Thank you for those who have returned to read more of this story of Takagi's Bodyguard. (Still need to think of a better title) Sorry about the long delay.
The drive home was a short one of ten minutes. The driver was completely silent and Kouta didn't want to talk. He knew that cabs usually have the confessions of many people on the road… Or that was what the movies showed him. Still though, it made him slightly paranoid about it. The inner ramblings in his head killed the time as he saw his house. The car drifted onto the side while Kouta started to unclick his seatbelt, the driver jogged around the car for him to open the passenger door.
The driver bowed to him as Kouta exited the car.
"Thank you." Kouta said as he closed the door.
The drive made a light smile as he entered the driver's seat. From there the red tail lights streaked along the street and turned left.
Kouta walked to his front door and took out his house key. The home he lived in was a medium sized house. It was a two story building with two bathrooms, two bedrooms, kitchen, and living room. His parents thought that living in a spacious home would be best choice, but from all the work they put forth. It was just Kouta most of the time since they moved in last year.
He walked into the kitchen to see that his cell phone had two messages on it. The first one was from his mother.
'Hey there hon, I just wanted to let you know that we sent some money into your bank account. It should be enough to last you the month. Please be responsible with it. Love you.' The message ended.
Kouta typed a response. 'Of course mom, I'll be careful with it. Love you too.' He sent the message.
The second message was from a person Kouta met through the internet. He linked his email to his cell to get it from his friend. He met this person from online gaming. Kouta didn't care much of what he played as long as it was still fun. This online friend went by the handle ID of Starbreeze, or SB for short. Starbreeze was someone Kouta liked to talk to from America when he played online. Kouta read the email.
'Dude, we need to gather the crew together, we need to help some n00B level up. Will you be on later?' The message was sent an hour ago.
'Yeah, I can be on for a while, but not for too long, I need to get some sleep for tomorrow.' Kouta typed back. He pocketed his phone as he walked into the kitchen. The countertops were spotless as the boxed food was arranged neatly along the wall. He opened the door from his refrigerator to take out a bottle of Coka Cola.
In its red glory with the English lettering beside the translation.
Kouta always to enjoy stuff from America. He twisted the cap then let the black bubbly taste drift down his throat. The moment he finished the sip, his pocket vibrated. With one hand he flicked the phone then opened the message.
'Anything cool happen?'
Kouta capped his drink loosely then set it on the counter. He typed his reply.
'Yeah… surprisingly. Just I got a second job now.' Kouta scoffed at his own expense. As much as he would like to tell the truth, it didn't matter on the internet. He closed his phone and subsequently reached for his drink. Kouta wasn't paying attention as his index finger grazed the bottle for it twist around and fall over to the tiled floor and spilled some of its contents.
"Fuck…"
The phone vibrated again on the counter. It wasn't hard to ignore while Kouta used a washrag to wipe away a third of the bottle's contents. With just 3 minutes of wiping, he was able to clean up the mess. Though the view of clumped water just disgusted Kouta as he took a paper towel to dry the water patch.
The paper towel glided through the air as it landed inside a trashcan in the corner.
Better. Kouta thought and smiled. He reached for his phone then climbed up the stairs.
'Oh yeah? What kind of job? O_o' Starbreeze asked. Kouta rolled his eyes as he typed his message back.
'A neighbor wants me to be a babysitter. I just got to show up for the weekends, it should be easy enough.' Kouta lied. 'I'll be on in a few.'
Kouta walked into his room and flicked the light switch to illuminate it in its glory.
American movie and rock band posters painted his wall. The same thing as well with several video game magazine covers spread out on every wall. The room had the basics, a small couch that overlooked the room from the south side. A computer at the south wall. It just wasn't some cheap computer to get on a budget. It was a top to line computer that could play the newest games without any issue. The thing was the best kind of computer a gamer like Kouta could pay for. He saved up the funds he earned from his part time job to pay for it. Rather than using the allowance his parents offered him. His closet housed his futon when he needed to sleep as well as his clothes. A larger dresser held to all his clothes to make room.
On the center of the north wall on the opposite side of his bed, was a bikini calendar of women… He's still a teenage boy after all.
So after a moment to himself, Kouta walked to his entertainment center on the west wall. The entertainment center only went two feet high because the TV because Kouta liked it low. No reason for it, it was just how he preferred it.
While the PS4 started up, Kouta opened his closet door for him to pull out a dark blue beanbag chair he ordered from America. He pulled it out. The thing was wrinkled so he flopped it like a blanket and life formed into it again. The beanbag chair dropped to the floor then Kouta sat down in it.
The TV screen flashed for a game called VenomDawn appeared in golden letters. A multiplayer game where the players make use premade Avatars to play the game on several worlds. The objective is kill the enemies with various weapons and skills… then that's about it. Kouta didn't care for the story.
Several seconds after he pressed start to enter the main menu of the game. On the top right corner.
Starbreeze invited you to a game…
Kouta pressed another button on his controller to accept the request.
With a bland screen to offer a tip he read dozens of times, Kouta's screen changed as his hero named Calbrok, walked several feet to see other players. 3 of them to be exact.
They were Starbreeze, Joel the Maniac, and the noob, a player named CKO9. Calbrok waved his hand at his crew. Then with that, the team walked five feet before a giant red machine with a skull design head with red samurai armor lifted a shotgun at the players.
