Family

[You have fulfilled all the neccesary conditions for the secret mission 'Meeting With A Demon']

[You've obtained the right to become a Player.]

[Do you accept?]

Out of pure confusion Akira accepted the deal, who would've known it would become the main cause of his headaches.

As to what happened to the demon with the razor sharp teeth...Well thats a story for a different chapter.

Back to the lake, Akira has already wrapped the fish in dried up leaves for storage, and placed it in his brown patched bag.

"I wonder if thats enough to complete the mission" Akira asked himself.

[You have fulfilled the requirements for the weekly mission 'Fish Hook']

[Your rewards for completing the weekly mission have arrived]

[Would you like to accept]

"Yes" Akira replied back to the system as if already used to the unusual fact. He should already be used to it, considering he has been stuck with this thing for some time now.

[Collect 80 fishes in one week]

[Number of fish collected 80/80]

[You may choose one of the following rewards]

[Reward #1. Lv +1]

[Reward #2. Stat Points +3]

[Reward #3. Random Box]

"Accept level up" Akira already knew what option he wanted, well atleast he had a guess as to what he wanted.

[You have leveled up]

[Would you like to check your status?]

"Sure, lets hope it changed to some extent" Ever since he got the system, he has checked his status atleast a hundred times, day and night and yet there was no change.

[Name: Akira Samezaki

Class: None

Title: None

Level: 2

Age: 10

Strength: 6

Agility: 8

Stamina: 6

Perception: 6

Intelligence: 6

Talent: None

Additional Points: 0

Remark: The standard attributes for an adult male is around 25]

Surprisingly, his level really did go up. Even though he was given the reward from the mission, he was still a bit skeptical.

Not to mention, as his level went up all his stats were raised by one point.

"Now that I think about it when I leveled up I did feel myself getting a bit stronger, even my mind became a bit more clear"

Even though he was excited at the prospect of becoming stronger, his mind was filled with numerous questions

'How exactly does it express my strength in numbers? Even my intelligence was expressed'

'How much stronger do I actually become?'

'Are there any limits?'

His head started hurting from thinking too much, he had to take a few breaths to calm himself down.

"I should probably head back now, its getting late, not to mention..Tomorrow's the day."

Tomorrow was an important day for Akira, its the day a certain promise would be kept. He will finally, get his own teacher.

He stood up and packed all his things, including his pure black and grey haori which he took off before fishing as to not accidentally splash some water on it. He wore the haori over a dark blue robe and black pants.

He still remembers the last time he accidentally poured or thrown something on his clothes, in the end he got a earful from Mei.

Mei is the old lady that takes care of all the the children in the orphanage, even though she might not be the youngest she still manages more than enough.

Although, it did take some time to ascend the mountain back to the summit to reach the Bei Village.

Atleast three hours, which is pretty normal as the lake he was fishing at was lower down the Osamu Mountain. He chose this spot as to not raise much attention.

During the trip, he thought about the village he lived in. He quickly remembered his family that has without his choice become his, as though they were a family from the start.

He remembered his several younger siblings that he has, Suzuna, Akemi, Ruka, Natsume and Reiji.

These three girls and two boys along with Mei and his teacher Saki, could be considered his family.

"I can't wait to see them" Akira exclaimed with a feeling of yearning.

Out of nowhere, the sound of branches being broken and twigs being stepped on came from his far right hand side.

Akira suddenly stopped in his tracks and turned his gaze towards the blocked pathway where the sound originated from.

Among the dense collection of trees that surrounded Akira, a pair of eyes were secretly lurking around trying their best to hide their presence.

Fortunately, Akira already noticed someones eyes on his back. Over time he has become quite sensitive to these sort of things, he had to after all he spends most of his time in these woods. In fact, he is a perfect example of an 'Wild Mountain Kid'

Even though Osamu Mountain is mostly a peaceful place, there are still wild animals that live in the forests along with the humans. Wolves, bears, deers and all sorts.

In fact its the month of June, which means summer. Unfortunately, summer was also the time bears were the most active, thats why Akira felt quite nervous. After all, who would want to face a bear all by yourself head on.

He slowly started taking small steps closer and closer towards the source of the sound, surely he had finally stopped right in front of bush.

With a big gulp he finally built the courage to actually look behind and find out what it actually was...

