The woods would not have accompanied him anyway, so he used his usual spot. Akira went to the border wall of forest that, if created a hole in, would lead directly to the barren lands that stretched in front of Hitori's house.
But since the wall had no door, Akira had to teleport to the other side. He dropped onto the dry grassland. Although the sun was down, the heat still made him think twice about taking off his clothes.
He patted the dust off his robe and then looked at the path that divided the barren lands into two, and the same path that would lead him to Hitori's house. He took that path.
It was only a minute of fast walking that he saw the green trees– the Guardian. After another minute, he was going to cross Hitori's house. Woods on both sides with a path in the middle where stood Hitori's house.
He crossed the first row of woods, entered the path in the middle, and glanced at the house as he was about to cross the second row of woods.
A man wearing a black suit in summer was staring at the house standing meters away from it. Because only got a glance. He imagined him holding a katana over his shoulders.
He applied brakes, Akira turned and drew his wand as he rushed back to the house in the middle of the woods. Although his imagination remained an imagination, he wondered who the hell was he and what was he doing in front of Hitori's house.
He took careful steps with his wand in front of him. Is he the enemy? He wondered. He bit his lip in frustration of being unable to recognize the person.
When he got close to the person who was standing still, he pulled his wand behind him, gripping it tight. The man was tall and dark, and definitely not a mage– that was a red flag for him.
Akira's heart was beating, this was the first time he was encountering a real-life criminal. "Hey!" he shouted, "what the hell are you doing here?"
The man turned, removing his right hand from his waist, and Akira frowned. The man was wearing sunglasses even after the sun had set. He wondered if the man was staring at him or at the wand behind– he was tall so perhaps he could take a look over Akira's head.
He took a step back to hide his wand from whatever view he was getting from the top.
"What are you doing in front of this house? You need to leave."
"I can ask you the same… I don't recognize you, do I know you?"
"I have no reason to expose my identity to some suspicious stranger," he said.
The man was glaring at him, he could feel it through the glasses.
He turned to glance at the house and said, "Do you know the person living here?" He pointed at the house.
Akira nodded. "I may perhaps know them… or not. Why?"
Why is he staring like that? He gulped. Is he….?
Akira clenched his wand and removed his left hand from it. Is he going to draw that katana out of thin air?
"What are you?" he asked, "Are you a scientist? You don't look like a mage."
Finally, the man smiled. "Of course," he said. 'Of course,' what? "I am a friend of Hitori."
Crap, he knows Aniki's name!
"Why do you know—" But he would not let him finish.
"As I said, I know whoever Hitori is to you," he said in his deep voice.
"Why do you know him? And how do I believe you?"
"We played games before, then he just disappeared. We used to be good friends."
"Games?" His grip loosened. "Together? Like VR-RPG games?"
He nodded. "As you can see I am a scientist, but Hitori… never made me feel like a scientist, he treated me well, as if I was his brother."
Akira narrowed his eyes at the man and tried to comprehend what he was just told.
"But you are an old man…" he said. And too ripped to be a gaming nerd.
"Ouch. But yeah. Then one night he logged out and never logged in again. So… hey, man, if you know him, can you help me?"
It looked strange to hear the soft words from the mouth of a man who looks like a yakuza with those sunglasses on.
"I, I…" He glanced everywhere except the man.
"I want to see him for old times' sake. We were good friends."
This is suspicious, this is way too suspicious to be true, old man. Well, he was not that old. He was under forty.
"How do I believe you, sir? Things have been difficult, so I need to know you are not just a suspicious stranger."
He hummed and looked away from Akira. "If you say so…" Then he thought for some time. "Do you know Hitori? Do you know where he is?" he asked.
"I know, sir, but like I said I can not tell you unless you prove your identity."
"Well, take me to Hitori then. He will recognize me, I know he will."
His mouth dropped open, that was a suspicious act. "Whoa, I am saying I can not take you to him! It is risky!"
