The next day, Yuzuki family home in Kyoto,
"Five wishes?" I repeated Shitori's words.
"Yes. I'll grant you five wishes, within reason of course," he told me. "I do have one condition. One of your wishes has to be something for both you and my daughter. Whether it is an expensive trip to a different country, or even your own home to live in, we'll do all we can to supply it."
"A house? You trust me that much now, Otou-san?"
"If I didn't trust those words you told us yesterday, you would likely be in jail Katsumoto-kun while I'm buried underground," Shitori jested, laughing while doing so. "But yes, if you so wish to have a house, then I shall grant you two a private living space wherever you want, though it has to be within the country. My sphere of influence only reaches only from Okinawa to Hokkaido, as well as some parts in western United States. The Ymir corporation has grown astonishingly with the help of the people who gave us the funds to run ALfheim Online. In the future, we are hoping to merge with RECT Inc."
"RECT?" I asked, curious as to why he had an interest in the Yuuki family's industry.
"Yes. With the large quantity of lawsuits and hatred they are receiving for the damages they caused with ALO, they have lost quite a lot of money. Their former investors switched over to us, but they too recognize RECT's value, which is why the corporation has already begun negotiations with them. Ai-chan's relationship with Asuna-chan is helping quite well as I can speak directly to her father, the former CEO of RECT."
"I never actually bothered to look it up, but what does the Ymir corporation do other than run the servers ALfheim Online?"
"Ymir is actually a conglomerate much like RECT, as we have several divisions based on goods and services. Our main branch here in Japan is under my supervision while the smaller one in the United States is still under development. I supervise all of our subdivisions, which include medicine, defense contracting, technology development and game development. Other than our game development branch, which only focuses on maintaining ALfheim Online, our medicine branch is our fastest growing. However, most of our income comes from our defense contracting branch, the original company owned by the Yuzuki family."
"I knew the company was huge, but I didn't expect anything of that scale," I said in awe.
"Yes, but we still have many more obstacles to overcome if we wish to expand. One obstacle includes a certain company called Rath. It's a rather mysterious company as we only discovered it recently in the last year, but it seems they are our most dangerous rival when it comes to our defense contracting branch. Our lack of information is proving to be quite costly, as we do not know of the technologies and resources they possess."
"Never heard of that company before, but they sound a bit skeptical being so hidden, especially as a defense contractor… Isn't the United States and United Nations already giving Japanese defense contractors a hard time with the demilitarization after World War 2? If so, Rath should be very careful or they will suffer greatly."
"It's not just them who will suffer. If Rath or any defense contractor based in Japan produces any sort of offensive weaponry, there will be collateral damage that surges through the rest of the industry and even the government. To be honest, it is solely because of this reason why they're our most dangerous rival."
"Sounds really tough to run a business like yours. I could never possibly be the leader of something like that," I stated in amazement.
"I was hoping my daughter would choose a partner fit for becoming the heir to the company, and if she didn't choose a partner at all, I would've chosen one for her that fits my tastes."
"You must be very disappointed then," I laughed out loud.
"Who knows? Maybe I could train you."
"Sorry, but I really don't think I'm suited for such a position. Anyways, these wishes of mine… Can they be something inside of ALfheim Online?"
Shitori furrowed his brow and tilted his head slightly as if silently asking me to make sure he was hearing right. I repeated my words more slowly again and he snorted before laughing. His laughter was clearly towards my request of an in-game wish, but I didn't take any offense to it as I knew it was a weird wish to ask for. He was laughing so hard that he clutched his stomach before wiping the small tear that formed in his right eye.
"I was worrying that you'd make some expensive requests, but now I'm worrying as to how much time you'll be spending in the virtual world compared to the real one!"
"If I didn't need to eat, drink or go to the bathroom, I would spend all my life inside the virtual world," I laughed out lightly.
"Speaking of which, I do have some conditions for you in order to get these wishes in the first place, and because i've gotten to know you a little bit more in these past few days, you may not like it…"
Shitori quickly went from a happy, relaxed tone to that of a serious business man. Shitori turned his head from the rural Kyoto view to face me directly. He was no longer leaning on the guardrail, but he still had one hand resting on it. He reached into his pants pocket and pulled out a card. He handed it to me and I flipped it over to read its contents. Upon reading the word therapist, I knew right away what he wanted me to do, and I indeed didn't want anything to do with it.
"That person is my family's personal therapist. He also works together with our doctor, dentist and psychiatrist so that communication between them is solid. Other than the doctor and dentist, our family saw no need of them until now. Ai-chan has already agreed to periodically visiting the therapist once every two months, but we went through quite a struggle persuading her to do so. I know you had a mental health counselor during your time in the hospital, and we've received the information he's gathered, as well as some supplementary information from Ai-chan and Vitushi-kun. I hope you are aware of your diagnosed illnesses."
"Depression, PTSD, schizophrenia, and nightmares disorder. While those are the fully confirmed illnesses, it's likely I have dissociative personality disorder and dependent personality disorder. I'm also vulnerable to psychosis, explosive outbursts, panic attacks, and paranoia. Quite the list, isn't it?"
"Ai-chan did not get a full diagnosis of any mental illnesses or disorders, but she has a minor case of dependent personality disorder like you. Because of that diagnosis, both Alluka and I felt even more guilty about putting you guys through that whole experience. We never really valued mental health until now, even with our own depressive episode between Alluka's parents. Thankfully, mental health counseling has improved greatly over the years, and now we've found a great use for it."
"Even if I choose to accept visiting this therapist of yours every so often, I still have my doubts as to whether or not it will do anything of benefit. If there's one thing you really need to know about me, it's the fact that both my mind and body can be extremely stubborn to change."
"We all have human traits in all of us, no matter how different we are from each other. Human stubbornness is the double-edged sword we've wielded since ancient times. I hope you will learn how to wield such a dangerous blade, in time."
"You're quite a philosopher, unlike your daughter," I lightly laughed out loud. Shitori smiled back, allowing me to see the extent of which I can jest with him.
"Ai-chan is much like her mother. They have their periods of brilliance, but most of the time their brains enjoy not being too stressed out about such thoughts. In fact, I too think I need to take a break from this conversation. This supposed vacation of mine wasn't planned, so my wife and I cannot stay here in Kyoto for much longer. We'll take our leave tomorrow morning, and I suggest you two do the same. The message you left will surely stir up quite a commotion amongst your friends back home."
"Oh trust me, it has. I've received a hundred text messages from my friends overnight. I haven't checked them since this morning, but I'm confident there will be at least a hundred more now that people are awake. I caused them great distress when I attempted suicide, so i'd rather not tell them that Ai attempted it as well."
"Likewise," Shitori agreed. "I'll try my best to keep it a secret, but you should persuade Ai-chan to do the same, for the sake of your friends."
"Well, I'm confident she's smart enough to not need any kind of persuading, considering she kept me hidden for so long, but i'll make sure nothing will happen," I assured him.
"Well," Shitori said as he took a big whiff of the wet summer air. "I'll take my leave then."
"Oh, before you go…" I quickly interrupted his departure. "Yuzuki is your wife's name, is it not?"
"Yes, it is."
"May I ask what your name is then?"
"Watanabe. Is that all?"
"Yeah… Thanks..."
Ai's father pushed himself away from the railing and walked through the beautiful garden before retreating into the protection of his home. I remained standing beside the railing, absorbing both the sunlight and the breathtaking view in front of me. The rain from yesterday had already dried up, making the somber appearance of the garden transform into a more peaceful one. However, the view couldn't entirely be peaceful due to the sheer cliff right below my feet. The memory of yesterday echoed in my mind, and I quickly brushed it aside before the Voices could make me hallucinate anything dark. Whoever built this home clearly didn't account for any safety hazards, or for anybody who suffered acrophobia.
My phone vibrated in my pocket, breaking me from my train of thought. I looked to see that I had received a text message from Ai, and it simply read:
"Come to my room. I want to talk about something."
Without questioning her reasoning, I put my phone back into my pocket and made my way towards the house. I passed by several patches of various flowers and walked underneath a roof of cherry blossom and magnolia trees, making me wonder how they managed to fit in so many trees in such a small space. I walked over the koi pond, admiring the small kois swimming underneath the surface of the water. I stepped onto the back porch, removing my outdoor footwear for my uwabakis. I traversed through the highly decorated corridors of the massive house, passing by multiple vacant bedrooms. Some of them still had remnants of the Yuzuki family reunion, as clothes, shoes and drinks were left behind by the occupant families.
Ai's family was considered the main branch of the fairly large Yuzuki family as they were the only ones who continued to pass down the name. Because of that, they received the biggest room in the house. Each of the smaller rooms matched the size of Ai's bedroom back in Setagaya, but the main branch's bedroom was a house all in itself. It had all the commodities a household needs: kitchen, bathroom, laundry room, everything. The so-called "bedroom" had two stories to it, with all the smaller bedrooms on the upper floor. I passed by Nagato, who was in the kitchen preparing our lunch meal for later, though the butler didn't notice me due to my quietness. I walked through the living room and made my way upstairs, heading towards Ai's open bedroom door. I entered its threshold, closing the door behind me and startling Ai, who was looking out the window at the time. She was wearing a loose-fitting white shirt at least two sizes bigger than her usual shirts. It was large enough to cover most of her black hotpants, but I could still see the black denim peeking out underneath.
"Jeez… Even in the real world you move around so quietly," Ai yelped.
"Sorry. Can't help it. Maybe I should wear a bell around my neck for everyone's sake."
"Hah… Not a bad idea, but I think that's too much."
"Anyways, what did you want to talk about?"
"Come sit down first," she asked me as she proceeded to sit down on her bed, facing the window. She patted the area right next to her, and I obeyed her wishes. The moment I sat down on the bed, she leaned her head against my shoulder and wrapped her arms around one of mine.
"Something wrong?"
"No… Nothing's wrong…" she reassured me. "I was just wondering if we should go somewhere before the summer break ends. Somewhere nice and isolated, kind of like the 47th Floor of SAO."
"Even if we could go to a place as beautiful as that, don't you have school activities to take care of during the break?"
"Well… Because of that whole drama I caused during the final exams, I relinquished my student council position. Even if I didn't, I would've probably been forced out of it. Mother forced me to retake my exams before I came here to stay for the summer. As for my homework, you can help me out during our vacation."
"I think I've had enough school work recently… I spent hours helping everyone else study for their own final exams while I was doing my rehab. And with all of the stuff regarding our relationship, my brain wants to take a good rest. A vacation to some nice place is indeed something we both need."
"Got any plans in mind?"
"Actually…" I spoke as I took out my phone. I unlocked my phone and searched through my junk-filled inbox to find the email I received yesterday. I showed Ai the email and she began reading its contents. Her face expressed her curiosity as clear as day, as I had never talked about this person with her before.
"Who is he? It's a he right?"
"Don't worry… It's a guy. His name is Vincent. He and I used to go to school together several years ago. After a certain tragedy, he was forced to return to his home country and live with his grandparents."
"Not trying to be rude or anything, but what exactly does this have to do with our vacation?"
"Fortunately, I can kill two birds with one stone. Vincent was born and raised in the Philippines before he moved here to Japan during his first year in junior high school. He takes great pride in his homeland, and he used to tell me countless stories about all the fun and wonderful experiences he had there. Last night, I was actually looking up some stuff about it and figured it might be a nice place for a honeymoon."
"Philippines? Where is that again?"
"It's southwest of Japan, between Indonesia and Taiwan. I don't remember too much about it, despite the hours of information Vincent told me about his homeland. He was quite passionate about his home country, but it was so long ago I don't remember, Frankly, I don't think I cared enough to listen to him… And he considered me his best friend…"
"Was he your best friend?" she asked.
"In a sense, yes. Before I met you, he was my closest friend, and the person who came closest to changing who I was back then. In fact, if it wasn't for our separation, he would've succeeded, and he may have even joined SAO with me."
"Now I'm more interested in going. Did you tell my father yet?"
"No, not yet. I only recently learned of the five wishes your father granted me. Since we're going on this trip, I may as well use one of those wishes to spend some time with you, away from all this."
"We can go talk to him later. You should contact your friend. Get some more information from him so we know how things work over there."
"Will do," I said as I stood up from the bed. I was about to walk off before Ai pulled me back down with enough force to make me fall on my back.
"I didn't say you could leave…" she scolded me before proceeding to get on top of me, effectively pinning me to the mattress. "You can't just leave me here alone after I went through the effort of bringing you here."
"You texted me to come here… It's not like you had to walk like I did."
"Oh just shut up…"
Ai grabbed my face with both her hands and planted her lips against my own. She was kissing me with such great passion, but I didn't return as much back as my anxiety was continuously growing. All I could think about was someone walking through those doors right now and catching us in the middle of our make-out session. The reconciliation happened yesterday, so I felt awkward doing such a thing with Ai so quickly. In fact, it's been a long time since we ever kissed like this, excluding the time we spent separated from each other from the whole fiasco. Ai noticed this, and grunted heavily as she stopped our kissing.
"Why are you being like this?" she pouted.
"I just think it's still a bit too early for us to be doing this."
"We've known each other for two and a half years. We married in-game and acted like a real couple in SAO. It's been a long time since we did something like this. You're starting to make me jealous of the relationship Midori-chan and Ryu-kun are having. I want to kiss and hug you too you know…"
I saw how hurt she was from my rejection of her motives, and so I placed a hand on her cheek for reassurance. I was still surprised as to how a girl like Ai, who typically shows innocence, could express such hunger. I couldn't really blame her because I too longed for the comfort intimacy brings me. Using my body, I pushed up against her, causing her to roll over her back and allowing me to get on top. I quickly kissed her on the lips for a few seconds before breaking away to tell her:
"If we get caught, I'm telling them you started it..."
(Mortifer)
A few days later in the weekend, 9 PM, «Yggdrasil City»
While browsing through the Internet, I remembered finding something about this western holiday called Thanksgiving, where people express their gratitude while eating extreme amounts of food. I knew of the Labor Thanksgiving Day that Japan has, but I didn't know about this other one. Since Violet and I returned from Kyoto with our relationship back together, our group of friends decided to host our very own western Thanksgiving party as a celebration and a way to reconcile.
I was planning on inviting all of the Lords except Mortimer, but I decided against it and only invited Sakuya, Alicia and Silver. Leafa had already informed them of the situation we were in during the time when I sent the Sylph and Cait Sith Lords the invitation. According to my sister, they were overwhelmed about the sudden revelation and quickly realized why I was being so demanding to them at the time. They apologized to me profusely as they didn't know our situation and because they were too busy to attend our party.
As for Violet's brother, Silver had a hard time accommodating himself since ViVi was present as well as the rest of the group. Silver betrayed ViVi by revealing my relationship with Violet, and the betrayal caused the group a great deal of emotional pain. Not only that, but ViVi still suffered from the words Violet told him that day, and she couldn't muster up the courage to apologize. She felt so guilty about what she did that she asked me for help, though I redirected her to Asuna since I was the last person she should ask for apology tutoring. I saw them step outside for a bit, making me assume Violet was having a private conversation with him. They returned in a few minutes, and I caught a glimpse of the reddened eyes and wet cheeks of ViVi—remnants of crying.
