, Megumi, Utaha, Masaru, Michiru, Liam, Eriri, George, Ayako, and Lucy gathered while Seiren is sleeping on a chair with her earmuffs on.

Tomoya stuck his right hand out. Megumi placed her right hand on top of his, followed by the rest. Once Lucy placed her hand on top of Ayako's, they looked at each other with happy faces.

"Blessing Software forever!" They shouted as they swung their right hands up.

FallenVengeance Presents

Saekano: Showdown

Main Cast
Yoshitsugu Matsuoka as Tomoya Aki
Kiyono Yasuno as Megumi Kato
FallenVengeance as Masaru Kobayashi
Ai Kayano as Utaha Kasumigaoka
Saori Ōnishi as Eriri Spencer Sawamura
George 'Joji' Miller as George Fuistuer Yang
Sayuri Yahagi as Michiru Hyodo
Wang Weiliang as Liam Feng
JJ Lin as Jasper Tan
Jay Chou as Jay Liang
Juice WRLD as Jerald Johnson

A month has passed since Gem Among Games ended. The members and their friends have returned to Japan to live their normal lives again.

Liam officially quits his police job. There is a ceremony held for his departure, where officers and his boss saluted him for serving the country for ten years.

In Liam's office, he and Michiru are packing up his stuff when Justin came in.

"Are you really gonna leave, brother?" Justin asked, "I can't bear to see you go."

"Don't talk like this is the last day you're going to see me, goofy man." Liam patted his shoulder, "You got my number, bro. We can still meet up."

"You're always welcome to step back into here." Justin said, "I'm going to miss the times with you. The jokes, the serious investigations, the private talks. Nothing's ever going to be the same again."

"Remember the first time you were assigned to team up with me?" Liam asked, "I almost cried. You were so shitty with the first case that I had carried you throughout that whole shit."

"Yeah, I remembered that. Good ol' memories. I don't think I know how to find clues that time. I was a freshman. Remember when we managed to solve our first case?"

"Yeah. I treated you dinner in an expensive restaurant. It cost me a bomb. That dinner was when we get to know each other better too."

They then both hugged each other.

"I'm going to miss you, buddy." Justin sighed, "Promise me we will meet up."

"It's a promise." Liam replied. Michiru smiled at the both of them.

A few minutes later, Liam and Michiru reported in Tomoya's office.

"So, Tomoya, what's the occasion?" Michiru asked, "Why did you call us here?"

"We won't be making games for a while, so I figured we'd do this for you as a thank-you for your contributions to Blessing Software."

He passed a poster to Michiru. The couple took a look at it and got a surprise.

"A tour for Icy Tail?" Liam asked.

"I've organized some dates and places for you to hold your music tours, since you are a very famous band. Ayako has even agreed to join you girls for some of the stops too. You can promote and perform the songs from your upcoming debut album too. This is what you wanted, right, Michiru?"

"Oh my god." Michiru looked at the poster before looking at Tomoya. She then held his shoulders and shook him happily, "Thank you so much, Tomoya! Thank you so damn much!"

"Thank you for giving Michiru this opportunity to perform live in front of her fans." Liam said.

"No problem," Tomoya weakly replied, "But can you ask Michiru to stop shaking me?"

Eriri and George went into Sayuri's ward.

"You're done with your work?" Sayuri asked. Eriri nodded her head and sat down beside her, "Mummy, are you feeling okay?"

"I'm feeling fantastic as ever." Her mother responded, "Thank you, you two, for visiting me every day. You two are really busy, yet you took time off to see me."

"It's okay, Okaa-san." Geroge said, "I don't have a lot of patients to take care of anyways."

In Masaru's house, he gave Utaha a box of shoes. She opened it up and realized they are sneakers.

"Masaru-san, why can't I wear heels?" Utaha whined, "You know I love them. Besides, I can walk again."

"Of course you can walk. It's just that I want you to take it slowly." Masaru answered, "You've just recovered a few days ago. We should take one step at a time. Once you're familiarized with the sneakers, I promise I'll let you wear your heels again. For now, take this."