"Boooh!"

Akira fell back down to the ground in shock, his heart beating a bit faster.

Two immature voices broke out from behind the bushes, two small girls jumped out from behind the creak. Looking up, he saw two little girls staring at him while laughing at their own successful joke.

The one on the right was Akemi she had black hair and peach coloured eyes, the one on the left was Ruka she had brown hair and the exact same coloured eyes as Akemi, the two twins of the Bei Village.

Akira couldnt help but laught heartily at their antics, they always loved making surprises especially the ones were you had to scare someone.

"Hahaha, big brother you fell for it again" The two girls couldn't help but tease their older brother.

Standing back up again, Akira dusted off the dirt on his clothes. He looked down at their two girls and couldnt help but smile.

"What are you two doing here? Didn't I tell you not to follow me" Akira reprimanded them, even though he didnt mind them being with him. He was still worried about them.

The two girls lowered their heads in sadness as they werent used to being scolded by Akira.

"B-But you said you were going to be back in an hour" They two girls said at the same time trying to somehow defend themselves.

"And?" He replied not understanding them.

"I-Its already being three hours since you left" The girls realised they won this time and smiled secretly.

"Huh?" Akira scratched his head in confusion, 'Did I actually?' Time flew by too far for him.

"I did didn't I, I'm sorry" He quickly apologized to them.

Seeing an opportunity the two girls smirked to themselves, "Is that all your going to say, we had to wait for you for thiiissss much time" The girls cutely spread their hands apart to show him.

"Were gonna tell on you to grandma Mei" The two girls started innocently pointing their fingers at Akira. "Were going to say you made us cry"

"I didnt make you cry though" Akira couldnt help but bluntly point the fact out.

Suspiciously, right after he said this tears started falling down both the little girls cheeks.

'Were the hell did those tears come from?' His jaw was wide open, looking on as he was framed.

'Evil little brats' was the only comment he had to say. Thinking about how to get rid of his fake trial, he quickly thought up a simple solution.

"Is that so, fine go tell grandma Mei I made you cry"

The two girls turned their heads in confusion.

However, he wasn't done talking he still had a plan he was going to complete. So he took out the fish he managed to catch and started swaying it around the two girls faces as if bait in front of fish.

The faces of the girls both started instantly drooling, their eyes were fixed on the food in front of them.

Akemi and Ruka were non identical twins meaning they looked different to an extent. However, they both had one thing in common...They both loved food.

"Since your going to tell on me to grandma Mei, I might as well throw this fish away. After all, I made you cry and grandma Mei will probably punish me with no dinner..." Akira even took a small break to let the words sink in, and if that wasnt enough...

"N-O D-I-N-N-E-R" He even spelled it out for them.

The moment the two girls heard the words 'no' and 'dinner' in one sentence they went full on panic mode.

Yet again very suspiciously, the tears quickly dissapeared without any traces from their cheeks.

'Again, were the hell did those tears come from?' His jaw wide open again.

"Ahh..Lets go home now I promise you can eat the fish don't worry'

"Hurray, big brother's the best" they exclaimed in joy.

Akira couldnt help but forgive them how they clearly tried to incriminate him, when he saw their joyful faces.

He picked one of them up and placed her on his shoulders and took the other by her hand, and started walking back to the Bei Village.

Akemi enjoyed being carried on his shoulders and waved her hands around in excitement, while Ruka liked holding hands with him...

Two hours later, the three finally arrived at the village...

"Not fair let me hold his hand too"

"And you let me ride on his shoulder too"

"Five more minutes"

"You said that last time"

"You said that last time too"

With dead pan eyes Akira has been stuck inbetween this conversion for the past two hours.

Two hours of never ending screeching, complaining and more complaining.

And, two hours of constant changing between whose on his shoulder and whose holding his hands...

In conclusion, two hours of 'hell'.

After two hours, Akira finally had it through the roof...

"ENOUGH!!" with speed he didnt know he had he quickly let go of Akemi's hand and placed her on his left shoulder opposite to Ruka on his right shoulder.

"There, happy"

The two girls looked around and back to each other before finally nodding their heads in approval.

'One day I swear to god I will throw away all the stored up food we have in the orphanage just to see their reaction'

'One day...' While Akira has been dreaming in his own world they have already entered the roads of the Bei Village.