The moment the clock rang the ninth hour, everyone gathered around the table for the feast. With the help of Agil and Cayonz, Violet and Asuna set down all of the food they prepared on the table. While the two girls were extremely tired from cooking several hours straight, they were proud of what they accomplished.. Along with the traditional Japanese sushi, gyoza and yakitori, an entire oven-roast American turkey sat in the middle of the table along with Korean bulgogi, Russian beef stroganoff, Spanish seafood paella, South African boerewors sausage, Mexican al pastor, Brazilian pão de queijo, Swedish laxpudding, and finally Egyptian shawarma. It was by far the biggest and most diverse feast I've ever seen, and everyone was eager to get a bite. Before we could eat however, Asuna stood up on a chair for everyone to see.
"I would like to thank everyone for being here today." Asuna gleefully spoke. "I know you guys can't wait to eat the food, but first I would like to introduce to everyone Violet's brother, Silver, the Lord of the Leprechauns,"
Everyone turned their heads to the Leprechaun Lord. While some people like Paradox, Konno and Trish greeted him with friendly smiles, everyone else wasn't so nice as they knew he was the one who told Violet's parents about my relationship with her. ViVi couldn't even look his cousin in the eye, either because he felt betrayed or still couldn't forgive himself for what happened.
"H-Hi… I'm Onii-chan's younger brother. My name is Yuzuki Hitori. I'm sorry for all the troubles I have caused," Silver nervously greeted us. Now that I think about it, his personality in-game back when we first met was completely different from what he was like now. The loud-mouthed Silver I met back then hadn't spoken a word in the entire party till now. "I don't expect to be forgiven, and if you want to beat me up then I am prepared."
Silver bowed his head down and placed his hands behind his back. He was trying to prepare himself for the beating he was suspecting, but he could not hide his worried face, even underneath his long hair.
Everyone turned their heads towards Violet to seek guidance, but she closed her eyes and maintained a blank expression on her face, telling us that we had to decide for ourselves. Asuna stepped down from her chair and moved to Kirito to whisper into his ear. Nobody made a move for a while until Zed approached Silver. The boy noticed his approach and his whole body started shaking out of fear of Zed. However, instead of throttling Violet's brother, Zed grabbed Silver's head from the top with his right hand and made the Leprechaun look straight at him. He then took both of his hands, grabbed both edges of Silver's lips and stretched them into a deformed smile, causing Silver great discomfort.
"Smile, dumbass," he commanded the Leprechaun Lord, catching Silver off-guard from his profanity. "After all we've been through these past few months, I've had enough of people always sulking around. I hereby ban sulking in this household. No exceptions."
"Hey! Where is my say in this?" Paradox pouted, putting her hands on her hips.
Because of Zed's method of lightening the mood, I couldn't help but laugh at his attempt as he was being scowled by Paradox. My laughing seemed to be contagious as everyone else joined in on the laughter. Even ViVi found himself smiling slightly. Only Silver remained composed, mostly due to the unexpected reaction he got from Zed. Violet reassured her brother with a pat on the back, and motioned for him to take a sip from his mug. Because he hesitated, Violet showed him that there was nothing to fear when she too took a swig of the virtual ale inside of the mug. The happiness displayed on her face eased Silver's anxiety, and he too took a sip of the fake alcohol.
"Cheers to a new beginning!" Asuna shouted. In unison, we all yelled in response:
"Kanpai!"
Everyone, even Trish and Silica, the youngest of the bunch at fifteen and fourteen respectively, drank some of the magical ale only to spit it out right away. They weren't the only ones as Lizbeth, Konno and ViVi also spat out the ale. They complained about the terrible taste of the alcohol, but Rizer informed them that almost all alcoholic drinks tasted like that. Of that group, only Konno decided to keep drinking, making me suspect he either wanted to get accustomed to the taste, or so he could better fit in with Zed.
"Well… It tastes better than the rum we had back then," Paradox coughed out.
"You should really start buying some better tasting alcohol Rizer," I told him as I swirled the drink around my cup, trying to get used to the taste.
"NPC vendors don't have a review history you know," Rizer complained. "Plus, if we really wanted to try out some good tasting alcohol, shouldn't Paradox be making them for us with her «Completed» «Mixing»?"
"No way am I going to brew alcohol for you guys! My vials are for medicinal purposes only!"
"Yet you're called Poison and brew paralysis poisons potent enough to down me for five minutes," Rizer jested.
"Hey, there are some poisons out there that can heal people," Zed spoke up as he grabbed Paradox by the waist, pulling her very close to his body. "You just need to know which ones are good, and which ones are bad. I've found mine right here."
A sudden kiss on the lips startled Paradox, whose eyes remained open for a few seconds. She glanced at us, showing her surprise before yielding to Zed's advance. Many of us rolled our eyes from the sight, but we simply shrugged it off and let them continue. While ViVi, Trish, Lizbeth and Silica took their seats on the table, everyone else finished with their serving of ale before following their lead. As soon as Zed and Paradox sat themselves down, the food frenzy commenced. While every dish of the feast was delicious, we all found one dish we adored more than the rest. Seeing the joyous faces of everyone, I was even more grateful for Violet and Asuna's hard work while also feeling bad for asking Violet to recreate my favorite spicy beef curry when she and Asuna already had so much stuff to do.
As we all celebrated a new beginning for me and Violet, I noticed Silver sitting on my left shedding a single tear that streamed down his cheek. He noticed his first tear and tried to wipe it away, but more tears soon started to form. Embarrassed, he stood up from his seat without catching anyone's attention but mine and Violet's. Violet, who was at the opposite head of the table persuaded me with puppy eyes to go check on Silver, and I obliged. I stood up from my seat and tended to Silver, who had exited through the front door. I opened the door and shut it behind me. When I turned around to greet Silver he wasn't there. Before I called out for his name, I heard someone sobbing above me. I materialized my wings and slowly ascended to meet Silver at the rooftop.
"When I found out that Onee-chan got trapped inside of SAO, I was so mad at myself for allowing her to play on my NerveGear…" Silver spoke softly. "My family kept on telling me that it wasn't my fault, but if I just didn't allow her to do so, or if I had taken the NerveGear with me, she wouldn't have been stuck in that death game. But now, after seeing her with her friends, and you especially… I've been starting to wonder… Would she have been this happy if she wasn't in SAO? Would she have ever met you if it weren't for SAO?"
"I'm not one to say this, but you should stop dwelling on the past. Live in the present," I told him as I sat down next to the Leprechaun Lord. "Push on ahead towards the future, no matter how terrible it will be."
"Yeah, but… How were you able to do it?"
"Do what?"
"Attempt suicide."
When the words reached my head, I then realized just how much Violet's brother had been beating himself up. Not only did he feel guilty of getting Violet trapped in SAO, but he felt guilty of informing his parents about my existence, which almost led to our demise. I didn't know what else to tell him except for my answer to his question.
"For me, it was quite the spur of the moment. When my emotions take over, I have no self-control. If my mind tells me to do something, no matter how stupid it is, I won't be able to stop myself from following through. If you want to talk about the courage of attempting it, then you should ask your own sister. She told me she was planning hers as soon as I let go of her that day you Lords sent me to assassinate Mortimer."
"Then… Would you do it again, if you were put into the same situation?"
"I don't know… If you're planning on doing it, but still seek help from yourself, I'm really not the right person to talk to. But… If you want a recommendation to someone other than some professional therapist, then first I suggest you speak with ViVi. Your sister hurt his feelings quite terribly that day, telling him that nobody enjoyed being with him and that you guys only liked him out of pity. You betrayed his trust, and he suffered a great deal of emotional pain because of it. Reconcile with him, then go to your sister."
"Easier said than done…" Silver muttered out.
"That's exactly why it's so hard for people to get out of periods like this. We seek help and salvation, yet we're scared to talk about it. We slowly suffocate in our own grasp before we are either saved or found dead. I despise people who think their suffering is worse than others when they don't know what others have been through. Even so, that doesn't stop me from being hypocritical and declaring to others that I have suffered far more than they have. Compared to mine, your problems are nothing. I don't even have to remind myself of all the sins I've committed in this life of mine."
"What do you mean?"
"I don't know exactly how it works, but if it does, then be ready."
I grabbed Silver by his head and butted it against my own, surprising the kid. I placed my free hand on his shoulder, expressing my need for him to be calm. Once he relaxed, I closed my eyes and concentrated. I willingly delved deep into my head and reached into the darkness deep inside it. I pictured myself grabbing at the Voices from underneath a black sea, and I dragged them from its dark waters and into plain sight. The Voices, which had been a very distant whisper ever since I reunited with Violet, became highly audible. My head burned from the shouting and crying, but I endured. From all of the Voices inside of my head, I reached for one specific Voice and imagined it traveling down a wire that connected into Silver's brain. When I was done uploading the image into his head, I opened my eyes to see his own eyes wide open as if in shock. He backed away from me, removing our connection. His face displayed unparalleled horror. However, the horror he expressed wasn't because of me, but because of what I had shown him.
"Onee-chan… That was her, wasn't it?" he questioned. I turned my head away but still gave a nod in response.
"There are many more of those, and I can share these Voices in the real world too. Being able to share my pain with people like that is so strange. It's like I have magical powers that break the boundaries of science and reality. Either way, this is the life I have to live till the day I die."
"I'm sorry…"
"Don't be. This curse of mine has nothing to do with you. I'm just trying to show you that everyone else is struggling to survive in this world, some more so than others. If I can do it, then I am confident you can as well. So, come on. Let's go back inside."
For several seconds, Silver gave no reaction. After looking up at the starry night sky, however, he let out a long sigh and stood up. He made the first move and floated down to the doorway below us. I followed closely behind him. We entered through the wooden doorway, and I shut the door behind us to prevent the world from breaking into our tiny bubble.
Later that night, Misty Valley
A gentle breeze blew through the gorge, making my loose shirt flow in the wind. Everyone had gone offline, allowing me to have some time for myself. And so, I decided to revisit the destruction I caused that day and see if anything was different in the castle. But, I also planned something else in mind.
Other than the significant overgrowth of the invasive plants I added into the valley, much of the place remained the same. The lava that flowed back then solidified into rock, leaving an ugly mess inside and outside of the castle. However, to counteract the ugliness, the fallen seeds of the various magical trees planted more saplings that slightly poked out of the ground due to the accelerated growth rate of plants in ALO. Even though the sight wasn't as clean as before, the natural, overgrown and runic appearance captivated my eyes.
I made my way to the cliffside garden, walking ever so slowly up the long staircase as I wanted to enjoy the view more. The cold stone steps tickled my dirtied feet as I ascended. Upon reaching the top, I observed the pink tree whose flowers were even more vibrant than I remembered. The magical tree, unlike natural trees in the real world, somehow regrew its bark, covering up the carvings I made with my sword that day. The same occurred for its sister tree in the valley below, as it managed to heal even the scorch marks a fire-elemental «Sword Skill» caused. I turned my gaze to the cliffside where I jumped off and saw him sitting on the edge of the cliff. He turned his head around and smiled at me.
"Yo!"
The Spriggan stood up and turned his body towards me. Since he literally joined the game today, he was wearing the most basic of gear given to new players: simple leather armor and a short sword. In no way did he look like how I remembered him back then as the game's avatar creation engine generated a completely random avatar for him. His face greatly resembled his father's while the face I saw back then was his mother's. Unlike the short asymmetrical hairstyle I saw for all the years he was by my side, his avatar's long, straight hair reached down to his shoulders and swayed gently due to the wind. He raised his hand to his face and used his index finger to push up against the bridge of his nose—a habit he gained from years of wearing glasses. Upon touching his nose and realizing the nonexistence of his glasses in-game, he laughed nervously and scratched the top of his head with his right hand.
"Still getting used to this virtual reality stuff... The Internet connection here is bad enough as it is, and having to connect to a server all the way in Japan is extraordinarily difficult. I-I'd rather not spend too long talking to you in-game since the Internet cafe I'm at is super expensive but of good quality. I haven't experienced any lag yet, but I don't want to wait for some spike to happen. I've been using this AmuSphere thing for an hour already, so I can spare two more hours before I need to get off... A-Anyways, how have you been? The last time I saw you, you were being surrounded by your fans and haters alike. Did you go out with any of those girls who fawned over you? Or were you too busy getting beat up by the other students? Oh! Let me guess... A girl that tried to help you out got hurt and then you beat up the attackers in return? That's what happened right?! Heh… Brings back old memories… H-Hey, have you heard of this super competitive shooter-based VRMMORPG called—"
"Even though you weren't good at Japanese to begin with, you still can't keep your mouth shut when you're nervous… That's always been your weird habit, hasn't it, Vincent?"
The Spriggan still had his mouth slightly open from being interrupted, but he soon closed it and formed a smile on his face. With a long sigh, his nervousness seemed to fade away completely. He fixed his posture and put his hands on his pockets. He turned his head towards the moon and stared at in awe.
"I've actually been practicing. I haven't written or read any Japanese in a while, so I'm rusty there. My pronunciation still needs some work but I think I can keep up with you."
"I hope you can. We have a lot of catching up to do. It's been so long… I miss you..."
"You miss me?" Vincent said, perplexed at my words. He walked towards me till he was within arm's reach. He then proceeded to knock on my head as if it were a door "Your avatar seems to be suffering a speech malfunction… After all, there's no way you would ever say those kinds of things to anybody."
"Like I said…" I quickly responded, pushing his hand away after the fourth hit. "We have a lot of catching up to do. Since we're limited on time, how about you tell me what I need to know before I fulfill my promise."
"You're already making plans to come over here? Do you even have the resources to do so?"
"Don't worry about that. I just need to know as much as possible about where we're headed."
"Who's we?"
"My fiancé and I."
The Spriggan's face lit up with surprise. His mouth dropped open while his already large eyes were opened to its maximum. His open mouth soon formed into a smile and the man started to slowly clap. His claps increased in speed until it became a full applause.
"I never thought I'd see the day you'd get together with someone," the Spriggan laughed out. "Is she hot and sexy? Or is she more on the cute side? Is she also Japanese, or did you go for some rare foreign lady? How long have you guys been together? Have you two kissed or made out yet? How about sex? Have you done it with her—"
"No!" I quickly answered, stopping him from asking anymore uncomfortable questions. "We haven't done it yet… We've known each other for two years, and started dating a year and a half ago. Her appearance is beautiful, I guess, and she's Japanese… Jeez, since when did you talk about these things so casually?"
"Well, with all that happened back then, and me moving back to the Philippines, I didn't have that many friends. All the ones I did have back in the Philippines before had moved on or even moved out of the country. A handful went to the United States, trying to get that so-called American dream. If you want the main reason, then it's because I don't have much time, so I'd rather just get straight to the point as soon as possible. Do I bother you with that?"
