Registered

It was a quiet and relaxing day...

That's how it should be today. I could walk in at the end of the day, enjoying the cool breeze and the beautiful afternoon view, if... if only these people would stop bothering me!

In the late afternoon, the sound of fists pounding against each other filled the small alley. Two students were facing off against a group of school gang members.

One of the students was me, Rein Arasaka. Three months ago, I woke up from a coma that lasted a year. Most of my memories have been erased from my mind, but luckily I still have some from when I was little to elementary school.

I don't remember why I was in a coma, but my mother said I had an accident. She said I was hit by a reckless motorcyclist on the road, and my head hit the road hard.

Well, this is how I am. School is kind of annoying because the environment is not good and there are a lot of jerks around.

I could have ended up a miserable loser enslaved by bullies. But haha, of course, that didn't happen! The bullies at this school are mostly just good at talking.

I was pretty much a free student, just studying and dealing with bullies or school gangs who looking for trouble, which was frustrating because there were so many of them!

The one and only my friend, Sakai Kagatsumi was with me. Sakai has very narrow eyes; when he opens them, they don't look much different from when they're closed.

Sakai and I took out all the gang members here. They were still in numbers that the two of us could handle. At this point, the gang leader was just stunned at the two of us.

“H-hey... W-we can talk about this properly, okay?” The gang leader said while trembling slightly.

Actually, Sakai and I had a reason for beating up those gang members. They were a gang from a different school who had apparently heard about my missing little sister. 

The gang leader provoked me by making extreme dirty jokes about my missing little sister, which caused me to lose my temper.

At that point, I was extremely annoyed. I glared at the silent gang leader and felt like I wanted to beat him to death.

But well... I'm not really that ruthless. I've got a better idea that'll make a profit for me.

"Hmm... you know, I need something to calm my mind. You know what that is, right?"

After I said that, he handed me some cash from his wallet. But damn, he only gave me a little, even though he clearly still had a lot of cash on his wallet!

"Ha ha... the money you gave me will only make the blow you'll receive less. Come on— now you can choose, to see a doctor or go straight to the reaper." I said in a threatening tone.

"Hieekk!! O-okay okay! Just take it all!"

He immediately gave me all the cash he had, but that wasn't all. I told him to get out of there by walking in a squat, leaving his members behind. I think that was enough.

My friend and I can fight many of them. My friend Sakai is great at fighting, but I'm not.

I'm not as tough as Sakai, but I'm pretty solid. Since I woke up from my coma, my mind feels more open, and my body is less sensitive to pain, but well... that doesn't mean I can handle extreme pain like being hit by a truck.

Sakai, who was standing next to me, gave me a stick of candy. It was his habit to always carry at least two wherever he went.

"I don't want that candy, you definitely licked it already." I said with a disgusted face.

"I haven't licked this candy yet, you idiot." Sakai sat against the alley wall immediately and asked me about my little sister. "How about your sister? Do you have any clues?"

I knew he would lick the candy, but never mind. I could only sigh when Sakai asked me. Of course, it was because— despite searching for three months, I hadn't found a single clue about my little sister— Rui Arasaka.

I decided to just go home. With my face still bruised from the earlier fight, my mother would definitely scold me.

"Sakai, I'm going home first. It's getting late; it'll be bad if I stay out too late."

I started to walk away, but before I could get very far, Sakai shouted out to me for advice.

"Rein! I suggest you look for the closest one first!"

I just nodded my head to Sakai, who smiled and waved, then I turned around and continued walking home.

After walking for a few minutes, I arrived at the front door of an ordinary, two-story house that was big enough for a family to live in.

I live with my mother in this house. What about my father? Well... I can't even remember his face. Because of problems I didn't know about when I was little, my mother decided to separate from my father. I didn't want to ask about it because I didn't want to hurt my mother's feelings.

I opened the door with the key I had brought and went inside, but it was strangely quiet, quieter than usual.

"Mom, I'm home! are you home? Mom!” I shouted, looking around.

POFT!!!

Suddenly, the sound of confetti exploded right next to me, I turned my head and saw my mother. She had a plate of cake with candles on it. At that moment, I remembered today was my birthday.

“Happy birthday, Rein! time to blow out the candles and make a wish!”

When my mother realized that I was fighting again, she just sighed instead of scolding me. Maybe it's because today is my birthday? I guess that's why she doesn't want to ruin this moment.

"Go take a shower and change your clothes. I've made your favorite food." She patted my head as she explained.

"Thanks, mom. sorry for worrying you again."

I headed upstairs to my room. Just as I was about to enter, my gaze fell on the slightly open door of the next room.

Rui's room was behind the slightly open door. I suddenly remembered Sakai's previous words, which prompted me to enter.

"As usual, not a speck of dust is here."

As I looked around, I saw Rui's computer. I realized that I had never seen what was on it, so I became curious. Rui rarely uses her computer, maybe there will only be a few pictures...

