The downfall of our hero

It didn’t take long for the night to come to its end, making way for the day to continue its duty. The street poles that lit up the city began turning off one by one. The rising sun began illuminating the city with beams of light, that had an dark orange tint. Several clouds, though small, were also floating around. The crows of passing birds could be heard, signaling the morning coming.

The streets that had been relatively empty, was now assaulted by the influx of passing cars. Many got up to begin their day, and so was it the case with Naomi, who woke up after her eyes were attacked by rays of light. After she sat up, she had rubbed her eye, and as her vision had cleared up, she yawned.

She began stretching her arms, and looked to her side. She tilted her head slightly, and looked around her room. He’s not here? she thought. The person she was talking about was her husband, Akira. Naomi began pouting at his absence, her bulging cheeks turned slowly red. That jerk. she cursed at her beloved one.

After they had made love together the night before, they continued until the early morning. Naomi had hoped to see his face as he gently embraced her when she woke up, so it was quite disappointing for her when he wasn’t even in the room. She sighed, her back leaning forward.

She looked to her right, and grabbed her phone, which was on the nightstand, and checked the time. She then got up, and headed towards the bathroom. After taking a shower, she dried herself and was now brushing her teeth. When she was done, she had combed her hair. After she finished, she got out of the bathroom and had closed the door behind her.

As she went downstairs, she had noticed something. It was awfully quiet, not a single sound could be heard. When she arrived at the first floor, she had gone through several rooms, only to find them completely empty. She was now in the kitchen, and it was there that something had caught her eye.

Everything looked like it had been cleaned not so long ago, not a single dust could be seen. The dishes were all washed, and sorted onto the plate rack. Cups were tilted upside down, and the floor had been cleaned as well.

“Weird..“ she said, both her eyebrows dropped, just above her eyelids. Well, her reaction was reasonable though, because she didn’t remember cleaning it herself.

She left the kitchen not long after, and was now in the living room. There on the table, she had found a note taped on it. She took it, and brought it closer. As she read through the note, her heart ached. It’s contents were as follows: ‘Left for something important. I’ll be back soon, Akira.’.

Even though she knew that it wouldn’t be long before he would return, she still felt like a massive hole had been drilled into her heart. She couldn’t help but feel saddened. Maybe I went to far last night? Is that why he’s avoiding me? Regretful thoughts were slowly invading her mind, as a feeling of emptiness began consuming her, the light on her face dimmed slowly.

No! Naomi had slapped both her cheeks with her hands, those poisonous thoughts quickly evaporated from her mind. “He would never.” she crumbled the note in her hand, and threw the remains on the table.

She took a deep breath, controlling her emotions, and breathed out. He’ll come back, I know it, she thought. A smile had worked its way onto her face. “Now, what should I do?” she said, whilst looking at the ceiling, her index finger touching her red lip.

Not long after, she had finally decided what to do. “I hope he’ll like it.” she said enthusiastically, her smile widened, and shone brightly;

After some time passed, someone had entered through the front door. Naomi had just finished her things, and hastened herself to the hall. There, when she saw that someone put on his slippers, a smile that emitted a similar light of that of a child had appeared on her face, her cheeks both turned a soft-red color.

“I’m back.” Akira said, a soft smile appeared on his face.

“Welcome back, darling!” she said, as she jumped in his arms, embracing him tightly.

“Did you miss me that much?” Akira said slightly embarrassed, he scratched the back of head.

Naomi had caressed Akira's chest with her head, like a cat does to its master, infirming that he was indeed in the right. Akira let out a small laugh, and embraced Naomi, he brought his head closer, and gave a peck on her lips.

Naomi wasn’t satisfied however, as she forced him closer, her hands grabbing his head, there she begun to kiss him. Not having expected she would be this forceful, he had quite the shock. His blood pressure rose, and his body heated. Why won’t she let me get her for once? Akira thought.

Yes, that was his plan after all. The reason he was so romantic was so he could finally make her feel what it's like to be on the short end of the stick. But unfortunately, she had already seen through it all. She stopped kissing Akira, and her mouth slowly curved into a grin.

“You’ve seen through me didn’t you?” Akira asked, defeat painted his face.