"No, no, no… You're not bothering me. It's just so unlike you to talk about those kinds of things…"
"What kinds of things?" Vincent asked, smiling mischievously while moving closer in effort to interrogate me. "I'm me, so I don't get hints. So tell me, what are these kinds of things?"
"Don't tempt me Vincent," I warned him, knowing his motives for taunting me. "Just because you and I are best friends doesn't mean I can't beat the crap out of you in-game. You may have beaten me in nearly all non-virtual reality video games we played together, but there's no way I'm going to lose in a game like ALfheim Online."
"Ha, that's true," he laughed, backing away and keeping his distance. "When it comes to pure mechanics and micro alone, you have the upper hand, but my long experience gave me the edge on macro. Virtual reality is different since you control the actual avatar itself. From what I've heard, ALO is one of the more hardcore games due to its extreme-skill system that is based on real-life prowess. Your Kyokushin and Kendo experience should be coming in handy for a game like this which is proven by that video of you. Even so, that guy seemed to be strong considering you got beat up so badly. However, I thought there was something fishy going on with your fight since there were times you froze in place."
"About that… The person I was going against was cheating to begin with, otherwise I wouldn't have had much trouble."
"I figured as much. Ever since that first day of school, I never doubted you."
"Thanks… I guess…"
"Anyways, you said you guys wanted to know as much information as possible about a trip to the Philippines?" he said, going back to the topic I wanted to talk about.
"Yeah… I figured it'll be better if we catch up with each other in the real world, but I wanted to at least see you once, even if it wasn't your actual body."
"Since it's only going to be some information gathering, mind if I log off now and just email you everything you would want to know? I also would like to catch up in the real world rather than in virtual reality, and I don't want to spend more money than I need to."
"Yeah, that's fine…" I told him, though there was a hint of distress in my voice as I didn't really want him to leave either.
"Don't worry Katsumoto. I can wait for you for as long as possible. Just come before I die, okay?" the Spriggan smiled.
He opened his game menu and fiddled with the buttons before finding the logout button. He saluted me goodbye and I waved back in response. He pressed the button and his avatar went into a slump as life was sucked out of him. Since the property wasn't a «Safe-Zone Area» or an inn, the avatar remained behind, vulnerable to any attackers. It didn't really matter to him since he wasn't going to come back anyway. Even so, I lifted up the lifeless body and hoisted it over my shoulders. I carried the Spriggan and sat him down against the tree. I sat down with the avatar as well and realized the relaxing comfort the ground around the tree provided. I set my head on a moss covered root, giving me a thin, but natural pillow for me to rest on. It didn't take long for me to quickly fall asleep next to my best friend's avatar.
(Ai)
August 2025, Half a week later, Yuzuki family household in Setagaya 12PM
"Did you pack your toiletries already, Ai-chan?" Kyoko asked as she checked my make-up kit for the fifth time in a row.
"Yes, I did," I sighed in response.
"How about a raincoat and an umbrella? It's the rainy season over there and you need to be prepared for tropical storms or even typhoons."
"All of my coats and topwear are in the black bag."
"What about lingerie? Did you pack enough panties, bras, bikinis and stockings for a month?" she asked as she proceeded to check the black bag for confirmation
"Yes! Yes! It's in the brown one!" I quickly answered, annoyed and slightly embarrassed. I would be even more embarrassed if Katsumoto were here to see this. "It's not like I'm going to be changing outfits every hour Kyoko-san. Gosh, you sound more like a mother than my own."
"Why of course! I have raised you since you were a little child, and I have always wanted a daughter. I am happy to have two sons but I always envied your mother for birthing a daughter. Alas, I am too old to have another child. Now, did you pack sunscreen and mosquito repellant? You're going to the beach in a tropical country after all."
"It's in my carry-on," I told her as I started to put on makeup. "Along with all of my identification, tickets and stuff."
"Okay, everything seems to be packed. We wouldn't have to worry so much if you had flown in your father's private jet, but I understand the time constraint you are on," Kyoko sighed in relief as she finished inspecting all of my luggage.
"We got some special seats, so I'm happy. If there was one other thing I would've wanted, then I wished we could stay longer than thirty days. Even if we did manage to get a visa, I would need to be back in Japan before the next term."
"Well, you do need to graduate. Because of the whole SAO incident, you are two years behind your peers. Do you still dream of becoming an artist? Or have you outgrown that and decided to help your family run the company?"
"No, I don't want to be an artist anymore, though I still want to do something creative. As for the company, Hitori-kun is far ahead of me in terms of experience, so it is better for him to inherit the position. Maybe I'll start up some designer brand. I got into making clothes in SAO and got some creative ideas from it."
"Well, you know I'll always be rooting for you, Ai-chan, no matter where your future takes you" Kyoko smiled.
"Thank you, Kyoko-san" I said, smiling back.
I finished with my makeup and proceeded to stuff my kit back into my carry-on. I combed my hair to make myself as presentable as possible and put on my hat. I hung my shades on the collar of my blouse and put on my golden bracelet. I dragged the straps of the carry-on over my shoulders while Kyoko called for Nagato to help her with my luggage. I made my way downstairs, making loud clicks with the heels of my shoes. One of my father's assistants waited for me at the front door and opened it for me. A gust of fresh air blew inside and I stepped out of the threshold of my home. My parents were already waiting for me in the Rolls-Royce, seated in the back. My mom rolled down the window and shouted:
"Hurry up, sweetie! We're running a bit late, and Katsumoto-kun is already waiting for you at the airport!"
"Ehh?! He's already there?!" I exclaimed, shocked at how quickly he got prepared. Then again, he probably doesn't have as much stuff as I do. I broke off into a jog and hurried over to the car.
Nagato and Kyoko also picked up the pace, dragging the luggage bags behind them. My mother opened the car door for me, and I squeezed into the middle seat past her. Nagato started putting the luggage bags inside of the trunk while Kyoko went ahead to start the car. My father's assistant got into the passenger seat of the car and buckled in. When Nagato finished with the bags, he headed over to the driver's seat, kissed Kyoko goodbye, and took the wheels. We all waved Kyoko goodbye, leaving her in the gardens of our property. Nagato drove past the gate which began to close behind us. He turned into the street and started making his way to Narita.
(Katsumoto)
Two hours later, Narita International Airport
I grew impatient and anxious waiting for Ai since we were running out of time to get to our flight. I already checked-in and gave them my luggage, so there was no turning back for me unless I wanted to lose my belongings. Thankfully, she and her family appeared in the nick of time. I was about to question them as to why it took so long, but I was astonished at Ai's stunning appearance as well as the belongings she had with her. If I was going to summarize her appearance in one word, then the word would be Gucci.
I didn't care too much for designer brands, nor did I get the point of buying them when there are much better deals out there. However, I couldn't deny the fact that Ai looked like a supermodel in her outfit. She wore a black felt hat that had a cat depicted on it. She wore intertwining gold and silver hoop rings that glistened in the light. A pair of aviator glasses hung on the collar of her white button-down blouse, allowing her black leather choker to be more visible to peering eyes. She wore a black skirt held together by a black belt with the Gucci logo depicted on the front. Her legs weren't bare, as she wore tights to cover up her skin. She wore black leather boots that reached up to her ankles. They too had the Gucci logo depicted on the bridge of the foot. On her right shoulder was an intricately designed brown bag which she held onto very tightly. To top it all off, she wore her family's ring on her left ring finger. I was no Gucci fanatic like Ai, but I had no doubt that her outfit cost at least two million Yen.
"Sorry I'm late! Traffic was terrible!" she apologized as she jogged her way to me. Upon reaching me, she took a second to catch her breath and continued. "Did I make you wait long? You know what, don't answer that stupid question… Anyways, how are you doing? You look nice today."
"I'm fine, and thank you," I lied, realizing that I looked lackluster and unkempt next to her. "You're looking very... Gucci today…"
"Oh, this? I was actually debating whether I should've gone with a full Gucci outfit or a full Louis Vuitton outfit. I knew you would wear some unsaturated colors, so I tried matching you. I decided on my Gucci wear since I found it before all my Louis Vuitton clothes. I should really get Kyoko-san to organize my closet… Regardless, it seems I matched up quite well with you, minus the jewelry."
I came to the airport wearing a plain black t-shirt, black jeans and black Timberland boots. I was going to put on my Air Jordan 3, but I wanted to keep my color scheme completely monochrome. The only thing I wore that wasn't fully black was the skull ring on my hand. It was the same skull ring I found in the store in Akihabara. I was planning on using one of my five wishes on it, but when I asked for the ring, Shitori started laughing due to the "absurdly low" price of nearly four-hundred-thousand Yen. He bought the ring for me without expending one of my wishes since the wish was apparently "not fun". I fought against Heathcliff, Oberon and a cheating Eugene, but none of them made me feel as insignificant as my future father-in-law at that moment.
I became so conscious of my social status, history and wealth that I repeatedly questioned if I was dreaming or not. Thankfully, Shitori apologized to me soon afterwards and tells me that he too was poor like me. He only managed to inherit the President position after the most rigorous training given to him by the former President Yuzuki Goro, Ai's late grandfather who passed away during our time in SAO. Not only did he get training from the former President, the former executives and board members assisted him in his growth as well, making him the third generation of Yuzukis to be holding the position since its creation in 1960. The line of Yuzukis don't seem to be stopping either as Hitori was on the road to doing so, though the trend of the son-in-law adopting the company was broken by me.
"That's a beautiful ring you have there," Ai complemented as she grabbed my right hand to examine the ring. "It suits you perfectly."
"And everything you're wearing right now is perfect. Your hair too."
Due to all the events of the previous months as well as helping me cope with my identity crisis, Ai decided to detach a bit from her Violet persona in the real world by removing all traces of her purple hair. The only thing left now was her smooth, jet black hair. She combed her hand through her hair and moved any stray bits behind her shoulder.
"Ai-chan, let's hurry up and check-in your luggage!" Alluka hurried her.
"Okay! Be right back!"
Alluka and Ai ran over to the baggage check-in with Nagato and Shitori's assistant following behind them. My father-in-law watched them with a smile on his face before approaching me.
"You remember our deal right?" he asked me.
"Don't worry. You can trust me to keep her safe," I reassured him.
"No, not that. I trust you in that one. Just make sure she's happy. This is her first time going out of the country, and to one that isn't so… developed… She lacks certain home economic skills that are also absent in many of the upper class society due to having assistants like Nagato and Kyoko. She can cook but that's about it."
"I think I got that covered too. I've been doing nearly all the housework ever since I got out of rehab from the SAO incident. Having to take care of myself and two younger siblings forces you to be knowledgeable in that kind of stuff."
"Ha… I guess so…" he laughed out before taking out his wallet. He took out a grey debit card as well as a wad of unfamiliar paper currency. "These are United States Dollar bills. This should be around a thousand Dollars, or a little over a hundred-thousand Yen. Each bill is a hundred, so you're probably going to want to exchange them for much smaller quantities. If you need anymore cash, just go to an ATM over there and use this card. It has around ten million Yen, though I highly doubt you'll use all of it."
My jaw dropped at the amount of money I was just handed. Not only was it dangerous for me to be carrying around this amount of cash, but he had given it to me so nonchalantly that I questioned whether he even cared for the safety of his own money. Was the Yuzuki family rich enough to not care about this much money, or did he just trust me enough for me to carry this much? I couldn't tell at all from his face, as the only thing I saw was the joy he was experiencing from seeing Ai so eager to go on a vacation with me.
"Okay! Let's go, Katsumoto!" Ai shouted across the area without regard to anybody else hearing. She slowly made her way towards me as she struggled to stuff her travel documents in her bag.
"I guess this is goodbye," Shitori declared.
"You two better return safely! This whole trip was basically an impromptu vacation for the both of you," Alluka explained as she approached me. "You have a place to stay, right?"
"Relax Okaa-san. While you guys were doing all of the immigration stuff, I was planning out the vacation with a friend who lives in the country. I have most of the trip planned out. I left some spaces open for other opportunities. I swear on my life that I will make sure your daughter has a great time."
"Good…" Shitori said, patting me on the shoulder.
"Come on, we're going to be late!" Ai exclaimed as she grabbed my arm and started dragging me across the airport.
"You're not one to talk!" I snapped back as I caught my footing and kept up with her pace.
"Kirigaya-kun!" Alluka shouted from a great distance away. I tried stopping so that I could hear her fine, but Ai seemed overly eager to leave Japan. "Just in case—want to—our permission!"
"What?!" I yelled back in response, unable to hear her clearly from all the background noise.
"You have our permission!" Shitori shouted even louder, catching the eyes of some employees, though they ignored us.
I repeated his words in my head, not fully understanding what they meant by their permission. However, when I saw Shitori winking at me and Alluka giggling to herself, I realized what they meant, and I felt my face flush with absolute embarrassment. I looked at Ai momentarily and looked away almost immediately from becoming even more embarrassed. While I knew I wouldn't have been the only person in this world who gets embarrassed from receiving direct permission from the parents, at that moment I felt like I was the only one. Her family really did know how to make me feel insignificant.
An hour later, inside the airplane
I've never flown in an airplane, nor have I ever gone out of the country. The furthest I've gone from my home in Kawagoe is Nagasaki for a school field trip. I've always looked at airplanes flying far above me, and saw news broadcasts and pictures about certain airlines. I always imagined that if I ever got on one, I would be flying in the so called economy or coach class. However, I didn't expect to find myself sharing a with Ai on an Airbus A380.
Singapore Airlines was famed for its extraordinarily luxurious flights, and the suite room that we shared proved it all. When I heard from Ai that each of our tickets costed her family around three-hundred-thousand Yen, my jaw dropped from absolute shock. It was no wonder why the people in the check-in counter didn't even care for the weight of my luggage, and treated me like I was some sort of celebrity by giving me this Private Room pass. At first, I thought that was just a Singapore Airline standard due to its reputation, but I didn't know Ai's parents weren't pulling any strings with this vacation of ours.
We were amongst the first to board the plane, and every single crew member personally greeted us, including the pilots. There were a three other strangers flying with us in the suites, one of them wearing rather casual clothes like me. After a brief guided-tour of the luxurious suite I was given, we decided to remove the partition of our two suites and create a double suite for the two of us to share. However, before our attendants made our beds, we had to prepare for liftoff. I strapped into my mobile recliner and turned the seat so that I could face Ai, who had her back turned to me for take-off purposes. I stared out my open window as I watched the massive airplane get on the runway. Ai seemed perfectly comfortable in her chair while I grew anxious, as it was my first time flying on an airplane.
"Is your fear of heights returning after so long?" she asked me, peering over the back of her seat.
"More like I've never flown in an airplane before. I got rid of that fear a long time ago. It was practically non-existent when I first stepped foot inside of ALO," I explained to her. "It can still be a bit dizzying, but that's when I'm on a ledge I can fall off of. You could very well say a plane counts."