CKO9 immediately pressed the button for the character to activate the guard skill for him to take reduced damage. Starbreeze followed up by having his character take aim with his Vector submachine gun. Joel charged forward with his sword drawn. Calbrok did the same with a shotgun as well.
The machine fired its weapon and Joel rolled backward for him to be in a stunned state. Calbrok activated his agility skill for him to climb the machine. With just two jumps Calbrok stood at the top of the machine and blasted its head off. Calbrok jumped off from the machine.
A small white text came on the left to show that Calbrok earned 43 experience while CKO9 reaped the benefits for 700 experience.
"Well we got some grinding to do." Joel said through his headset.
The team cleaved through machines, undead creatures, and the occasional boss fight. The whole play time was routine.
Kouta continued to play his game for another 3 hours until Joel had to leave because in his part of the world, he lived in Europe. CKO9 didn't say anything but just did whatever was ordered.
All the talk the Kouta and Joel did was just of the gameplay and talk of what's cool for it to have. Something along those lines for about an hour.
"Alright guys. I going to get off now." Kouta fanned his mouth.
Then with that logged off form the game and returned the main menu to turn off via controller.
Kouta walked to from his beanbag to the light switch. He put the beanbag away then took out his futon and from there he took of his pants. He didn't like to sleep in pants, mostly because of how makes his legs feel uncomfortable with the blanket. So with his room all nice and ready, Kouta flicked the switch and sprawled onto his futon.
Morning came around with his preset alarm clock going off. Kouta rolled his head to the left side to see his digital clock. With the dark red lights that was almost impossible for him to read because of his tired state. The fingers of his left rubbed the crust away at the corners closest to his nose. With that done, he leaned up and rolled his back for him to stretch for the day.
'No clouds. Probably going to be a nice day.' Kouta thought as he crawled out of his futon and stood up while his wrinkled shirt drifted downward to hide his stomach. He walked to his bathroom, drained the snake then flicked the water on and did his hygiene routine. Teeth, hair, and deodorant stick. In the mirror, Kouta inspected his chin to see if any rouge whiskers grew out. Several were plucked for him to keep his clear chin with a smile.
The door was locked, uniform on, and he shouldered his messenger bag. The sun loomed over the horizon as it rose to greet the clouds.
Kouta walked for ten minutes to the sound of birds, cars, and the occasional student that walked in the same direction as him. Several birds flew alongside each other as one had a potato chip in its mouth.
"Hey fatty!" A voice called out from behind Kouta.
The birds tweeted to each other as the one with the chip avoided its attacker.
"So Kouta!" An aggressive arm locked itself at Kouta's neck. "How are you today?"
The birds continued to bicker until the attack took hold of the open side of the chip.
"So fatty, are you going to be a pal a loan me some money for me and my friends? You know our parents don't look out for us much."
The birds separated and the chip was cut in half. Both birds seemingly satisfied with their apparent sharing, the two birds flew in opposite directions.
"I don't have anything." Kouta spoke out finally.
"Seriously? I mean, I wanted to impress my girlfriend today and hopefully be in her good graces later." Kouta felt the arm tug at his neck. "This will mean a lot to me if you do."
"Kanta, I don't want to do this again." Kouta pulled on the arm in an attempt to break free.
"We're friends right? I thought we were good ones. Shido sensei thinks that way about us. Come on bro."
Kouta grimaced at himself as he reached into his front right pocket. He took out his wallet, only for a girl to swoop on by with it in her hand.
"Oooh? What's this Kanta? Is this your friend you speak so highly of?" The girl asked. She appeared to be in her early years. Probably a freshman. Her petite frame gave that away while her cherry shoulder length hair waved in the wind.
"Yeah Sakura." Kanta nodded as Kouta scrambled to get his wallet back.
"You're right. He does look like a man who's pregnant…" Sakura opened the wallet. "Oh, check this out. He's got 10,000 yen in here."
With that Kanta released Kouta then Kanta pushed him forward. With his hands on the ground; Kouta looked up as Kanta and Sakura held hands. An empty wallet whapped the concrete.
"Thanks Kouta. We'll see you around." Kanta smiled as the two of them walked off toward Fujimi Academy. Several student walked by as Kouta picked himself up from the ground. The wallet in hand he looked up to see the school shown as a bright beacon of education.
Just another day…
Thank you for reading this chapter. As I like to do with all my stories is respond to all the reviews I get in something I call the Response Corner. Just remember, I'm purposely vague when it comes to spoiler questions. Please review and have an excellent day.
ChibiCritque: Yeah, sometimes I get too caught up from reading in my head to notice the major mistakes. I can agree on what you mentioned about Souichiro, but I think that was just a situation of circumstance. It being with the zombie apocalypse and all, so he would have to put on an appearance of a strong unwavering leader. The image in the before the change at the end of the manga showed that him in a similar state. It just called for how I could set the story up in my head. As much as Kouta would be scared of him in the situation, it was never taken to that extreme of being so scared to piss himself. He just stood up for the one chance of what makes him feel whole. (From what happened in the manga) So I think we just see the interaction level between them differently. That sentence was rather silly and an error to write. I was excited to post the story at the time. Still though, I like to dabble in second person at times but this still mostly about Kohta. Thank you for reading.
CrimsonHersey: Thanks for coming friend. I hope you like this chapter.
Snakespur: Thank you so much for saying that. It really helps me while working on the story. Have a great day.
chase8999: Thank you for taking the time to write a review. I hope you like the chapter.