“Did you really think I wouldn’t notice? That’s the oldest trick in the book you know.” Naomi said rather confidently, as if mocking him for even trying in the first place. But she wasn’t done yet, being the merciless brat that she is, she continued on her rant.

“You should really learn a thing or two, or otherwise you would never get the upper hand, you know.” she moved her face closer and ended her sentence with one final word: “Idiot.”

You little… Akira grunted. “You really know how to hurt me, don’t you?” he said. He forced a smile, as a vein had appeared on his face.

“I’m proud of it.” she puffed, as she pounded her chest with her fist.

Seeing how she just continues to mock him, had caused water to boil inside Akira, he was slowly turning red of his anger. It was getting more and more difficult controlling it. She’s just testing you, don’t let her win this one. He reminded himself. The anger had lost its grip on him, as he regained his calm, his color returning to normal.

“Shut up.” Akira had turned his head, and pouted. Naomi was taken aback slightly, she didn’t expected him to handle it quite well. Seeing him try to act like a proper adult like how he used to back when they were little was sort of amusing to see for her. She couldn’t help but giggle at it.

“What’s so funny?” he said, his tone was higher than usual. However instead of getting a response to his question, he was only met with more of her laughter.

“Alright, alright, it’s so funny to get at me. We get it already.” Akira sneered at Naomi. She stopped laughing, and was now wiping the tears that started leaking from her eyes.

“So, what were you doing?” Naomi’s expression turned serious, as she asked what had been on her mind. Akira began fidgeting, he touched the outside of his right pocket. Naomi began smiling again.

“Well about that..” as Akira was about to explain what he’d been doing, Naomi had cut him off.

“Never mind. You’re probably hungry, aren’t you?” she grabbed his arm, and started walking towards the dining room.

“Wow easy. I can walk myself you know.” Akira protested. He tried to escape her hold, unfortunately he wasn’t able to.

“It’s fine.” Naomi said, whilst ignoring Akira’s complaints. She continued to lead him to the next room.

As they both arrived there, Naomi had urged Akira to sit near the table. He was confused, but still obliged with her demand, and promptly took his seat. “Now close your eyes. Don’t open them until I say so, okay?” Naomi asked him, her hand softly stroking Akira’s shoulder.

Perhaps because of the adrenaline coursing through his bloodstream, he did what he’s been told, like a dog obeying his master. Satisfied, Naomi had let go of her hand and now left somewhere. It became awfully quiet, though sometimes sounds of metal hitting a flat surface could be heard. Akira was getting scared by the second that passed, few drops of sweat began dripping from his head.

“Okay, you can open them.” Naomi said suddenly. Akira slowly opened his eyes, and when they were fully opened, his mouth was left wide open. “Surprise!” she jelled out loud.

“What is that?” he said, confused.

The box that was in Naomi’s hands was wide, and seemed quite heavy, as she was struggling to keep it straight. She had put it on the table, right before Akira.

“It’s my gift to you, not that it is really valuable, though. I’m sorry if it isn’t what you wanted.” she watched closely, as Akira was opening the box. When he ripped of the covers from the top, and looked inside, his face turned pale;

When he got the content out, he threw the cardboard box behind him, his eyes began to sparkle of joy. For those that wonder what exactly it was, it was a new gaming console that had been out for a while now. Ever since it’s release Akira had tried to purchase one, but due to the high demand and shortages of the actual product, he wasn’t able to get his hands on one. While yes, he could’ve gotten them secondhanded online, but the prices you would have to pay were borderline ridiculous. You would’ve paid at least triple or quadruple than the retail price. That was why he decided save up to buy one brand new.

“Nothing valuable? Are you kidding me? That’s what I had been saving for a few months now. How did you..?” Akira seemed so happy with his gift that he couldn’t even finish his sentence; It caused Naomi to giggle a bit.

“I was scrolling through you phone one time, and I saw a picture of that, saved as ‘Life quest: Must get this ASAP’.”

Akira had turned his head towards Naomi. He flinched at hearing that embarrassing name out loud, his cheeks turned red, and let out a screeching noise.

Naomi had cleared her throat, and pointed towards the table. Akira turned his gaze to where she was pointing, his eyes began to glitter again.