"Don't worry, Katsumoto. We'll be fine."
As soon as she finished her sentence, I was pushed back into my seat as the plane accelerated forward. We moved quite slow at the start due to the plane's size, but we quickly picked up speed. The plane started shaking slightly, making me hold on more tightly to my seat. I felt the plane tilt upward slightly, and we started to lift off the ground. The force of gravity increased as I felt like I was being pulled into my seat. We ascended higher and higher into the air to the point where I could no longer see the treetops of the forest around the airport. We kept going higher and higher, and my view of Narita became smaller and smaller till I could only see the blue sky. Without warning, the plane started tilting to the right, and I grabbed onto my seat even tighter as to not shift in my seat. Thankfully, the angle didn't increase any further, and we eventually leveled off after a minute or so. Our ascent continued until we were above the clouds. I was finally able to relax when I heard a loud ding accompanied by the seat belt light turning off.
"See? That wasn't so bad!" Ai said, quickly getting off her seat to sit on top of our dual bed. "To be honest, landing is almost always rougher than take-off, so you have one more trial to overcome in this flight."
"Thanks for the heads-up, I guess…" I mumbled as I took off my seatbelt to join her.
"Shall we get something to eat?" she asked me, quickly grabbing the black menu from the drawer next to the chair. She opened the menu to reveal a variety of high-class options. "All the food they serve come from recipes of world-renowned chefs. We don't have much time, so you want to grab something to eat? Our tickets covered the cost of our dining."
"You can go ahead and order something for yourself. My appetite disappeared from lift-off…" I shuddered. I turned my gaze from the menu to my suite's nightstand. Three small black bags sat on top with two of them labeled as Lalique and the other as Bose. I grabbed all three bags and started opening them to see what's inside. "What are these?"
"They're amenities provided to us for our flight. I think we can keep the Lalique kit and clothes, but I'm not too sure about the Bose headphones. Both of us got the unisex amenity kit, but I'm going to ask for the female one."
"Jeez… Cologne, lip balm, lotion, soap and even a candle?"
"Hey, be grateful. It was only recently when Singapore Airlines expanded their reach almost globally. I heard the Philippines was especially difficult, though I do not know why."
Before we could continue our conversation, a flight attendant walked through the entrance of my suite, carefully holding a metal plate with four wine glasses and two bottles of wine. Being very cautious, she set the plate down the top of my suite's drawer so as to not drop it.
"I apologize for forgetting about this for take off, but would either of you like to have a glass of champagne? We have the Dom Pérignon and the Krug?" she asked politely, showcasing the fancy bottles of wine.
"Just give me a glass of both," I requested.
"Same here please," Ai joined. "Oh, and is it too early for me to make an order?"
"Of course not." she answered as she handed us our glasses of champagne. "Our dining service is available to you at all times between departure and arrival. What may I get for you?"
"I'll have the roast rack of lamb," Ai ordered, taking a sip of the Dom Pérignon. Her eyes widened, and she pointed at her champagne glass out of surprise. "I'll have this to go along with it."
"Heh… And I remember the first time you tried alcohol. That was quite funny." I teased her, briefly remembering the face she made as she drank the atrocious rum Zachary had bought for us.
"Well, this one actually tastes good!" she pouted. Ai shoved into my chest, knocking some air out of me but not too much. "Go and order something already."
"All right, fine… I'll have the wagyu sirloin with eringi mushroom. I'll have sake to go along with it."
"I will return with your meals shortly," the lady said, bowing her head towards us before leaving with the plate and champagne bottles.
"Why not go for something that isn't Japanese?" Ai asked as she swished around the contents of her wine glass.
"Unlike you, I've never indulged myself in the luxuries of high-class cuisine. I'd rather start off with something I can relate to, and not ruin my future experiences with non-luxurious foreign food. Let's just be grateful we are here in the first place."
"Yeah…"
We raised our wine glasses to the air and clinked them together. A beautiful ringing sounded through the air, and the two of us indulged in the airborne paradise we found ourselves in.
The turbulence shook the plane violently, waking me up from my sleep. Dark red lights illuminated the cabin, making me assume we were in some dangerous situation. The rattling continued, making me even more worried as it was my first flight. When I turned to my side, I was surprised to see that Ai was still sleeping through all of this.
Despite being more than ten kilometers above the ground, it felt like I was in the middle of an earthquake. The lights of the plane flickered on and off, and the sound of thunder boomed outside of the plane, audible and loud. When I opened my window to take a quick peak, I noticed that we were in the middle of a storm. I grew even more concerned as I found it ridiculous and stupid for the airplane to fly into one in the first place, but I didn't have a chance to argue when a lightning bolt suddenly struck the plane, causing the left wing's engine to catch fire.
All the lights in the cabin turned off, and the plane started tipping downwards. The oxygen masks dropped from the ceiling, and the emergency lights in the floor turned on. Realizing how dire the situation has become, I quickly went to wake up Ai, shaking her shoulder vigorously.
"Ai! You need to wake up now!" I shouted into her ear. Any normal person should've woken up by now, yet she remained lying in bed. "Violet! I said wake up! Are you okay?! Is something wrong?!"
I reached around her stomach, trying to get a hold of her so I could turn her over and force her up the bed. However, my hand slipped as a warm, slimy sensation coursed through my nerves. I managed to turn her so that she lied on her back instead of her side, but I couldn't see anything. I grabbed for my phone and quickly turning on its flashlight function. The moment I shone the light on Ai, I regretted my decision.
I hadn't noticed it before due to the dark red lights, but the entire area was covered with blood. My eyes glanced towards Ai's stomach where a broken champagne bottle had stabbed her multiple times. Her face was badly bruised, ruining the beauty that I saw not too long ago. The pupils of her dead eyes were dilated and her skin as white as now. I looked at my hands and noticed how bloody they were. My knuckles were swollen to great extents, and an image of me punching Ai flashed in my head. The Voices started screaming from the sight of my fiancé's corpse, and I started having a mental breakdown in the middle of this already chaotic situation.
"It's just a dream! It's just a dream! It's just a dream!" I told myself repeatedly.
I was going to repeat it another hundred times when the plane suddenly tipped forward and started a nosedive. I was lifted up off the ground and pinned to the wall behind me. Ai's body got launched towards me, pinning me against the wall. Initially, I couldn't move a single muscle due to the g-force. After a few seconds, my body's inertia caught up with the plane's and I was able to move my limbs and push Ai away from me. I made my way to the window, grappling on any fixed location to move myself. Upon looking out the window, I noticed a great ocean ahead of the plane, splitting the view of the sky that I had into two. I wasn't even able to count to five when we made contact with the water, blacking out my entire world.
Several hours later, Ninoy Aquino International Airport, Philippines 8PM
The nightmare I experienced rattled my brain. When I woke up from it near the end of our plane ride, I had jumped awake so quickly that I startled Ai right next to me. She accidentally dropped her glass of champagne, but she managed to break its fall with a soft kick and prevented it from shattering on the floor. She asked if I was all right, and so I told her about the nightmare I had. When I told her about it, she wrapped my head in a warm hug whilst burying my face in her chest. 'We'll be fine' she told me back then.
As she had told me, landing was much rougher than take-off. Thanks to some meditation to calm my mind, I was able to bare through the bumpiness of the ride as the pilots landed the massive aircraft we were in. Just like how we were amongst the first to get in the plane, we were the first to get out. I kept all the amenities that I could take with me per suggestion of Ai, putting on some cologne before getting off the plane.
Customs didn't take too long since we were first to get out. However, when we were putting away our identification and return tickets back into our carriers, a whole horde of people appeared out of nowhere and made the once silent room loud with chaos. Our flight seemed to be fully booked as around eight-hundred people flooded into customs. Neither the foreigner and citizen lines were safe as there were equally as many in both, though the latter will obviously progress faster due to legal circumstances.
The first-class and suite-class passengers all advanced to the baggage claim area which took quite a while to start sending out the passengers' bags. Our group of twenty quickly turned into nearly a hundred by the time the first bag was sent out. It seemed that the baggage was not sent out by class either, as some of the business and even economy passengers got their bags before we did. Three minutes after the first bag came out, I found my single grey luggage bag. It took us another five minutes to finally pick up Ai's bag. When I went to get both bags from the conveyor belt, I felt many eyes staring intently at the both of us. No doubt it was because of Ai's upper-class aura. I grew cautious of the envious, almost murderous, eyes of the other passengers, so I made sure Ai stuck close to me and that I would be monitoring her luggage while she took care of mine. Afterwards, we made our way out to rendezvous with Vincent, who apparently sent someone to come pick us up.
Walking out of the airport was even worse, as there were nearly ten times the amount of people waiting for family and friends outside than there were arriving passengers inside. I saw many Filipinos who looked at the two of us with rather shocked faces. I saw some gossiping, pointing and even following us as we traversed through the horde of people. Ai also grew weary of all the people staring at us, and so we decided to pick up our pace slightly. I now understood why celebrities needed a team of bodyguards in airports and other high-traffic public areas.
We tried going into a less populated zone in the terminal, but the only thing we did was attract more attention. We soon had a noticeable group following us. Some of them were taking pictures, making me conscious about my appearance but also of Ai's discomfort. Even worse were the suspicious individuals wearing baggy clothing, hats and face masks that had been stalking us since we arrived. When the looming presence of our stalkers grew too unbearable for Ai, we headed for the exit doors and took cover in the even more crowded exterior of the airport.
The air stank of the usual city smell, though it was far more prominent compared to downtown Tokyo. The streets were slightly dirty and worn at some parts, making the night scene even more unpleasant to the eyes. The pillars holding up the overpass above us were smeared with dirt and graffiti, made worse by the dripping water from what appears to be a recent rain shower. It was far louder outside with all of the car horns and shouts from airport traffic aides. There were many people present who were both waiting for a ride or preparing to head inside for a flight. A handful of people on the other side of the street seemed to be advertising their tourism businesses to other foreigners. There were many available locations to grab a taxi or a traveling van, but I avoided all of them and tried to seek out a hiding place for me and Ai.
We quickly ran into a big problem as much of the exterior was filled with people. The crowd we were trying to hide amongst grew too thick at times, slowing our escape from our pursuers. The presence of our followers only seemed to make matters worse as I overheard some people ask others in English if we were celebrities. I was debating whether we should go back inside so that we had space to run, but they would definitely follow us in there too. I was losing all hope of trying to get rid of our crazed and delusional followers when I suddenly heard someone shout on my left.
"Mortifer!" the voice called out from the direction of the street.
We stopped in our tracks so that we could both turn and see who had called out my in-game name amongst the crowd of people in a foreign country. On the other side of a crosswalk, I spotted a lone girl waving frantically towards my direction. She was definitely of Filipino descent, and was dressed in business casual clothes as if she had just gotten off from work. When she acknowledged that I spotted her, she motioned for us to come to her with desperation painted on her face. She probably noticed that we were trying to escape the mass of people following us. Seeing that the traffic aide was about to temporarily close off the crosswalk to let cars pass, I picked up both of Ai's luggage carriers and lifted them off the ground. My arms strained from the weight, but I persevered and sprinted to the crosswalk with Ai following closely behind. We were midway across the street when the aide stopped anybody else from crossing, saving us from our stalkers.
"If it weren't for that huge crowd following you guys, I would never have noticed you guys," the girl spoke in clear English, though I detected a slight accent. "I was wondering if a celebrity arrived for there to be so many people to be moving as a group, but now I see why. Did Vincent not warn you guys about bringing expensive items and the sort to the Philippines?"
"No, he didn't… I'm assuming this will cause a very big problem, won't it?" I responded.
"In certain parts, it's close to a death sentence. However, you should be fine for the most part. Anyways, my name is Katherine. Katherine García. I'm Vincent's younger cousin. Now, let's hurry over to the van," she said as she took one of Ai's bags and carried it for me.
"Okay. Ai, let's go," I told her, dragging her along with her Gucci carrier.
"Ehh? What's happening?" she asked, bewildered. "I didn't understand any of what you guys just said! Can we please talk in Japanese!"
"I don't think she knows Japanese that well Ai. If I don't talk in English, how are we ever going to manage to get around here?"
"Ugh… I need to get an English tutor when I get back."
"Don't worry about it. Watching you complain about your lack of English skills is kind of cute," I said, smiling.
"Oh…" Ai mumbled, blushing slightly. "If you say so then…"
"Hurry you two! Vincent is waiting for you guys at your hotel!" Katherine shouted from ahead of us.
The three of us traversed the parking lot before stumbling upon a large white Toyota passenger van. Katherine unlocked the cars' doors and collapsed the back rows so that we could fit all of our luggage and carry-ons in the back without any problem. I headed for the left side of the car, planning to take the passenger seat to accompany Katherine while Ai sat behind us, but when I opened the door, I realized that I was at the driver's side.
"Unlike you guys in Japan and the United Kingdom, we drive on the right side of the road. You'll get used to it," Katherine teased me.
Feeling awkward and embarrassed, I went around the front and opened the passenger side door only to be met with a large bundle of papers and documents, along with a large handbag. As she was taking her seat, she looked at me apologetically, scratching her head before motioning me to go to the back with Ai. I closed the door and slid open the back one. I took a seat right next to Ai and relaxed as I got accustomed to the unique scent of the car.
"It's going to be around half an hour to get to the Peninsula Manila hotel from here, so just relax and enjoy the ride."
An hour later, the Peninsula Manila Hotel
"I've never seen a hotel with a security gate," I told Katherine as I passed through the gate scanner, hoping I didn't forget anything on my person..
"You'll find security guards everywhere in the Philippines. It's our method of keeping crime low, I guess," she explained to me while being frisked by a female cop. "Now, let's hurry up. Vincent's already waiting for you guys in your room."
"Seems like putting his name down helped out after all."
The three of us retrieved our belongings from the conveyor belt, and strolled into the hotel, greeted by many friendly faces. I already saw bits of the inside from the entrance, but upon passing the threshold, I was absolutely mind-blown.
The Yuzuki family home in Kyoto was beautiful compared to other traditional Japanese homes as its garden and mountainside location gave it natural beauty. The Yuzuki household in Setagaya was a very rare westernized mansion in the middle of the city, boasting its lavishness and grandeur to the relatively shabby homes around it. The plane ride we just had proved to be the most luxurious experience in my life with the champagne and world-class dishes being served to me several kilometers in the sky. However, the Peninsula Manila, whose front sign consisted of an imperial staircase waterfall fountain, topped both residences.
The lobby alone looked like the Yuzuki mansion. Dining tables dotted the room as the lobby was the hotel's restaurant as well. Many of the guests were dressed very exclusively like Ai, but I spotted a few people who dressed up as casual as I did. Waiters and waitresses dressed in very formal attire happily went around serving the guests. If they weren't busy, they would be conversing loudly amongst each other in their native language. A jazz band provided the people with entertainment on a second-floor balcony, getting much praise from the spectators. The three of us were quite stunned with the view, but we eventually broke out of the trance when one of the hotel staff members asked if he could be of assistance. The helpful man guided us to the receptionist's desk where I gave them all of the documents Shitori had given me.