"Then bring him here. I will stand meters away from you two, and know that Hitori will recognize me."
This might get him to play the game again. This person will be able to get him back into gaming. This will do.
He looked at the man studying the trees and the area around the house. "Will you force him to play the game?"
The man turned to him and nodded after hesitating. "That is why I am here for– other than wanting to meet him."
"I have decided," he said, "you should wait here, mister, I will be back with Hitori in about an hour."
"An hour?" He imagined the man widening his eyes under the glasses.
"Yeah, you see, he is still in the academy. I will take him right here, so just wait, alright?"
He nodded. "I will wait as long as I need to, but I will get bored."
"We have no choice." He turned to run but stopped. "What is your name? I am sure Hitori will recognize your name."
"Oh, I am sure he will." He went for his glasses. He grabbed the side and pulled them off. "It is Tengoku," he said as he removed the glasses and revealed his orange, piercing eyes.
Akira shuddered and got scared shit the instant he saw those eyes. But he mustered the strength. "J-Just Tengoku?"
"That will be enough for my dear friend to remember me."
And then he ran from there as fast as he could, even teleported a few times. But he never got those eyes out of his mind.
The barren lands flashed away in an instant. He saw the shops before the river and the bridge. He glanced at the wagon station's backside, then charged straight at the bridge.
After five minutes, when he had crossed the barren lands, he saw that figure. He recognized it at once, like some sort of connection.
He was walking toward the bridge in no hurry and with no motivation. He glanced over his shoulders from time to time. A smile spread on Akira's face now that his job was made easy, and he was about to accelerate when reality struck him.
His smile faded and although Hitori was a hundred meters (or more) away, Akira turned and took cover behind a store. His heart was beating, but he still took a glance at the other side.
Hitori was taking the bridge. He reached the top, then started climbing down. Akira pushed his back on the wall and started taking deep breaths. "Oh, shit. I am still the gay nerd for him."
He wished to teleport, but as stated before– to teleport, is not a choice, it comes from the heart– and right now, it just would not come from his heart. Akira tried harder, he knew Hitori was getting close, and he knew he would pass him without noticing.
But he had a goal– to get Hitori back into gaming– but he lacked the courage. He had the motivation, so fuck the courage.
He went to the corner of the wall and took a glance at the bridge. Hitori had climbed down the bridge and was now getting close to the shop Akira was hiding behind.
Oh, do it! You can do it! He came back and slapped himself. I can do it! He imagined himself shouting at him.
He closed his eyes and clenched his fists. Then just in a flick, he found himself stepping out of the gap between two stores. He imagined Hitori's mouth dropping open, but he did not stop to witness it.
His feet turned on their own and turned him around. He opened his eyes and saw the barren lands in the distance. He lifted his clenched fists and tightened his calves.
Then he was off running to save his butt from Hitori's clutches.
But it did not last long. Hitori had seen him. Akira closed his eyes– his only option was to teleport the heck out of here. And that was a mistake.
Hitori appeared in front of him the moment he closed his eyes. He could teleport in the nick of time and Hitori banged his forearm against the nerd's forehead.
Akira lost his balance due to the unknown force and fell to the ground, banging his head on the ground. His eyes opened on the instinct and he saw Hitori looming over him.
First, he clutched his arms under his knees, then grabbed the nerd's neck. "Who the heck are you?" he asked. "How dare you run away? Answer me! Who are you?"
Akira was tired, out of energy, and knocked pretty hard to think of an answer, so he did what would be best for him.
"Friend! A gaming friend! I am here on behalf of a friend of yours. He said you used to play games before Kamiya came."
"Kamiya? Why do you know all this? And what friend?"
He closed his eyes, fearing Hitori might punch him. "He is waiting for you. Come with me, please, let me explain myself! Give me a chance! Meet with your friend."
"Who is this friend?" Hitori was thrown off-topic.
Akira took heavy breaths, and said, "A scientist. A scientist friend."
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