“What’s this!” he counted five plates in total, all formed a circle with one of them quietly placed in its center, and on them were delicious meals prepared on top of them.

Akira looked back at Naomi in disbelieve. She just stood there with a smile on her face.

“What are you watching me for? Dig in.” she had waved her hands, urging him, but he didn’t seem to listen.

“And what about you?”

“It’s all yours, I don’t need it, really!” she crossed her hands, and began shaking her head, turning him down. Then out of nowhere, a sudden rumbling had echoed throughout the room, Naomi’s face turned red instantly. A grin had formed on Akira’s face.

“I’ll have some then.” Naomi had quietly took her seat next to Akira, and grabbed the nearest dish she could find, she started nibbling on it. Akira patted her head, and then started eating as well.

Quite some time passed, when the married couple finished eating most of the plates, however there was still one left untouched. It was the one in the center, which had a chocolate cake on it. Akira and Naomi were looking at it, both were drooling a bit. Naomi had grabbed a knife, and began slicing a piece from it.

She placed that piece on one of the empty plates, and shoved it before Akira. She had served herself a piece as well; Both looked at each other, before cutting a small fragment of the piece with their spoons. They nodded at each other, and put those in their mouths. When those fragments left their mouth heading straight into their stomachs, they began scooping up more and swallowing them down.

It didn’t take long for the entire cake to be devoured by these two sugar heads. Akira had let out a burp, when all of a sudden he felt someone kick his right leg. He looked at the person next to him, and apologized. He thought that all was good, but unfortunately she was still frowning at him, her stare began sending shivers down his spine.

Unable to bear the pressure she released, Akira turned his gaze away from her, and began digging through his thoughts. It didn’t take long for him to realize what she had wanted from him.

“Alright time for your present.” he said, as he dug in his right pocket, and retrieved a small box from it. He handed it to Naomi.

“I know that I didn’t spend nearly as much as you did for your present, but I hope you’ll still like it.” Akira said, as Naomi slowly opened its cover. She took out its content, it was an even smaller box, it had a red color, with yellow stripes along its center, a small purple ribbon held it all together.

Nervously she looked at Akira, and gulped. She removed its ribbon, and slowly opened the top part. Her mouth dropped wide open, as she took out its insides. In her hand was a golden-colored necklace, on one end a small heart was attached on it, Naomi had carefully caressed it with finger. It had a smooth touch.

“It’s so beautiful..” her eyes glittered brightly.

“I had it custom made.” Akira said, while pointing at the necklace.

“Really? What a craftsmanship.” Naomi turned her gaze to him, her face exposing her astonishment.

“If you find that impressive, then you should really see what’s inside that heart.” Akira said, his smile shone brightly.

“Inside the heart?” Naomi said with a confused look. Her gaze turned to the little heart on her palm, there she saw a small cut-out, she opened it with the nail of her finger.

Her eyes began glittering again, as she covered her mouth with her hand. Inside that heart was a picture of the married couple cuddling together. Though it was relatively small to compensate for its small housing, the picture was still pretty detailed.

“Wait, we took that photo yesterday didn’t we?” Naomi asked in a hush, she moved her head closer to Akira.

“That’s right. I take it that you like it then.” he said, not before giggling a bit.

“Like it? I absolutely love it! Can I wear it?” Naomi asked, with the same enthusiasm as a child on Christmas morning. Akira nodded with his head, in response.

“Can you do it?” she asked him, her head tilted at an angle, her pupils growing bigger.

Unable to resist after seeing those puppy eyes, he got up, and went behind Naomi. He took the necklace and gently put it on her, the necklace resting nicely on her voluptuous bosom. Akira quickly looked away, his reddened cheeks exposing his inner thoughts. Naomi gave it no mind, and pretended not to notice. She stood up and began embracing him.

“Alright you want to set this up?” Akira asked, after Naomi had released her grip on him. She responded with a hmm, and nodded her head.

The couple stayed home for the entire day, and spent their time playing games with each other. Nothing else happened during the day, and it didn’t take long for the heaven to welcome the night. As the couple had finished eating their diner, they were now cuddling in their bed.