"Here are the keys to your suite Mr. Kirigaya," the lady receptionist said, giving me the keys while pointing to the man who helped us get to the desk. "I believe your friend is already waiting for you in the room. Mr. Reyes here will guide you to the suite room. Welcome to the Philippines, and please enjoy your stay in the Peninsula!"
Our guide Mr. Reyes politely bowed towards us while he began leading us through the maze that is the Peninsula. We ascended to the second floor and walked down a lengthy hallway, passing by many rooms in the process. The noise of the band faded in the distance, leaving only the sound of our footsteps and the wheels of our carriers. We eventually made a turn into a smaller hallway that ended with a foyer to a unique double-door room. The doors were already open so our guide left without having to go through the trouble of unlocking the door. The three of us walked into the extravagant suite room, closing the door behind us to keep us hidden from possible peering eyes. A Yamaha grand piano sat in the room along with a very symmetrical furniture layout. The windows reached from the floor to the ceiling, giving us a full view of the city around us. On a tabletop next to the entrance, was a bucket of ice, a bottle of champagne, and three wine glasses for our taking.
I took a glass and poured myself a drink. Ai and Katherine followed my actions, relieving themselves of the luggage we were carrying the whole time. I made my way to the middle of the room to take a seat on the sofa. Before I did, I spotted a small backpack resting near the end of the couch. As I turned my gaze towards it, I caught a glimpse of something in the corner of my eye. I turned my head towards the direction of the object and found a man standing next to the window, looking down to the streets below as he swirled around the contents of his champagne glass.
"Despite all the years I've spent living here and passing by this place whenever I'm here in Metro Manila, I've never stepped foot in any of these five-star luxury hotels. I've always dreamed of living a life of grandeur like those in the upper-class. I never expected to reunite with you here of all places. You really went all out on this trip, didn't you Katsumoto?"
The man turned around, revealing a very familiar face. Despite the similar face structure, voice, and posture, my mind almost tricked me into thinking it was someone else as his hair was drastically different from what it was six years ago. The extremely short, nearly buzz cut hairstyle, differed greatly from his long flowing hair back then. He wasn't wearing his glasses, making his eyes seem much bigger than ever. The most noticeable change was his size, as he grew quite noticeably in both height and muscle. Other than his face, he looked nothing like the scrawny Filipino kid from back then.
"It's nice to see you again, Katsumoto," he greeted in Japanese. He walked towards me before turning his attention to Ai. "Ah, you must be the girlfriend he spoke of. My name is Vincent. Vincent Bautista. May I ask what your name is?"
"Yuzuki Ai," she timidly responded. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Bautista-san"
"Please, just call me Vincent. If I may ask, are you fluent in English or can at least understand it to an extent?"
Ai shook her head in response, causing Vincent slight disappointment though he quickly hid it with a smile.
"That's fine if you can't. I can still speak and understand Japanese quite well despite the lengthy hiatus, and we have Katsumoto to clear up any misunderstandings. I must say that Katsumoto has managed to catch a real beauty, and a rich one at that."
"Oh, please… I'm not that pretty," Ai blushed. "All of this is just make-up."
"Then I bet I'll see something much prettier underneath that mask of yours. Plus, I'm sure Katsumoto prefers girls with no make-up. Isn't that right?"
"Yeah, I do. Though I do care a lot more about personality."
"That's what they always say," Ai muttered under her breath while looking to the side out of embarrassment.
"Vincent, I'll be heading back home," Katherine stated, setting the half-empty glass down. "Will we see you for dinner?"
"Maybe. I haven't decided yet. Don't you want to stay for a bit longer? We don't get to experience luxuries like this too often."
"I'll pass. I don't want to get used to this kind of living style in our current situation. Plus, I'd rather not ruin their honeymoon for my selfish wants."
Without saying anything else, Katherine left the suite with haste, making Vincent a bit concerned and disappointed. Her footsteps echoed in the empty corridor before being silenced behind closed doors.
"Sorry about that. She gets jealous quite easily, and she's a bit grumpy right now. Today hasn't been too great for her…" Vincent weakly voiced out, giving me a feeling as if he had something to do with it.
"Why? What—"
Ai was about to ask a question, but knowing what it was going to be, I stopped her. I gave her a look to let it go since it didn't seem like Vincent would even want to answer. The way she stormed out told me something must've happened between the two of them, but I didn't want to intrude and decided to respect their privacy, making Ai do the same. Vincent gave me a weak smile, silently thanking me for stopping Ai, and I nodded my head to him.
"Anyways, welcome to the Philippines. Right now we're in the city of Makati, the richest and most developed in the country. This will probably be the safest and cleanest place you'll find in the Philippines that is inhabited, but I can't make any guarantees, especially with… that..." Vincent said as he pointed at both Ai and her luggage, noticing her very expensive attire. "It's my fault for not mentioning to not bring any valuables with you. But then again, I never expected you guys would bring any items of value."
"I-I'm sorry for causing so much trouble… I-I didn't want to ruin the trip for myself, so I packed all of this. I didn't know it would be like this," Ai apologized.
"Well, as long as you guys be careful out in public. Thankfully, this city isn't as prone to theft as some others are due to the security, but that doesn't stop the most experienced, greedy and reckless of robbers. Now that I think about it, the same could be said for any place, so just scratch of everything except my warning to be careful."
"I'm already cautious enough to begin with, but anything I should really look out for?" I asked him as I looked out the window to admire the nightlife of the city.
"I'd automatically avoid taxi drivers with face masks on. Even so, be careful of taxi cabs in general. If you find yourself feeling unusually nauseous during your ride, either roll down the window or jump out right away. It's possible they drugged the air conditioning with chloroform or something of the sort."
"They can do that?!" Ai exclaimed, surprised at the methods of criminals.
"This is the dark underground world of criminal scumbags we're talking about here. They're not here to play nice. It's just so unfortunate that there's so much corruption in this country to be unable to fix itself. It's not something as bad as Afghanistan or Syria, but we're definitely not as peaceful as Iceland."
"I don't think it's fair to compare the peacefulness of a country like Iceland to a developing country hundreds of times larger." I pointed out to Vincent, making him chuckle slightly.
"I guess you're right about that. Anyways, you get the general idea, but I suppose you're not staying in the mainland for long anyway."
"We'll be in the Philippines until the beginning of September when summer break ends for Ai. We'll be staying here to spend time with you, but we're going to this island called Siargao in a week and a half and spend most of our time there. We already made a reservation at the Nay Palad Hideaway."
"Nay Palad?! Man… And I thought I was going to need to help you guys out with some money spending… Exactly how big is your budget for this trip?" Vincent asked me, stupefied at my travel plans.
"This trip is a gift from Ai's father. Since it's a gift for the both of us, he's willing to pay for a lot of money, but he didn't really specify how much. He gave me over ten million Yen worth of spending money for this trip, and that's not even including the amount we're paying for hotels, activities and such."
"You make even the richest of Filipinos seem average in comparison," Vincent shuddered. "Now, are you guys planning on doing anything tomorrow? I was thinking I'd give you guys a tour around the city and maybe eat out somewhere."
"Well, I thought that we'd spend our first day just sightseeing and looking for activities in the hotel. They apparently have some nice restaurants on the ground floor, a spa, pool and something called a jeepney that gives us a tour around the city. But, since you offered, we may as well take it. What do you think Ai?"
"I-I kind of want to see how life is like here. I think I heard Katherine-san say something about coming to dinner? If she was talking about having dinner at your place, then I would love to do so!" Ai answered, showing great enthusiasm. Vincent, however, looked concerned.
"Oh, uh, about that… I don't think we have enough space for you guys," Vincent stated. "I live with both my grandparents and my cousin's family, so we won't have enough space on the table."
"How many siblings does she have?" I asked, wondering how big their families were to not have space.
"She… Doesn't have siblings… We really just don't have the space."
His strange answer piqued my interest even more, but I decided not to dwell on it any longer. I shrugged my shoulders and expressed my desire to stop the conversation to Ai by holding her hand and shaking my head slightly. She nodded her head in response.
"That's fine then. I guess tomorrow we'll take a tour around the city and maybe go shopping. Are there any shopping malls nearby?" I asked.
"Go and check Greenbelt. It's walking distance from here, though if you guys want to go on some crazy shopping adventure, you can take a cab to some SM Megamall, SM Mall of Asia or SM City North EDSA."
"Is this SM thing some major retailing company here in the Philippines?"
"They're not just into retail. They're one of the largest Philippine conglomerates and are known for their shopping malls. The three I named you are the three biggest malls in the Philippines. I'm sure you'll have fun there, but if you're looking to shop for clothes, I think the Greenbelt should do. Anyways, is that all you need from me today? I really need to get back now."
Vincent went over to the couch and picked up the backpack that had been sitting there. He swung it over his back and checked his wristwatch for the time. He pulled out his phone and started frantically texting on it.
"If you need to go Vincent, just go," I urged him. "Your family should come first before everything else."
"That's kind of ironic coming from you, but I can tell you've changed so I'm not going to tease you any more than that. Goodbye, Ai-chan, Katsumoto."
"Goodbye, Vincent-san. See you tomorrow!" Ai smiled, waving as she watched the man sprint out of the hotel room. His footsteps boomed loudly down the hallway but quickly became too far to be heard. "He seems like a really nice guy."
"He's changed a lot since then, but yeah, he's the nicest guy I've ever met. So, what do you want to do for the rest of the night?"
"I'm getting a bit hungry. How about we go to that French restaurant in the hotel?"
The next day, the Greenbelt
To Ai's dismay, I refused to share the bed with her last night and slept on the couch. In return, I promised her that I would share the bed with her when we get to Siargao. I'm sure I will regret making that promise later on, but I had no choice if I wanted to keep her happy with our vacation.
We woke up at around 10 o' clock in the morning to go shopping. Since it was a weekend, the mall was crowded with locals and tourists alike. The Greenbelt was an insanely large shopping mall, bigger than the Aeon Laketown in Koshigaya. Not only that, but it was also connected to another massive shopping mall complex called Glorietta as the latter was located in the same Ayala Center. Seeing the malls and our hotel alone reinforced Vincent's statement about Makati being the richest city in the country.
Vincent specifically recommended us Greenbelt due to its high-end boutiques. Before we even entered the mall, we had to go through a security gate for our personal handbags to be checked. It seemed to be a common trend for nearly all of Makati as I even saw smaller stores with security guards on duty. Fortunately, Ai only carried a small Gucci purse, fearing the possibility of yesterday's events repeating itself.
"That breakfast buffet really was one of the best I've had in my life," Ai declared as she munched on a bread snack called Pan de Sal. "Are we going to walk back to the hotel to try the afternoon tea set, or do you think we should try some local food?"
"I feel like we should do all of the local tourism with Vincent by our side, or some sort of guide." I answered in response. "Vincent offered us a tour around the city, but if something happens, we can always just utilize the hotel-given tours. With that said, carrying all these bags does get tiring you know…"
I held up the five bags of clothes Ai had bought from the various stores in the mall. Four of the bags were packed to the brim while the fourth had only one article of clothing. This isn't even including the stuff I bought for myself, which is just a bag of plain t-shirts of black and white colors. With the prices being lower in comparison to Japan and our absurdly enormous budget, I didn't think it was a problem for me to add another twelve shirts to my closet back at home. Even if we ran out of space to put these newly bought clothes, Ai already planned on buying another luggage carrier for us to use in the future. Seeing as to how quickly Ai spent money without giving it much thought scared me as to how she would fare in the future when we get married. After all, I've never worked before, and I'm going to be living with someone who spends tens of thousands of Yen a day on just clothes.
"Don't be such a baby…" Ai teased me, stuffing a whole piece of bread in my mouth. "You're Kirigaya Katsumoto. How can you be defeated by some paper bags?"
"It's more annoying rather than painful." I said as I munched on the bread. "I wish we could call our hotel butler to come bring this stuff back to our hotel room. You may not have any noticeably expensive belongings with you, but carrying this many bags kind of attracts its own threats like pickpockets. I still don't even understand how you found so many clothes to buy so quickly. It's only been two hours since we started shopping."
"Typically I already have an idea in my mind as to what I want. While I focus on buying the clothing for the outfit I have in mind, I look at other clothes to see what other outfits I can make from it. I may have five bags for myself but I've only completed one outfit."
"Man… You really are some fashion maniac. At least it's better than someone who spends hours in one store only to buy nothing."
"Alright no more complaining. Let's head back to—oh my god, a Burberry store!"
Ai broke off into a mild sprint as she spotted the British luxury fashion store, leaving me behind in the middle of a crowd who gave me weird looks. I bit my lip to suppress a shout of frustration before working to steady my breathing. I ignored the stares from the locals and tourists around me and made haste to the Burberry store.
"And this is why I hate shopping with people…" I muttered under my breath.
A few hours later, the Peninsula Manila Hotel Lobby
"MMMhmmm! You have to try this!" Ai squealed as she tasted the hotel's renowned Halo-Halo, a famous Filipino dessert.
I held up my finger, asking for a moment as I was still munching on the English scones. Ai readied a spoonful of the kakigori-esque dish and, as soon as I finished swallowing, forced the spoon inside of my mouth to taste. I was instantly hit with a blast of icy sweetness as a mix of ice cream, fruits and beans. The milk of the desert was filled with the flavors of the contents mixed around, enhancing the taste while also making it drinkable. This wasn't the first time I had this desert as I have had it before on special occasions such as Vincent's birthdays in the past. However, this was undoubtedly the best version I've had, no offense to Vincent's mom whom I learned all of my cooking skills from.
"Mhmm. You're right. This really is good," I exclaimed.
"Do you want to order another one?"
"I think I'll be fine. You can finish the rest of that. We still have a few things left of this afternoon tea set. To think the first time I'd indulge in a British custom is in an Asian country thousands of kilometers away…"
"But it does make it a bit more special," Ai smiled.
The hotel's afternoon tea set consisted of sandwiches, jammy dodgers, scones, quiches, and an assortment of pastries. The three-leveled serving tower was built and decorated beautifully. All the pastries rested on the top platter, while the scones and sandwiches are in each respective platter below. In addition to the traditional British snacks, the hotel served the set with their own brewed tea which was supposedly made by their tea masters.
Going against the traditional route of starting from the bottom with the sandwiches, Ai dove right into the sweet pastries at the top and afterwards, picked foods from all three levels at once. Preferring to be able to taste all food, I started with the sandwiches and avoided ruining my taste buds' experience with Ai's temptations to try out a certain pastry. Only the Halo-Halo managed to break through me, but that's due to the nostalgia of having tried it before.
"We probably should've had an actual lunch before trying the afternoon tea set," I pointed out to Ai. "Then again, we ate a lot at the breakfast buffet."
