1.2 - The Search Will Change the Future?!

"Shu Aizawa-sama, we need to talk."

That sentence echoed in Shu's mind as he faced a white-haired young man. He was around Shu's age and height, and his blue eyes shone with amazement and seriousness.

"Erm, are you... By chance... Talking about me?" Shu asked the boy.

"Hmm...?" the boy replied.

A moment of silence fell the air.

"Uh, if you have something to talk with me about, mind if we go to my house first?" Shu asked.

"Mhm." the boy nodded in understanding.

A few meters later, they found themselves in a house, a bit old but not that old. Shu knocked a few times, and then a woman in her late 30s opened the door.

"Ah, Shu. What were you doing outside again? I thought I told you to-"

"Don't worry mom, I didn't get into trouble. I just bought some groceries, that's all."

But the woman already saw the injury on his right arm, and she reprimanded him.

"Didn't I tell you to stop being a vigilante?! You'll get yourself killed! Your dad was killed 3 years ago because he fought against the thug gang. Please... I... Can't lose you too..." the woman pleaded to her son while crying.

"Uhm, okay mom."

Then, the woman finally noticed Shu's company.

"Oh, Shu, you brought a friend? What's your name?"

"Oh yeah, I forgot to ask this guy's name."

"Ah, it's Raku. Raku Hanazawa."

"Oh, mine's Mikan Aizawa. Seems you're a friend of my son. You wanna come in? I'll prepare snacks," she said happily, like the thing when she cried didn't happen. Guess she wants her son's "friend" to feel light.

After Mrs. Aizawa went to the kitchen, the two boys went inside.

"Hey, let's talk upstairs..." Shu said to Raku.

"Yes, please do..."

Shu's POV:

How did this guy know my name? And why did he call me "Shu-sama"?

I guess... I'm about to find out...

We reach my room, which is average, to be honest. A bed, bookshelf, a desk, a wardrobe, just your ordinary room.

I offer Raku the seat beside my desk while I sat on my bed. We can finally have our talk.

"So, three questions: One, who are you? Two, where did you come from? And three, how did you know my name?"

With a deep breath, my company said, "One, I am Raku Hanazawa. Two, it's not 'where', it's 'when'. I come from the future. And three, I know you because you are the leader."

Two and three was mind boggling. Seriously, the future? Me, a leader? "Erm... I'm a leader of what, exactly?" I asked him.

"Let me tell you all about the future where I came from," he continued. "3 years ago, the CPUs and CPU Candidates disappeared without a trace, right? In the future where I came from, 5 years after the disappearance of the goddesses, there grew Tyranny, a corporation that controlled most of Gamindustri."

Tyranny? Evil corporation?

He kept talking, "A few months later, a resistance group grew in Planeptune. You were the revolutionary leader. You led a mass of rebels to fight against Tyranny. The resistance grew and grew. Every attack was successful. But then..."

I grew curious, "Then, what?"

"At the age of 26, you were killed by the hands of an assassin."

What?! Assassin?! I... I can't...

"Several decades later, the Revolution came to an end. Tyranny decided to bomb the remaining Resistance base and several other civilian settlements, while the rebels decided to have some storm the enemy base while others keep watch over something precious. The battle lasted hours, until every human life has been extinguished."

Ah. How? The goddesses disappeared, and it all led to the apocalypse?!

"But, did the precious cargo get eliminated as well?" I asked. I can sense my voice shaking in fear, fear that everyone died in the end.

"No, for you see, I am the precious thing they protected."

"What? Well, I just thought you were a Resistance rebel who, rather than die in battle, decided to go back in time to prevent all that."

Raku then stood up, "I am a Gadget Powered Unit, or GPU III, 3rd of the three special people that ever existed in this world."

"GPU?"

"You see, there are three people with innate powers since birth. I am recorded as the third - and last from my future - that appeared."

This is all so confusing, so I asked, "Well, what happened to the other two?"

"They... They were killed in battle. Their powers gave them a chance to battle in the front lines. But they were killed one by one by Tyranny, until only I was left. That's why, in the Final Day, as I call it, they kept me in a bombproof saferoom, only to discover civilization fell a few hours later."

This is all a lot to take in, man. It really hurts my brain.

"I didn't accept the fact that I'm the only living thing remaining, so I accessed Protocol 101 - 'The Goddess Search Protocol' - and I need you to activate it."

My mind then jolted at the title of the protocol. "What? How? Why?"

"Before you were the revolutionary leader, 2 years before the rise of Tyranny," Raku built up the tension in the story. "…You made two protocols, Protocol 0 and 101. 101 is an alternative measure should something like the Final Day happened. I would go back in time, find you, and persuade you to help me in the search for the goddesses."

"I made a protocol like that?" I instinctively replied. Of course I'd be mindblown. Searching for the Goddesses is no joke.

"Ah, did I go back too much?"

"So... Why should I even start searching for the goddesses?"

"Y-You see... I never wanted to experience having my power... You know of a white-haired boy a few years younger than you?"

I answered, "Yeah, that 14-year-old kid, Izu- Wait, you're telling me..."

"Yes, you had met the younger Raku Hanazawa, and yes, I'm immortal, but I want my younger self to not see the things that I have seen."

"But, doesn't that mean..."

"Erasing my own existence from space time? Actually, I'll be more like a ghost, because my being a GPU restricts me from never existing."

"So, does that mean you're stuck in this world, never to die?"

"I can still die, because I'm only immortal, and not invulnerable, and the ghost thing is just figuratively speaking, of me being nobody, since 'I' no longer exist because my past self took another path."

"Okay, okay… Just, let me think for a while..."

This is a lot to process. If this guy came all the way from the future just to call me on the job of tracking down the goddesses, I must accept, but, I'm still bothered by the fact an apocalyptic future could happen. Will it still happen even if we find all the goddesses again? Raggh... This is too much...

"AHH!"

"Mom!" I yelled when I heard my mom in distress.

"Come on now, where's that troublemaker son of yours?!"

Tsk... It's Ryuto, the Thug Gang's leader. He's the one who ordered his goons to kill my dad. He was a journalist, just giving the truth out to people everywhere, but he knew too much, and he had him killed...

I can never forgive this bastard, so...

"I believe you're looking for me, Ryuto," I bravely said while climbing down the stairs.

"No! Shu! No!" my mom shouted in anxiety. Sorry mom, but I have to disobey you again.

"Ha, this is going to be interesting," the middle-aged fatty said.

I can never forgive him for hurting Mom. He's going down, right here, right now!