I started to turn on the computer. As expected, I found many photos of Rui with her friends stored in the computer's files.

"Hm? what's this?"

I didn't expect to find a locked folder with a password. fortunately— as his older brother, I knew what passwords she usually used. Rui never uses complicated passwords, even his smartphone pattern password used to be just a regular L alphabet pattern.

"It's a number passkey. heh! I know the password is..." I said with a small grin.

I easily opened the folder, the password was Rui's date of birth. Inside, I saw several photos and a familiar application file.

"This is the application Rui and I created back then!"

The name of the application was 'Create.' It was used to create a three-dimensional avatar that could chat with live voice.

I created an app to help Rui practice communicating with strangers, something she struggled with. She helped me too, of course Mom and Dad didn't know about it at the time.

When I tried to install the app from Rui's computer, the installation was successful. However when I opened it, only a few words appeared, explaining that the app only works on smartphones, maybe Rui added an update to this app?

I was obviously confused, but also pretty curious. I quickly connected my smartphone to Rui's computer to get the application file and tried to install it through my phone. 

I finally got the app on my phone. But when I opened it, all I saw was a blank white screen. 

“Huh? what now? did the app have a bug?”

Out of nowhere, the white screen just got way brighter, and it made my eyes hurt like they were staring at the sun.

“Ugh! what the heck! I thought I was going blind!”

I was relieved that my eyes were still fine, but then I heard my Mother calling from downstairs.

“Rein! The food's ready, so let's eat dinner downstairs! our favorite food is waiting for you!”

“O-okay mom! I'll be right down!”

I put my phone in my pants pocket and turn off Rui's computer. After that, I took a quick shower and put on some clothes. Then I hurried downstairs to have dinner with my mother.

I met my mother in the dining room downstairs. It was finally time for dinner with my mother, but it was kind of sad because it was always so quiet without Rui, who was always so noisy and excited.

My mother, who had been eating silently at first, seriously asked me.

"How long are you going to be like this?" 

From my mother question, it was clear what she was worried about. It wasn't that I wanted this either, I just always got emotional when it came to my little sister, even I don't understand myself. Since I woke up from my coma, everything has changed.

"Promise your mom that you'll be able to take care of yourself from now on!"

"Okay, Mom. I promi—"

Before I could finish, my mother held up her little finger, inviting me to make a pinky promise.

"Pinky promise!" she said, looking serious.

At first, I didn't want to because it seemed childish. However, because my mother was becoming more and more stubborn, I had no choice but to obey her.

"O-okay, okay, pinky promise!" I made a pinky promise with my mother.

She smiled in relief. I made the promise even though I wasn't sure I could keep it. at that moment, I remembered the application I had just found on Rui's computer and told my mother about it.

“Mom, do you remember the app Rui and I made back then?”

After hearing what I said, something strange happened. My mother was stunned and silent, and her gaze became uneasy.

"A-an app?!" Her face immediately began to turn pale.

"I found it on Rui's computer, but it doesn't seem to be working anymore. Uhh ... Mom?"

My mother didn't focus on what I said, I became very confused. Her body seemed to be shaking violently, and her gaze was as if she was afraid of something.

"No way ... i thought I'd cleaned everything up, t-this can't be happening! why is this happening to him?! i-i can't!” My mother covered her pale face with her hands.

Suddenly, my mother stood up from the chair, slowly walked over to the sink, and picked up a kitchen knife.

"Rein, can you come here for a second?"

My mother's face was down when she called me. Of course, as her child, I did what she said. But the closer I got, the more uneasy I felt. There was strange about my mother's behavior.

"Mom? what's going on? what's wrong with you, mom!?"

I stopped in my tracks and suddenly, she ran. at that moment, time seemed to stop. I was shocked to death when the mother that I loved so much suddenly stabbed me with the kitchen knife.

STAB!

"M-mom?" 

My body felt frozen. Tears began to run down my mother's face, and drops of blood began to splatter from the stab wound on my body. My mother immediately pulled out the knife, and I fell to the floor. Blood continued to flow from my wound.

My Mother's emotions were all over the place, and her mouth was stammering with tears. I just stood there, blank, trying to process what was happening.

"Sob... I-I'm sorry, Rein sob... I'm doing this for your own good too...”

I didn't feel any pain anymore, and strangely— my body felt warm, after a while my vision got blurry. At that moment, my phone suddenly vibrated in my pocket.

With a limp, I used the last of my energy to take the phone out of my pocket. While looking at the phone screen, I saw that the application I'd opened earlier was still active and displayed a few words.

[ User registration successful, user registered. starting the transfer process... ]

Out of the blue, a light popped up below the surface where I was lying. My mother, who was crying, was totally shocked and just sat there, totally numb.

"No way... I was too late from the start?"

My vision started to go blurry and dark. After a few seconds, my eyes closed, and I started thinking about all the questions. Like, why did my mom stab me with a knife? What happened to me? That light? That app?

I'm not sure where my mind came from, but now I feel like I've entered a another world.

....