Akira began stroking Naomi’s cheek with his finger, and both stared right at each other. It didn’t take long for the two to be going at it. As their room was filled with heavy breathing and few moaning’s, Akira’s expression had darken, as he reminded the events of the night before. Naomi didn’t notice as her mind was invaded by waves of pleasure. Akira’s hands dug deeper in the white blanket covered in sweat. As he looked at Naomi’s reddened face, he began questioning his existence.

He questioned whether it was all fine for him to live on like this, but as he’s thinking of an answer, Naomi had grabbed his head, and brought him closer, kissing him on his mouth. Akira’s heart began to ache. I really am an idiot… Aren’t I? He had finally reached an answer, the anxious feeling inside him had disappeared.

After the pair had finished their business, Naomi was the first one to kick the bucket, with Akira quietly watching her sleep. He gave her a kiss on her forehead, then he closed his eyes as his consciousness faded into the depths of the empty void.

As for the following days that came after, nothing much happened. It was now five days later, as the morning crows of birds filled the emptiness of outside. It was their signal that the morning had arrived.

When Akira had opened his eyes, he was suddenly blinded by a rays of light, he had covered them with his hand, and reluctantly got up. He reached for his phone next to him, and looked at the time, and put his phone back in pocket. He let out a yawn, and was heading to the bathroom.

After he had taken a shower and brushed his teeth, he got out of the bathroom and headed downstairs. When he reached the first floor, he was greeted by Naomi, who was wearing her usual morning wear, she was placing the cutlery on the table.

Akira responded with a hmm, and took his seat near the table. Naomi had just come back with the last plate in her hand. She placed it on the table, and took her seat as well. Both said their prayer before digging in.

After they had eaten their breakfast, it was then that Naomi had turned her gaze to Akira.

“I’ll be out for the day. Do you need something?” she said, as she wiped the last food crumbles from her cheek.

“No, not necessarily.” Akira responded. He got up, with his empty plate in hand, and went to the kitchen, he picked up Naomi’s plate along the way.

“Alright then.” Naomi said, as she got up from her chair. She went upstairs, as Akira had just left the kitchen. As he saw her leave, he couldn’t help but feel that something might happen today.

When Naomi had finally dressed up, she stood there in front of the door putting on her heels. After she wore both her heels, she opened the door, and turned around, staring right at Akira. Her mouth curved into a wide smile, as she spoke her final words to him.

“See you later!” she said, as she closed the door behind her.

Naomi had left Akira all by his lonesome, he continued to stare at the door. This anxious feeling that kept plaguing him had been growing inside. As of now, he could do nothing except pray that everything would turn out fine.

                                                                    ...

It was eleven o’clock when Naomi was walking down the city center. Stores had already opened, and the streets were filled with passing pedestrians. Naomi looked around, inspecting the items placed on display in store windows, and continued on walking to her destination.

It was a store she frequented, whose owners were close friends with her parents. She had been coming to this place ever since she was little. Having had so many memories here, she couldn’t help but wear a smile.

“Alright then…” she said as she took a deep breath, before entering the place.

“Oh-ho, if it isn’t little Naomi entering. How are you doing?” the store clerk said after seeing Naomi walk towards the counter.

“Good morning Takuya-san. I’m doing alright I guess. And you?”

“I’m still breathing so I’m doing fine. So, how’s that husband of yours, still enjoying the married life?” Takuya asked, he had his arms crossed.

“He’s doing fine, thanks for asking.” Naomi said. She paused for a moment, taking a deep breath as the memories of a few days ago came back flashing in her mind. “And as for living the married life, I’m still enjoying it.” her smile widened, as her teeth shone brightly.

“Good then.” He said, as he giggled a bit. He still couldn’t believe the little brat he’d known had grown into such a great woman. He felt almost proud of it, as if she was his own daughter. A smile formed on his face.

“So, what brings you here?” Takuya asked, he leaned against the counter.

“Just visiting, since it’s been a long time.” Naomi responded, she scratched the back of her head.

“You’re right, it has been a year since we last talked. So, are you leaving soon?”

“Why do you ask?”

“You know, my wife is returning in a bit. And it’ll be nice if she saw you again, she missed you after all.”