"We can have dinner here at the lobby again. Some of their entrees look quite appetizing," Ai noted. "We can try some more dishes from the Old Manila if you want to."
"Ugh… I don't want to have to dress up just to go to a restaurant. Plus, they barely let me pass with the clothes I had on. I knew we were staying at a luxury hotel, but I didn't think there'd be actual dress codes."
"Well, Escolta has already switched from their breakfast buffet to their lunch. By the time we get back, it'll be their dinner buffet. We can try that one instead."
"If you didn't notice already from how little I utilized the buffet this morning, I'm not good at buffets. They're just not my thing."
"Well then what and where do you want to eat then Mr. Picky? At this point, we may as well utilize our In-Room dining service and eat there."
"You know…" I began as I slowly munched on a scone. "That doesn't sound too bad… Our room has a good view, privacy and a lot of space. Maybe we can find a movie to watch tonight, or—"
"Do you know how to play the piano?" Ai interrupted, forcing a large slice of cake in my mouth. Unable to speak due to the abundance of food in my mouth, I raised my hand and tilted it from side-to-side, telling her that I could somewhat play the instrument. "Good. You can serenade me with some music. It doesn't matter what kind of song you play, I just want to hear you play the piano."
"H-Hold on…" I mumbled through the food I was eating. I quickly swallowed the rest and voiced my concerns clearly. "I can only really play one song on the piano. I never got actual lessons or anything. I was too busy studying, and practicing kendo and kyokushin."
"Well, your fault for being too picky when it comes to food. You want to eat at our dining room, so we'll eat there. In return, play me that one song you know on the piano. Not only that, but sing it too."
"Sometimes, you are just too unreasonable…"
"I don't want to hear that from you of all people!" Ai grumbled out, lightly punching me on the arm.
Later that night, inside the suite room
I used the hotel room's computer to catch up with the rest of the guild back at home. While we were out for vacation, I tasked them to take over all the guild activities and missions, giving Rizer and Zed access to the "business account" where all requests were sent. I allowed them to do any mission that didn't interfere with the politics of the Alfheim realm, as the aftermath of Mortimer's death led to the Salamanders taking significant damage to their economy and reputation. Due to the loss of massive funds, a massive increase in taxes was needed to recover the army's supplies lest they want to be attacked by the coalition of Lords. This somewhat backfired and caused an exodus of Salamander citizens to the neutral cities of Alfheim and Aincrad. Desiring peace, I removed assassination from our list of skills, and kept it to typical mercenary work.
The hotel suite's doorbell rang, and a series of knocks followed right after. Since Ai was still in the shower, I stood up from the chair and made my way to the doorway. When I opened the door, one of the hotel's many food runners greeted me with a bow.
"Your food is here, sir!" the bellhop announced, pushing in a golden catering cart. He brought the cart to the table and proceeded to set the table for me and Ai. He set down the covered service plates on the table as well as the ice bucket of champagne and wine glasses in the middle. "When you are finished with your meal sir, please place the dishes on this cart, which I will leave right outside of your room. If you need anything else, sir, please call for any one of us. Enjoy your meal!"
The food runner bowed once more before pushing the cart out of the room and leaving it in the hallway. He closed the doors behind him, giving us our privacy. Moments later, Ai came out of the bathroom with a bathrobe on. She was combing her wet hair as she made her way to me.
"Lucky you… A lot of people speak English in this country so you're not having as much of a problem as I am." Ai sighed. "All of the products and amenities are in English so I can't understand what they say. Thankfully, they are brands I can both trust and recognize."
"Be glad that they can speak English in the first place. Otherwise, we're screwed without Vincent," I told her. "Anyways, you want to eat now?"
"Let me put on some clothes first."
"Oh, come on. We're in a private room, and I'm your fiancé."
"Nope. I'm not going to ruin this dinner by wearing a bathrobe. Just give me a few minutes."
With that, Ai rushed into the master bedroom and closed the door behind her. I heard the sliding doors of the closet open and the sound of Ai opening her luggage to search for "adequate" clothes. I let out a long sigh and walked over to the lights in order to dim them. I made my way over to the table, eyeballing the Yamaha grand piano. I still didn't get why Ai wanted me to play one, but it's too late now to turn back. I just hoped my muscle memory will remember how to play the only song I learned. Otherwise, it would be quite embarrassing for me having claimed to know the song. If I fail, then I'll blame it on the fact that I haven't touched one in years.
I sat down in my chair, waiting patiently for Ai to return so that we could eat dinner and get this night over with. Around two minutes later, she came out of the bedroom wearing a loose white shirt that covered most of her short shorts. She took a seat in her chair and clapped both hands together.
"Let's eat! Itadakimasu!"
She quickly picked up her dining utensils and dug right into the food, not even waiting for me. I sighed, slightly annoyed at the fact that she made me wait so long, and now she won't even wait for me to be ready. Nonetheless, I picked up my own utensils and removed the cover of my plate, revealing my dish. Both of us chose a dish in the menu that was popular locally. While Ai settled for the braised lamb kaldereta, I opted for the chicken and pork adobo which I've seen Vincent eat in his packed lunches but never actually tried. I knew it was the Philippines' national dish, but that was all I knew.
"Why is everything here so good!" Ai exclaimed, increasing her pace.
"We're eating at a luxury hotel. Everything has to be good, otherwise this place would've fallen apart already," I told her.
"Oh, come on. You think it's good too, right?"
"Of course I think it's good, but that's because this is the first time I've ever had any sort of luxurious experience. You're probably going to ruin my taste buds with these places. I feel like at some point, I will only eat food covered in gold." I joked.
"Maybe we can go to the United States at some point. What's that place called where all the casinos and rich people live?"
"Ha… You guys may be rich, but I think even Las Vegas is too expensive for even you guys. I hear you can spend hundreds of thousands of yen pretty quickly there. The budget we have here is already plenty, so let's just enjoy our time here for now."
With my fork, I stabbed the chunks of meat and placed it in my mouth. The tender meat crumbled in my mouth, releasing a flavor bomb of juices inside. Mixed in with rice, it tasted even better. At first, I wanted to savor the dish, but my hunger overcame me and I quickly devoured my plate. Ai too quickly finished her dish within a few minutes. We cleaned up after ourselves and placed our dishes on the catering cart. I wanted to go back to the computer to keep checking on the guild, but Ai had already run over to the couch and settled down.
"Okay! Time to hear the one song you can play!" she exclaimed.
"Do I really have to? It'll be quite embarrassing if I mess up."
"Look, you wanted to eat inside our hotel room and you got it. We could've enjoyed a nice dinner at one of their restaurants or one outside of the hotel. There seems to be plenty of places to eat here, but you opted to stay put. I'm not going to eat anything in the future if you don't play that piano now."
"I'm pretty sure that's blackmail…"
"Well, you're in no situation to argue against it."
Ai gave me a mischievous smile, knowing that she will win the argument regardless if she will actually refuse to eat. I wished she didn't become so stubborn like me. It would've made things so much easier, but I guess it was my fault she became like that.
I made my way to the piano. The sight of it built my anxiety, yet as I approached it, it also seemed to fade away at the same time. I reached for the seat and pulled it back far enough to give myself space to sit. I spent a couple more seconds adjusting my seat so that I matched myself with the pedals and the middle C. As soon as I placed my fingers on the white keys, I felt my body relax completely as I suddenly flashed back to the time I finally managed to play this song flawlessly. Never having learned piano formally, I felt so accomplished when I did finish the song without making mistakes though it was only the slower acoustic version. Even now, I can't even imagine doing the faster-pace original.
However, what Ai wanted at the moment was what I knew how to play, and so I pushed down to get a feel of the piano's keys. A quiet sound reverberated through the room, indicating that I had to press harder for a fuller sound to be made. Though it seemed like a daunting task, I proceeded and placed my fingers at their starting positions. I let out a sigh and quickly looked at Ai.
"I think I'm ready… Are you?"
"Of course. Go on and serenade me."
I looked back at the piano, double-checking once again that my fingers were in the right spot. I took a deep breath and closed my eyes as I tried to channel the memories of the past. I pressed down on the keys to start the song's intro, and I took another breath as I started the first verse...
教えて 教えてよ その仕組みを 僕の中に誰がいるの?
壊れた 壊れたよ この世界で 君が笑う 何も見えずに
壊れた僕なんてさ 息を止めて
ほどけない もう ほどけないよ 真実さえ freeze
壊せる 壊せない 狂える 狂えない
あなたを見つけて 揺れた
歪んだ世界にだんだん僕は 透き通って見えなくなって
見つけないで 僕のことを 見つめないで
誰かが描いた世界の中で あなたを傷つけたくはないよ
覚えていて 僕のことを
鮮やかなまま
無限に広がる孤独が絡まる 無邪気に笑った記憶が刺さって
動けない 動けない 動けない 動けない 動けない 動けないよ
Unravelling the world
変わってしまった 変えられなかった
2つが絡まる 2人が滅びる
壊せる 壊せない 狂える 狂えない
あなたを汚せないよ 揺れた
歪んだ世界にだんだん僕は 透き通って見えなくなって
見つけないで 僕のことを 見つめないで
誰かが仕組んだ孤独な罠に 未来がほどけてしまう前に
思い出して 僕のことを 鮮やかなまま
忘れないで 忘れないで 忘れないで 忘れないで
変わってしまったことに paralyze
変えられないことだらけの paradise
覚えていて 僕のことを
教えて 教えて 僕の中に誰がいるの?
Sunday morning, Fort Santiago Intramuros, Manila Philippines
"This place is the Jose Rizal Museum, a museum dedicated to the national hero of the Philippines," Vincent explained. "He played a pivotal role in inspiring the Philippine Revolution against Spain. He didn't necessarily start the revolution, but he was executed for it anyway since his writings motivated the people. Think of it like the Enlightenment ideologies that inspired the revolutions of the 18th century like the American and French revolution."
"Vincent… The only type of history we learned in school is Japan's history. You really expect us to know what the hell Enlightenment means?" I complained. "Even if we learned some sort of world history, the Japanese government will always try to skew it in some way."
"You mean like how you guys keep denying that Nanjing ever happened?"
"D-Did… Did it happen though?" Ai chimed in, an expression of wonder painted on her face.
"Oh, you poor soul..." Vincent teased. "Anyways, he was executed by a firing squad for his supposed crimes of rebellion, and he basically became a martyr. A giant statue of him is over at Rizal Park, a couple minutes away by car. Or, we can burn off some energy and walk over there in twenty or so minutes. There will definitely be some food vendors that we can try on our way there."
"You want to see the statue?" I asked her.
"Well… It's not like I don't want to see it, but I find walking around for some local street food more enjoyable. If there's some on the way, then I'm fine."
"If it's food you want, we can walk all the way to Quiapo Market. It's half an hour away, but there is plenty of local foods we can try over there. We can stop by Jollibee on our way there too if you want," Vincent suggested.
"Are we supposed to know what that is?" I said, reminding him of our lack of knowledge about anything Filipino related.
"Ah, right… Jollibee is the most popular fast-food chain here in the Philippines, even more so than McDonalds. The place is known for its fried chicken, which is a quite popular fast-food item here in the Philippines. Its popularity caused McDonalds to also do fried chicken, and gave KFC a run for its money. However, the place also has some pretty good burgers and some other foods. Oh, its Halo-Halo is pretty good too."
"Is it as good as the one we had in the Peninsula hotel?" Ai asked.
"That I don't know. Like I said, I've never actually been to any of those luxury hotels. It is far too expensive to get a meal in one of its restaurants, even more so for getting a room for a single night." Vincent shrugged. "Anyways, you guys want to head over there?"
"Why not? All of the food here I've tried so far has been pretty good. I wouldn't mind getting some street food."
Vincent smiled rather mischievously and motioned for us to follow him.
"Well, come on then. You guys are in for a ride."
An hour later, Quiapo Market
"Um…" Ai squeaked as she looked at the egg. "What did you say this was again?"
"How can we explain that it's duck embryo without scaring her out of it?" Vincent asked me.
"How am I supposed to know? You're our guide here, and I'm also a little weirded out by this." I shrugged in response.
"Man… It's an incomplete, boiled duck embryo. Basically, there's a baby duck inside of there."
"You guys eat this? Is it safe to eat? Will the duck feel anything?"
"The duck is already dead. It wasn't really alive in the first place since it wasn't born, but it had the potential for life. Jeez, that alone made me feel like I'm in some pro-life vs. pro-choice debate. But no, it won't feel anything. I'll be honest, I don't really like balut, but you can't have a real Filipino street food experience without having at least one. Seeing that you're this Japanese princess who was given the best of the best, I highly doubt you'd like this."
"Well, here goes nothing…"
Per Vincent's prior instructions, Ai drank some of the juices that flowed out from the egg. Ai made a face full of discomfort, but she didn't gag. She then took a bite out of the egg, and started to chew slowly. The face of discomfort slowly disappeared and she soon started to chew normally.
"Well… It isn't as bad as I一"
Ai spoke before she gagged, causing me to rush over to her and take the egg away. Upon looking at it, that's when I saw the face of the underdeveloped duck staring back at me. I knew now why she gagged and the sight made my stomach churn slightly as well.
"I think it was a mistake to try this out Vincent," I told him, giving him the egg as even I no longer wanted to try it.
"Well, I don't blame you guys," Vincent laughed nervously, worried for Ai. He endured eating his own egg while throwing Ai's in the trash and giving mine away to someone else who was in line at the vendor. "Have some water. Halo-Halo would be better for removing the taste, but since we've run out, you'll just have to settle with water."
Vincent handed Ai a bottle of water who finished a quarter of it before putting the lid back on and giving it back to Vincent to stash in his bag full of water bottles.
"Why exactly did we need to buy a full bundle of water bottles again? I get that we're walking, but doesn't this place have public water fountains or something of the sort?" I asked.
"Pfft. Hahahaha!" Vincent bursted out laughing, causing me to recoil due to surprise and embarrassment as I knew he was laughing at me. "Oh dear! If you knew even just a little about Filipino culture, you'd realize having a public water fountain that provides free water is a financial disaster waiting to happen. Even if the government could afford it, there's a reason why we're buying bottled water for you guys. If you drink the water here, your stomach is not going to have a fun time as it's not used to the bacteria living inside the water. Plus, our water filtration and cleansing process isn't really top-tier. I thought you researched this Katsumoto-san?"
"I researched the different locations and hotels we would be visiting as well as some local activities we could do. The other stuff I figured I would get from you."
"Well, not wrong but I don't know everything about the Philippines. I definitely don't know anything about Siargao other than its massive tourism industry, so good luck there. Anyways, just know to not drink the water here unless it has been bottled up. You guys ready to continue our street food journey?"
"Ai?" I asked her since she was really the only one we were waiting on.
"I… I think I'm good to go now. Let's find some other stuff to eat."