He held her hands, "You know I love you so much. I'm doing this so that you can recover quickly. I want my wife to fully regain her walking ability."

"I know." Utaha smiled at him, "Thank you for everything, Masaru-san. No words can describe how much I love you."

Both of them shared a kiss together before hugging each other.

Iori is being escorted out of his house by the policemen, and looked back to see Izumi at the doorstep.

Izumi had not only reported her own brother to the police for his wrongdoings, but she has exposed Jay and Harry by sharing how Farebit Technologies cheat during all the three Gem Among Games competitions. She had taken voice recordings of Jay ordering Iori to break into the other teams' houses. As such, the Gem Among Games judges removed all entries of Farebit Technologies and thus disqualified them. They have also barred Farebit Technologies from entering the competition again. The judges promised to hold another one next year.

Izumi has resigned from her job in that company too. She plans to travel to Japan and apologize to Megumi and Tomoya for all the bad things the Hashima siblings did to them, and she hopes to seek their forgiveness. Perhaps she could even join Blessing Software back, and be with her friends like old times.

Other Cast:
Kimberly Chia as Chen Jia Ying
Justin Timberlake as Justin Miserfoosh
Luna Haruna as Ayako Furushima
G.E.M. as Lee Ruyi
Harry Styles as Harry Williams
Tetsuya Kakihara as Iori Hashima
Chinatsu Akasaki as Izumi Hashima
Eri Suzuki as Tokino Himekawa
Rui Tanabe as Echika Mizuhara
You Daichi as Ranko Morioka
Mai Nakahara as Sayuri Sawamura
Michelle Wong as Jennie Kobayashi
Zong Zijie as Chen Han Sheng
Yojiro Noda as Johnathan Tan
Jamie Foxx as Mr James Watson
Arnold Schwarzenegger as Radio DJ Boss
Kenichi Matsuyama as Furoshi Kawanawa
Sota Fukushi as Larry
&
Mark Lee as Chase Tan

Story By:
FallenVengeance

Based on Characters from:
Saenai Heroine No Sodatekata (Saekano)
FallenVengeance

Special Thanks to:
Fumiaki Maruto, for creating Saekano and its characters. Without him, I wouldn't have written a single Saekano fanfiction or liked the series.
Jarad Anthony Higgins, a.k.a. Juice WRLD, for his extraordinary, emo, and catchy music.
Readers and fans, for taking your time to read the book. I appreciate every one of you.

Book dedicated to:
Fumiaki Maruto
Juice WRLD (in loving memory)

---

One night, Tomoya and Megumi are walking back home from a restaurant. They just had their wedding anniversary dinner, and they held hands as they walked down the road.

"You know, it's been thirteen years since we met each other." Tomoya said, "Fourteen, if you were to count that first year when I was in the same class as you. You were such a stealthy woman back then."

"Nobody was friends with me that time." Megumi replied, "Being friends with you made a change in my life. A positive one."

"Me too."

"Speaking of changes, you're going to do what you promised me before this competition thingy, right?"

"Yes, Megumi." Tomoya sighed, "I remembered, okay? We'll do it one day. Not today, but any other day."

Megumi smiled at him and kissed him on the cheeks. They then stopped at Nozokizaka.

"Remember this place?" Megumi asked.

"Yeah. It's the first time I've noticed you in that dress." Tomoya grinned, "Good old memories, Megumi."

Megumi then ran all the way up to the top of the slope. She turned around and faced Tomoya before asked, "Have I become your one and only main heroine?"

Tomoya nodded his head. They then smiled at each other. They are so glad they met each other at the slope.

Very much glad.

---

"Even if I'm talking about something that's negative, I look at it as putting my mistakes out there for people to learn from it.

I feel as though, if you're able to control your dreams, you have more power and control over your mind, like you could reach more areas of your mind. Therefore, I feel like it creates the ability for you to achieve more things in reality.

I feel like that's what's going to be most respected at the end of the day, that I'm able to do so many different things and become less of a rapper and just more as a musician."

You will be remembered forever

You will be loved forever

You will be in our hearts forever

Thank you, Jarad 'Juice WRLD' Higgins

---

—The End—

A 2020 FallenVengeance Works