“Alright then, I do have time.”

“Great! I’ll prepare something for you then, in the meantime you can look around for a bit.” Takuya said, as he went to the backroom using the door behind him.

Naomi began walking around, looking at the various sections. Despite the shop being open for a few hours now, there weren’t many customers. In fact, she was the only one there. She used it to her advantage, as she continued walking around the store. After walking in a circle for a while, she had gotten bored, and went to sit near the counter. She supported her head with her hand, humming a bit.

Not long after, she had heard the door open, someone walked inside. Curiosity had gotten the better of her, as she turned her head to see who it was. It was as she got a good look at him, that anger began enveloping her mind. She gritted her teeth, as that someone came closer.

He went to sit next to Naomi, and had put his hat on the counter. He turned his head, staring right at her.

“Are you a frequent customer?” he said, as his mouth curved into a wide smile.

Naomi could only look at him with disgust, and for good reason too. After all, he had been the one that ruined their third anniversary. Don’t you dare forget what you had done… Akemi ! She fumed at him. As his question was met with silence, his smile widened. She has some spirit he thought, as his inner emotions began leaking to the outside world.

                                                                    …

“So there is she.” Akira said, as he looked at the familiar store. Memories of the past had been flooding in his mind. One time when Naomi had brought him there, the owners had welcomed him with open arms. Akira was shocked when he found out that they had been friends with his parents-in-law.

What had brought him here you may ask? For that we’ll have to go back when Naomi had left. When Akira was staring endlessly at the door. His gut feeling kept intensifying, making him worry more. After ignoring it for a while, he had enough of it, and rushed outside to where Naomi was.

You might ask how he found her, and that answer is pretty simple. He used a tracker app that he installed a few days ago, that held track of her location at any times. The only thing he had left to do was follow the directions it was giving.

He was now hiding near a street pole, he had a clear view of Naomi. He had been watching her for ten minutes now. He felt guilty spying on her, but he thought that was the only way to ease his worries.

Everything went according to plan, until a traffic jam had blocked off his view. Akira panicked, and began coming closer, as stealthy as possible. He was about to turn a corner, when all of a sudden he bumped into someone.

“I’m sorry.” Akira said, as he was about to get up. But while he did, he glanced at the other person. He was still standing up, completely unfazed. He looked down at Akira;

“Huh, you better look where you walk prick.” he said angrily, his tone menacing.

“He’s right, you better watch out.” his companion chimed in.

The two had very contrasting appearances. For starters, one was tall, and was quite build. He looked like a bodybuilder, he seemed quite athletic. He had short blond hair. He wore a suit, as if he was a business man.

The other was shorter, and fairly thin. He didn’t looked malnourished or anything, it was just that he was build like your average man. His looks beamed ‘ordinary’, and that was the same for everything about him. He could only strike as being a ordinary guy.

“I’m so sorry.” Akira repeated as he got up. He planned on going, and so passed them, however, he could still feel their gazes stare at him.

As Akira had left quite a distance between them, he went to one narrow alley. Damn losers, he thought. Now he had to make a detour, wasting even more time. Akira sighed, and began to walk again. He was about to start walking until he felt an immense pressure from his nape, so much so that he felt it almost breaking in half. As fear began to devour Akira, he turned his head, whilst ignoring the tremendous pain, and his gaze fell to the one grabbing him. That person, who was the taller guy from just now, began to smile viciously.

“Don’t think that you can run away from us, Pig.” he said aggressively. He threw Akira against a nearby wall. He threw him with such force that upon impact he felt his organs being crushed. Akira thought that he was dying, as he began gasping for air, his sight began turning white. He started hearing a constant beep, his heart beating faster.

“W..h..y?” those were the letters he could say, as he continued to take in gulps of air. The exact words that had been plaguing his mind. His sight began slowly regaining its color.

“Huh, you don’t recognize us do you?” the man said, as he closed the distance between him and Akira.

“We’re your friends. You’re best friends.” his tone gave a chill vibe, as the air around him got colder. He moved his head closer, his eerie smile widened.

“You’re sooo mean. How can you forget about us? Didn’t we play a lot together when we were little?” his little companion said, as he too came closer to Akira. Despite his looks being utterly average, the tone in which he spoke gave off the same vibe of that of a psychopath. It caused the air to grow even more colder.