Over the course of nearly two hour, we tried a variety of street foods all while trying to squeeze through the tiny gaps we would find amongst the enormous crowd of people. We tried flame-grilled pig and chicken intestine, a weird yet interesting combination of green mango and shrimp paste, fried quail eggs, a caramelized brown sugar banana, some sort of fried banana egg roll, a variety of rice and noodle dishes, different sorts of chicken and pork dishes, a sweet tofu dessert called Taho, and a whole bunch of coconuts to drink along with it. At times we would share the item amongst the three of us due to the quantity or because we just wanted to try it. Other times, we just couldn't get enough of something and got more of it.
"Why do you guys like vinegar so much?" Ai asked since many of the food vendors always had the same type of vinegar sauce: vinegar mixed with sliced onions and chillies.
"Filipinos love sweet and sour flavors in food. Personally, I don't like vinegar that much. I only add vinegar to select foods like fried pork skin一chicharon if you must," Vincent explained. "Other than this vinegar sauce, the next most popular sauce has to be soy sauce mixed with chillies and lime juice. I enjoy that one more than the other, but I usually just eat things plain, with banana ketchup or this condiment brand called Mang Tomas."
"Banana ketchup? First time I heard of that before. What does it taste like?" Ai asked, showing great interest as she took a bite of her sugar-covered banana.
"Continuing with the love of sweetness in Filipino cuisine, it's a sweeter tasting ketchup. I highly prefer it over regular tomato ketchup, but that's probably because of my Filipino taste buds. I don't exactly remember if this is true or not, but I think it was invented because we were heavily lacking tomatoes to make ketchup during World War 2, so bananas were used instead because of the surplus. Nowadays, all you see around here is banana ketchup."
"You guys sure know how to be creative and intuitive," I complimented them, taking a sip of coconut juice.
"Yup, we sure do. Anyways, it's getting late now, so we should probably get a taxi ride back. I'll call for one now."
While Vincent pulled out his phone to call for a cab, I turned to Ai who was finishing the last of her banana. I offered her the rest of my coconut as I couldn't finish it myself. While we did walk for quite a while, I think we ate a lot more calories than we burned. I wouldn't be surprised if she and I put on a few kilograms once we get back home to Japan.
"What was your favorite?" she asked me.
"Um… Probably what Vincent called sisig. I guess it's not really traditional street food, but it was still really good. I can't wait to try ones made in actual restaurants. What was yours?"
"I think he called it lechon kawali? It was that crispy fried pork belly we had. It was so good!"
"If you think that one was good, then you guys should try to see if you can get your hands on regular lechon. If there's any Filipino dish I enjoy more than any other, it is a whole pig roasted on an open fire," Vincent barged in as he put his phone back into his pocket. "If you guys have time to go to Cebu, you could get some of the best pork in the world, quoted by Anthony Bourdain himself. I'm sure you guys can get some high-quality lechon elsewhere with all that money you guys have, but just a suggestion. Anyways, the cab will arrive in a few minutes, but there's some unusually high traffic on our way back. The ride back to your hotel will take more than an hour."
"Damn, more than an hour? Didn't it take us like half an hour to get to Fort Santiago?"
"Philippine traffic一can't do much about it."
Nearly two hours later, Peninsula Manila
"Ugh, finally here…" Ai complained. "I thought I wouldn't be able to eat dinner anymore, but I guess we didn't actually eat a lot of things that were very filling."
"You got that right… You want to eat in our room again, or go to some restaurant?" I asked her as I held the taxi door open for her.
"Let's eat out. You want to come to Vincent-san?"
"I, uh… I need to head back home to my cousin. She's already done preparing dinner and I'm running late because of the traffic," Vincent explained.
"Is it too rude to ask if we can join you? I want to see how you guys live your life here in the Philippines."
Ai's question caught Vincent off-guard, but he did well to hide it. While she may not have noticed it, I saw the hint of worry in his face, telling me that he may not have been comfortable with it. I briefly remembered the time when Vincent told us that they didn't have enough space for me and Ai in their home which further solidified my theory of their lifestyle. Despite the city of Makati being a metropolis that rivals even some parts of Japan, whenever we leave the outskirts of this city, I noticed the drastic change in the lifestyle. Just like any place, there will always be some bad parts. To the locals, it may appear to be the norm, but for myself and Ai, it was a completely different world.
"Vincent, we'll only come to your home if you're comfortable in us doing so," I reassured him, trying to ease the difficulty of his decision. He scratched his head before letting out a long sigh.
"Well, I did drag you to this country, so not letting you guys see my home is rather rude of me. Let me just warn you now that Katherine is not going to be happy," Vincent warned. He then turned to the cab that was about to drive off before calling him back: "Sir! Sorry, but can you drive us somewhere else again?"
"Dapat na sa bahay na ako... Merong kabang pera?" The driver responded in his native language. "Five-hundred pesos as far as J.P Rizal."
"Doon lang sa area ng cementerio. Sa Shopwise."
"Puede. Five-hundred pesos lang."
"You guys have cash on you right? The fee will be 500 pesos." Vincent asked us.
"Here you go," Ai said, looking through her wallet before handing Vincent five one-hundred peso bills.
Vincent handed the money to the driver who then signaled us to come back inside. We went back inside the cab and headed to Vincent's home.
Fifteen minutes later, Vincent's home
Even though the cab could've dropped us off at Vincent's house directly, Vincent suggested that we walk to his home so that we could see how life is in the neighborhood he grew up in both as a kid and as a teenager. Even as we walked down the busy roads, the putrid smell of garbage lingered in the air. The sidewalks roads were quite undeveloped and even broken at some parts, forcing us to walk around it via the middle of the road, though Vincent had been doing so as if it were a habit. We passed by a few stores along the way, their owners eyeballing us though smiling once Vincent waved at them. We passed by a few streets before we finally entered one of them.
With the side of the street being occupied by parked cars and the sidewalks, the remaining space was barely wide enough to fit in one car. I saw an abundance of tricycles along the street, the most common form of public transport other than the larger jeepneys. Almost all homes had walls of solid concrete, either left in its dull grey color, or painted with some vibrant colors you'd see in Spanish-style homes. The roofs were mostly made of old metal plates, some of them not even properly on the roofs themselves. Many windows and doors were replaced with iron bars and gates, some of them having a regular window or door behind them as well. Stray cats and dogs littered the streets and tried to scavenge the dinners of the people around them. Little kids in their bare feet and tattered clothes, some even shirtless, were playing tag in the middle of the street, running around us or even between us whenever we blocked their way. The adults were off doing their own thing with the females cooking food or washing clothes and the males talking with each other whilst drinking beer. Once again, people eyeballed us but stopped once they saw and greeted Vincent, who simply smiled back and waved.
"My house down this alleyway," Vincent said as he turned into a narrow dark alleyway between two large houses. "Oh and uh... I trust the people around here, but keep an eye on your things still."
The warning was mostly directed to Ai, who was experiencing the biggest culture shock ever. I could tell what she was thinking by her facial expressions alone. As someone who has lived nothing but a luxurious life, she had never seen poverty of this level. Seeing the happy faces of the people around her confused her even more because this lifestyle was almost unbearable for her to live through, being the rich girl that she is. That being said, I too was shocked at how people lived here, but I knew in the back of my head that this wasn't the worst of it.
We walked down the narrow alleyway, passing by people sleeping on worn mats or plastic chairs. The alleyway was uneven and weathered but that didn't stop people from putting some plant pots and clothing racks along it. We passed by some doors on either side of the wall until we eventually reached the far end of the alleyway. Hiding in the darkest corner of the alleyway, an even narrower staircase led to the upper floors of the building on our left.
"It's up here. Just watch your step. The floors are still kind of wet from the storm two days ago," Vincent cautioned as he held on tightly to the railings.
I held onto the railings whilst turning back to take a hold of Ai's hand as well in case she slipped. The steps were indeed still wet and they were abnormally steep to the ones I'm used to back at home. After climbing one flight of stairs, we climbed up once more before ending at the third floor of the building. There was but a single lonely brown door with a small door knocker in the middle. Vincent took out his keys and unlocked the door. He motioned for us to be quiet before proceeding to enter his home. We quietly followed behind him, entering a small hallway as narrow as the staircase.
"Vincent? Is that you?" Katherine's voice called out.
"Yes?" Vincent responded. He motioned for us to stay put while he went ahead to greet his cousin.
"You're almost two hours late. Dinner's already cold."
"I know, I'm sorry… Traffic was really bad earlier. We had to go from Quiapo Market back to Ayala."
"How much longer are they staying here? No, how many more times are you going to meet up with them?"
"I… I don't know. A couple more times?"
"Please, Vincent… Can you just let them do their own thing? You're not going to be here for much longer. I allowed you to cancel our anniversary plans because I thought it was just going to be a one-time thing. Can you please just stay home with me for once?"
Upon hearing the word anniversary, I quickly grew confused. What kind of anniversary did Vincent miss for the sake of being with us?
"I… I…" Vincent stammered.
"Please promise me that you'll be here all day tomorrow," Katherine begged, her voice sounding as if she were on the verge of tears.
"I… I can—"
"If she wants you to stay, then stay Vincent," I finally spoke, walking out of the hallway and into the smallest living-dining-kitchen room combination I have ever seen.
The living room consisted of a small couch-bed facing an old box TV. The TV was sitting on top of a dresser with some missing drawers with the remaining ones being filled to the brim with clothes. Right next to the couch was a small plastic round table. While it appeared only capable of fitting one person, three chairs were placed next to it. That alone was the entire dining room, as right next to it was the small kitchen that consisted of only a sink, fridge and a gas-powered stove. There were cabinets above the sink for dishes and food items, but otherwise, that was it for the kitchen. In fact, other than the door labeled bathroom next to the sink, I think that was it for the house. There were no bedrooms, no windows, no closet or anything. I was astonished as to how Vincent and Katherine lived like this, but I knew that Ai was even more shocked than I was. When she walked out of the hallway and laid her eyes upon the rest of the house, she was almost on the verge of tears.
"What are they doing?!" Katherine cried out, both anger and sadness in her voice. "I thought I told you to not bring them here!"
"Katherine, please, calm down," Vincent attempted but she pushed him away.
"No! Get out of here now!"
Scared to argue against her, I attempted to back off only to be blocked by Ai, who was frozen in place, tears still forming in her eyes.
"Get out now before I call the police! Get out n—"
Before Katherine could continue, Vincent turned her around and pulled her into a kiss, surprising me even more. She desperately tried to push him away, but Vincent stayed strong and refused to let her go. Vincent had a pained expression on his face, one filled with regret. They continued to kiss until Katherine finally grew weak and fell to her knees, bringing Vincent down along with her. Katherine was now crying into his shoulders, and Vincent comforted her by rubbing her back and stroking her hair. He then looked at the two of us before speaking.
"As you can see, we're not cousins. That was just an act that we came up with since Katherine wanted little to nothing to do with you guys at the start. Katherine is my girlfriend, but I haven't been a good partner to her recently ever since I reunited with you. She hasn't had… Can I tell them?"
For a short period, Katherine couldn't respond and continued to cry on his shoulder. Eventually, she composed herself enough to at least respond with a stressed nod, unable to voice out her answer.
"Just like me, she was born here in the Philippines but her family moved out to the United States in search of a better life. However, she lost her father to a factory accident, then her mother from a combination of grief and overworking. She didn't have a good school life either because she got bullied for being poor and different from the other girls over there. Like many others, she hates those with wealth in this world, but she's also jealous of them, so please, understand her struggles. She tried her best to hide it when she picked you guys up at the airport, but because it was, unfortunately, our anniversary, I asked a little too much of her."
"Vincent… You should be prioritizing her first. Don't worry about us. I can't believe you canceled your anniversary plans just to help me and Ai… I—"
Before I could continue, Ai brushed past me and kneeled beside the two. She tugged on Katherine's shirt sleeve to get her attention, and when she did, Ai proceeded to grab ahold of her hand and enveloped it within both of her own. Tears ran down both of their faces, but Katherine no longer had a saddened expression but rather one of surprise.
"Katsumoto… Can you translate for me? I want to tell her something," Ai croaked out.
"Yeah… I'll translate," I told her. Ai proceeded to talk slowly while I relayed the message back to Katherine in English.
"In her words... I'm sorry for what happened to you. What happened was very tragic, and I can't imagine losing my parents that way in a foreign country. I know that some of the rich people can be arrogant and condescending, but I hate those people too. When I was part of my school's student council, I used my power to keep the upper-class girls from bullying the ones in the lower-class. Even to this day I don't want to be called a rich girl because it makes it seem like I don't have to work for anything with my future being paved for me already. I'm sorry for ruining your anniversary with Vincent, and I want to make it up to you guys. I want you two to join us on our honeymoon trip."
The words shocked all of us. My initial shock came when she understood Vincent's story despite it being in English, and the latter shock came from the offer of letting them join us on our honeymoon trip.
"No, no, no we can't do that. This is your trip and your money. We can't possibly do that to you guys," Vincent quickly responded.
"I'll tell my father about it and he should be fine with it. No, he has to be fine with it." Ai countered, further solidifying her resolve to bring them along on our trip. "Tonight, if you guys want to, we can head over to the Peninsula hotel right now and have our dinner there instead of here. You can even take the master bedroom. We'll sleep in the smaller bedrooms."
"What is she saying?" Katherina asked. Vincent translated the message to her, and the already shocked expression grew even more shocked. "I… I don't know what to say."
"Please. After seeing how the people here live their lives, I can't imagine myself doing the same. With how I live my life now, I feel bad that you guys have to live like this. So please, even if it's just until the two of us go back to Japan, I want to get to know you guys better and let you guys experience this lifestyle."
Vincent once again translated the message, and the three of us were left speechless. Ai's desperation was not faked. She sincerely wanted to bring them on our trip out of pity. After hearing her words, I too wanted them to tag along, but at the same time, I was afraid of Katherine's response due to her story showing her animosity towards those of the upper-class, but thankfully, that wasn't the case.
"If… if you really insist… I would like to join you guys…"
Ai smiled brightly, and with tears still streaming down her face, she pulled Katherina into a hug. Surprised at first, Katherine succumbed to the hug and hugged her back. When they ended their hug, they held each other's hands and stood up from the floor.
"Vincent-san… Sorry, but can you call for another cab?"
Half an hour later, back at the Peninsula Manila room
"So… You're trying to tell me that the projected cost of the trip is likely going to double from this point onward?" Shitori's voice spoke loudly from my phone as I had put it on speaker.
"Yeah… Ai said she was going to talk to you personally, but she's gone off with our friend to get a massage," I told him, looking back at Vincent, who was still trying to decide what he wanted for dinner. "I figured the sooner I talk to you, the better. So, in case you get caught off-guard by the increase in the already high expenses of our trip, now you know."
"You know, this trip was only supposed to be between the two of you…" His voice quaked, giving me a sense of foreboding. "This was supposed to be your one wish that you spent with my daughter, but it seems I may need to take two of your five now."
"I-I understand… That's fine," I stuttered out, both happy and sad at the same time. "I-I don't mind at all. After all, this was already an expensive trip to begin with."