“Yeah, didn’t we make many memories together? Don’t tell me you forgot?” the man said, as he grabbed Akira’s hair, lifting him up from the wet ground.

“W..Wh…a..t ar..e yo..u t.lk..n ab..ut?” Akira said, as he was still steadying his breathing. His body didn’t hurt as much as it did, but the pain that came as he breathed still remained. He could only stare at the man before him, unable to do anything about it.

“I’ll remind you…” he said, as he let go of Akira’s hair.

As Akira was falling down, he felt an emerging pain coming from his stomach. The force behind it was huge that it caused him to vomit. Immediately after, he received a few blows on his face, his jaws started hurting and blood began gushing.

But it didn’t stop there, as right after he felt a tremendous kick to his head; It caused his head to hit the firm wall behind him. Unable to bear the pain, his mind was slowly drifting away, he began closing his eyes slowly.

However, as if not satisfied yet, the man had grabbed Akira by the throat, he began tightening his grip. His eerie grin grew wider, as he started wetting his lips. As his only source of oxygen was being cut-off, Akira began resisting. However, his efforts were useless. Having no longer the strength in his body, his entire body went numb.

His sight began whitening, the constant beep grew louder, he knew for certain that this would be his end. However, perhaps with luck, someone had come near them.

“Hey, that’s enough for today. We’re going.” that someone said, he held quite the authority, since that person suffocating Akira had let go of his grip.

The two went away, as that someone stayed behind.

“You know, if you plan on taking us down… You should prepare yourself then.” his eerie smile widened, and his tone became colder. He turned his back, signaling that he was about to leave. But before he did, he looked back at Akira.

“That’s a lovely wife you got yourself, it’ll be sad if something were to happen to her.” he said, as he took off, leaving Akira dirtied and hurt behind.

When Akira was sure they had left, he began bashing his head to the wall behind him, as the face of that someone appeared back in his mind. Damn you, fucking bastard. He could only curse them, tearing some of his hair, as he finally realized who had been talking to him.

After struggling to get up, he ignored the screeching pain, as he began walking home.

                                                                    …

“Darling, I’m back!” Naomi yelled, as she entered through the front door. She quickly put away her coat and took of her heels, putting on her slippers. She headed towards the living. When she arrived there, she had found Akira sitting at the couch, his back hunched forward. His face was covered with stollen blood and dirt, his clothes also dirtied. As she got closer to him, a strong odor had entered her nostrils, she quickly covered it with her arm.

“Ugh, what happened?” Naomi asked in a panic.

“Noami,” Akira said, his tone void of any emotion. His lifeless gaze focused directly at Naomi.

“Did you meet anyone in particular today?”

“What are you talking about?” Naomi didn’t understand what was going on. She didn’t know why he acted this way nor what had exactly caused him to be so on edge.

“I’m talking about that shop you went today.” Akira stood up, and stared at Naomi, he came close to her. His eyes were lifeless.

“How do you know…” Naomi was flabbergasted that Akira knew where she’d been hanging out, but as she was about to ask how he found out, Akira had cut her off.

“Did you meet anyone there?” Akira asked, his tone started leaking his inner rage. Despite that though, his face was still emotionless.

“Well, I happened to see Takuya-san again, and Yuri-san too.”

“Oh, and there was this other one…” there, in that moment when Naomi paused, Akira had been visually shocked, sweat dripping from his head.

“What was his name?” he asked quite hesitantly, he gulped for air, a drop of sweat glided from his cheeks.

“Why do you need it for?” Naomi asked with her eyebrow raised;

“Just…. Tell me.”

“It was Akemi, I believe.” the moment Naomi mentioned his name, it was when the gut feeling Akira had this morning began tingling again. As he thought to himself how things have gone of the rails so much, he began gritting his teeth.

A sense of defeat had been circulating around his being, as he’d been listening how Naomi’s talk went with him. As she was explaining it in great detail, Akira wasn’t paying attention to it for one bit. He only looked at her, as he saw how wide her smile was while talking about him, it caused Akira to wonder, if Naomi was truly by his side.