"Pfft. Hahahahaha!" Shitori laughed loudly on the other end of the phone, confusing me greatly. "You can relax, Katsumoto-kun. We don't care about the expenses. If you're really worried about how much you guys are spending, then let's just set the unofficial limit to be one-hundred-million Yen. That should be enough money, no?"
"I-I hope so, hahaha…" I laughed nervously, anxious about the amount of money I was confirmed to be holding. "Anyways, that's all I wanted to call about. Sorry for disturbing your sleep."
"Oh, it's fine. I wasn't in too deep of a sleep. Just make sure my daughter is enjoying her time there. Don't want all of this money to go to waste now do we?"
"No sir. Have a good night to both you and Okaa-san."
"And a good night to both you and Ai."
I reached over to the table and ended the phone call with my father-in-law. I slumped back on the couch, and at the same time, Vincent hopped onto the spot right beside me and tossed the menu towards the table like a frisbee.
"Your father-in-law sounds nice. I mean, he's letting you guys go on this uber expensive trip. How was it when you first met him and your mother-in-law?"
"Jeez… Don't even go there. We may seem all happy and friendly now, but that definitely wasn't the case the past few months," I shuddered.
"Alright then… I won't intrude too much," he laughed before letting out a sigh. "Anyways, if what you said about getting anything on that menu is true, then I guess I'll take the angus rib eye steak with some champagne. Either champagne choices will do for me."
"I'll go place the order then…"
I called the hotel's room service, placing the order that the four of us wanted and scheduling it to arrive in an hour when the girls were back. Upon confirmation of the order, I hung up the phone and sat back down with Vincent. We sat there silently for a bit before he finally spoke.
"How did you and Ai-chan meet? Was it in the real-world, or was it in Sword Art Online?"
"How do you know if I was in SAO?" I asked him. "I never even mentioned that game to you."
"Oh come on, I'm not that dumb. I knew that with how much I got you addicted to video games that you couldn't pass up that opportunity of a lifetime. While it did become a death game, the news actually just made me even more jealous. Living life in a different world with the threat of death still remaining. It's weird to say it out loud, but I'm sure you could relate. Anyways, I knew because of your ALO avatar. Even after it got shut down, I kept myself updated on articles regarding the virtual reality genre. I heard that ALO also got shut down temporarily because the company utilized two-hundred or so SAO victims for their experiment without permission. It relaunched soon after under the Ymir company and they allowed former SAO players to use their avatars which were basically their real-life appearances."
"Ah, so that's how you figured it out. I guess I'm not surprised since ALO doesn't allow regular players to do the same. Yeah, I thought Ai asked her father to implement it into the game, but it turns out even she didn't know about it."
"Wait, what? Her father is one of the developers of the game for Ymir?"
"Not exactly… Her family owns the Ymir conglomerate with her father being the president. They bought ALfheim Online from RECT Inc after their subsidiary RECT Progress got shut down from the inhuman experiments they were conducting. They're originally just a Japanese defense contractor, but expanded to cover other fields like medicine, technology and game development."
"No wonder why you guys are spending money without a care in the world. Anyways, how was your SAO experience? Did you enjoy playing the role of «The Reaper of Sorrow» in there?"
I quickly turned my head, growing alert of his words. He too was looking at me though his face looked more relaxed that I thought it would be. My mind and body raced as I began wondering as to how Vincent knew that moniker. While I was also called that in ALO, I don't think it was ever publicly spread that I was in SAO too.
"Relax… I'm not here to pry as to why you were playing the role of virtual reality Jack the Ripper. Well, actually, I guess I am."
"How do you know about that? I was promised by the government group doing the SAO investigations that my name would be cleared from their records, and that I'm pseudo-pardoned as I was 'manipulated' by Kayaba Akihiko"
"Well, that doesn't mean regular people who were connected with the events will keep their mouth shut. It was quite a rare and difficult find though since it's on the dark web of all places. There were less than a handful of articles recounting events regarding the masked killer, and one small Reddit-like thread specifically about you. However, I don't think you should worry too much. The people you find in the dark web are already quite shady, so they either praised you or defended your name which isn't really a good thing either. The name Mortifer was brought up, but they were more interested in your motives of killing rather than punishing you for it. At the same time, they seemed curious as to why the government wanted to cover it up, but deduced that the government just didn't want to cause mass hysteria and make the people go on a witch hunt for you."
"Well, I guess it aligns with what my brother told me back then. But jeez, I didn't think you would be my stalker, nor would you be so good at it."
"Stalker? That's kind of ironic coming from a trained assassin."
"Hah… Touche… Nonetheless, no, I didn't enjoy playing that role. I was forced into it. Halfway through the game I… I…"
Upon trying to recall the events of the Night of the Forest, the Voices started acting up. They were always there, lurking in the back of my head and more prominently in my sleep, but it was the first time in a while since it's acted out like this. Vincent saw the visible discomfort I expressed but his blank expression remained on his face. Regardless of what he was thinking, I continued on.
"I laid witness upon my friend's suffering while a group of three players forced themselves unto her. I don't exactly remember what it was that made me hesitate to begin with, but I blamed myself for what happened to her. As soon as I heard her scream, I lost control. In order to protect my friend, I murdered those three players, not even remembering their faces nor their names. But, as soon as my adrenaline wore off and my mind began processing what I had done, I couldn't handle it. I beat myself up for being so weak while at the same time scared of what I was capable of doing when my emotions take over. I ran away from my friends, and at the same time, Kayaba Akihiko found me and used my weaknesses against me."
"What did he do to you?"
"I was basically put on a trial. Much like how Heracles had to complete his twelve labours to atone for his sins, I had to face and conquer my fears if I wanted to extinguish the darkness inside of me. In the end, it was all in vain. Everything was just a ruse to make me physically stronger but mentally weaker. I almost died multiple times, and even temporarily lost my memory after a microwave burst damaged my hippocampus. When I wandered around as an amnesiac, I was used as a weapon by SAO's PK-guild, «Laughing Coffin». I only managed to break free from their grasp after having almost killed my own friends as they were my targets at one point. But, by the time I had regained my memories and began recuperating, much of the damage was already done. I don't remember the exact number at the time, but I had definitely killed at least fifty players. By the end of the game, eighty-nine players were killed. To most, I was still the serial killer they believed me to be, but there was a small group who knew different. However, even if I was being manipulated against my will, it didn't change the fact that I did kill some people voluntarily, and that I killed people period."
"And what was your reasoning for killing those people?" Vincent questioned, making me confused.
"Reason? Well, I didn't really have one when I had no self-control."
"But for the victims who died when you were in control… What was your reasoning there?"
I looked at Vincent, who was staring intently at my eyes as if trying to enter my mind. I didn't understand why he was so curious about my reasoning when it really didn't matter. It doesn't change the fact that I killed them.
"Why does it matter?"
"It matters a lot. What if all of the victims you willingly killed weren't innocent and actively sought to do wrong in the world?"
"But it still doesn't change the fact that I killed them, along with the innocents I killed whilst being manipulated."
"Stubborn as ever… Aren't you?" Vincent sighed before getting off the couch. "Come on, stand up. Let's have a sparring session, you and me."
"Excuse me?" I looked at him, bewildered as to how our conversation got to this point while also wondering why he wanted to fight me. "You said you wanted to spar with me?"
"Come on, it'll be fun. You've fought a whole bunch of people before, but never me. There's a first time for everything, no?"
My bewilderment continued to rise as I watched Vincent stand up and start moving the furniture around to create more empty space. I vividly remembered the kid who got beat up at school for being different than the rest, yet now he wanted to fight against me despite knowing first-handedly the combat training I've gone through. True, he was no longer the scrawny kid I knew back then. He was a little bit smaller than me, around Zed's height, but his build was quite identical to mine. Even so, that wasn't really enough of a reason for him to fight a black belt in Kyokushin. However, when he finished creating an adequate space for us to fight, he turned around to face me, expressing an unusual confidence I had never seen before.
"Are you ready, Reaper of Sorrow?" Vincent taunted as he stanced up and raised his fists. Upon getting into his stance, I knew that he wasn't joking about the fight, nor was his confidence just a bluff.
I had thought the muscles he gained had been from a late bloom in his puberty along with consistent exercise and weightlifting. However, when he entered his stance, the origin of his well-defined muscles became apparent. Amatuer fighters would typically never care about their footwork, nor have their fists raised up enough to protect their face. Vincent's left arm protected that entire side of his head while the other arm was in a more aggressive, ready-to-punch stance but still close to his head for protection. In addition, his head was tucked, protecting his chin from possible upper-cuts. His feet were lined up in a straight line with his back foot angled outwards. The fact that he looked very comfortable in his stance gave me all the information I needed to deduce that Vincent's muscles weren't from just regular exercise or weightlifting. It was from being in constant and regular fights or spars with opponents, and his weapon of choice was his Muay Thai.
While I would typically say no to a fight unless I was provoked, I became highly interested at the fact that Vincent had learned a martial art discipline, and his stance and aura gave off the feeling that he wasn't some inexperienced fighter either. At the same time, I wanted a tough challenge. Being out of practice in my real body for many years, I knew that I would be a little sluggish. While my durability remained, my power has whittled down. In addition, Muay Thai was a much more effective martial art compared to Kyokushin, both defensively and aggressively. If it weren't for the fact that there were no reputable and affordable dojos nearby, I wouldn't have taken Kyokushin and had chosen Muay Thai instead. Nonetheless, I stanced up, making Vincent smile from my response to his request, resulting in me smiling as well.
"I would say no headshots since we're on vacation and we don't want to leave any visible marks, along with the Kyokushin rule of 'no punching the face', but let's go all out. I'm sure you can take it."
"Oh, don't worry about me... I'm not the one with a pretty face to lose here…"
Vincent quickly took a coin out of his pocket and flicked it into the air towards the tile floor. He quickly stanced back up, and the two of us waited for the coin to land. The moment seemed to last a lifetime, but when that coin clanged against the hard marble surface, Vincent was the first to make a move.
He exploded towards me with his right knee aiming for my stomach. I quickly deflected it with my left knee, keeping my right foot grounded as to not get pushed back. At the same time, I crossed my arms in front of me to protect myself from any upper-body hits while at the same time pushing Vincent backwards to create space. Once I created a little bit of space, I landed hard with my left foot before pivoting on it to perform a counterclockwise roundhouse kick. Vincent ducked under my foot, and proceeded with a right-leg kick of his own directly at my turned back. Despite the hard kick he did little to no damage due to the high durability training style of Kyokushin. I didn't even flinch nor budge from that kick of his. Realizing his lack of power, Vincent retreated and created quite a bit of distance between us.
"Damn… Feels like I'm hitting a tree." he laughed out loud.
"Well, that is part of our training in Kyokushin." I responded before closing the distance myself.
I went in with a swift left jab to his chest which was blocked by his elbow, but I quickly followed with a right cross towards the same place. He effortlessly blocked with his other elbow this time, making my fists strain from hitting the bone directly. I tried to trip him with a powerful kick to his left leg but he stepped back in time. With my right side vulnerable for a split second, he went for a powerful left cross followed by a right cross, but I easily dodged both. That's when he did something I didn't fully expect. He went for a left hook that I dodged, but he continued with his swing, bringing his upper-body closer to the ground. At the same time, he swung his right leg behind himself before bringing it over his body. He pivoted with his left foot at the same time. The punch was simply a feint to distract me from seeing his spinning wheel kick. Had I moved forward earlier to utilize the opening he created, I would be in range of getting hit. I took another step back to dodge the attack before quickly moving in to give Vincent a hard kick to his arm. Although he blocked it, he was still pushed back a few steps due to the power.
"As always, you put up a good fight. If it wasn't for the fact that I know you had a 4th Dan Black Belt, I probably would've underestimated your power and sturdiness. You would probably give some of my friends a good beating." Vincent chuckled. "Speaking of which, what happened to getting a 5th Dan?"
"I was still too young at the time to be considered a 5th Dan. Even if my master advocated for me and supported me, the organization just wouldn't let a sixteen-year-old to become a 5th Dan when you usually have to dedicate at least twenty-five years just to get one. At the same time, with what happened at the time, my mindset worsened. If I had stayed, I would've dishonored the dojo and given it a bad rep."
"Well… I don't blame you… It was a hard time during those few months…"
Vincent jumped towards me, his right elbow raised high and aimed straight at my head. While I could take the hit, I knew it would rattle me up so I dodged it instead. Before I could counterattack, Vincent performed a flurry of punches aimed at different places of my body. Most punches were aimed at my torso, but some were aimed at my arms so that he could push them away and prevent me from blocking. I blocked all attempts aimed towards my head, though in return, I took a number of punches to my torso. The repeated blows started adding up, causing me to ache slightly. Noticing that he was on the full-offensive, I decided to go for a counterattack. Instead of blocking his ongoing flurry of punches, I went for a powerful uppercut to his solar plexus. Reacting to my sudden vulnerability, instead of blocking, he too went for a power attack with a right cross aimed at my face. Neither of us braced ourselves for the hits but instead put more effort into our punches.
Our attacks landed at the same time, and both effectively caused us to stop the fight. I was blinded by the flash momentarily before my vision slowly faded back into reality. The shockwave rattled my brain but it didn't seem to have caused a concussion. If anything, Vincent was the one who was experiencing the most pain. He was crumpled up on the floor and trying to recover himself but unable due to the pain. He clutched his stomach area, trying to regain his breath as I knocked most of it out of him. I could've kept going with the fight but Vincent was in no condition to. Seeing that I won by technical knockout, I fell down on my butt and sat alongside Vincent, trying to make sure I didn't hit him too hard.
"We're back! The food is here too!" I heard Ai's voice shout from the entrance.
The dual doors swung open, revealing a joyful Ai and a shy but relaxed Katherine. Right behind them was the bellhop with our cart of food. Panicking, I tried to gesture for Vincent to get off the ground but he was still trying to recover his breath.
"Hey, Katsumoto, Vincent, where are you guys? And what happened with all of the furniture?!"
The two ladies appeared before us and looked at us with confusion and shock. The bellhop, probably concerned as to why the room's furniture was out of place, saw us as well and decided to just leave immediately. The two ladies instantly dropped their stuff and rushed over to us.
"What happened?! Your nose is bleeding!" Ai exclaimed, making me bring my hand up to my nose and noticing the amount of blood that was leaking.
"Baby, are you okay?" Katherine asked Vincent.
"Yeah… Yeah I'm fine…" Vincent finally spoke. He raised his body from the ground but he was still clutching his stomach. "You definitely won that fight. I couldn't do anything against you. But damn, it really did feel like I was fighting a tree the entire time."
"Hopefully I didn't damage any of your organs with that hit, but at least we fought with empty stomachs. You'd probably be puking right now."
"Stop the English! What happened here!" Ai cried out.
"Vincent and I just sparred for a bit. We'll be fine by tomorrow morning, don't worry. But come on, let's eat."
Word Count - 28k