Over time, the village has changed slightly. First of all there was a grand torii build in front of the entrance with the name of the village being inscribed right in the middle of the copper pillars in neat calligraphy.

In the summer the days turned shiny and sunny, the flowers bloomed all over the grounds and along the rice fields.

Along with a warm breeze whistling throughout every corner of the village, which carried a hint of fresh flowers and trees.

People with good mood walked the paved streets, when they noticed three young and small children walking along with them.

When they saw a bit older and bigger boy carrying two younger and smaller little girls on his shoulders like a big brother they couldnt help themselved but stare in fondness and awe.

Their hearts fluttered every single time they turned back to take a second look.

After taking a few turns here and there the three finally reached their home. The whole building was big enough to hold multiple families along with several more guests.

The whole building was build in the shape of a miniature mansion on the opposite side of the village.

The building was decorated with flower pots sitting on each window.

There was also a small garden for children to play and enjoy, everything about this orphanage sounded like a miracle come true.

However, the building was old, some could say ancient at this point. The walls were ruined by the flow of time and were rewarded with several spider web like cracks spreading throughout.

This was the main reason the building was used as an orphanage and not bought by some wealthy family.

It would simply take too much resources to maintain or even reverse the building back to its previous glory.

Stepping in through the doors Akira could already hear familiar voices..

"Its time for dinner everybody Natsume, Reiji, Suzuna get here before I throw it all out"

As if it was their last meal three children ran down the staircase on the other side of the entrance. They all quickly sat down and waited for the food to served with clear expection on their faces.

Ruka and Akemi have long since dashed past Akira leaving him behind the moment they smelled the aroma of the food.

"Where have you been for so long?" an old lady stood in front of Akira with a worried face.

She had wrinkles from her old age, black but nearly grey hair along with surprisingly clear eyes. This was grandma Mei.

"Im sorry it took some time to finally catch this thing" speaking of Akira took out the fish that was stored in his bag while still wrapped in dried leaves.

Looking at the size of the fish grandma Mei couldnt help but show a surprised face. She took the fish out of the boys hands and looked at him with a smile.

"I'll prepare some sashimi for the children"

Akira just nodded, its not like he could cook himself so he let the more experienced take charge.

He then sat down next to his younger siblings and waited for the food to be prepared.

They waited for atleast 20 minutes, during this time the children complained several times.

"How long is this going to take?" a young boy with light skin, black hair and dressed in a blue kimono whined while hitting the table with his hands. This was Natsume.

"Until you stop talking, thats how long it will take" A boy of similar age and same light skin mocked Natsume. He was dressed in a green kimono and had dark brown hair. This was Reiji.

"How about we just wait for grandma Mei to finish, then we can all eat" Akira joined the conversation before the two could start a civil war between each other.

Finally, a small cute girl with black wavy hair dressed in a bright red and black kimono decorated with leaf patterns joined in.

She sat right next to Akira while cutely playing thumbs war by herself as a distraction.

She tugged at her older brothers sleeve to grab his attention and with the most adorable looking eyes the colour of blue stars she said...

"W-Where's t-the food?" She shyly asked her brother with a cute stutter. This was Suzuna, the smallest and youngest member of this orphanage.

Looking down at her, Akira's heart couldnt help but flutter at his cute little sister. He patted her hair and tried to reasure her.

"Dont worry it wont be long" She just nodded her and believed her brother.

Akira would never say admit this to himself but he doted on Suzuna very much so.

"Foods here" grandma Mei finally bought in the food and set it all out on the table.

She prepared fresh and delicious Sashimi, sizzling grilled Yakiniku along with dipping sauce and some Ohitashi enough for all of them. The food meals filled the whole table.

Akemi and Ruka mouths were watering just by looking at the food. Surprisingly, they managed to not say a single word throughout the 20 minutes of waiting.

"What are you waiting for, dig in" grandma Mei said. What followed after was sound of chopsticks hitting the plates.

The food was delicious as always and filled Akira with a warm and cosy feeling. As such, Akira finished quite fast today.

Grandma Mei quickly noticed and said to him

"Have some more Akira" she said with a kind voice

She was sat right opposite of Akira so she easily noticed.

"It's alright Grandma Mei I've had enough"

"That won't do, have some more"

'Eehh, she's always like this' Akira commented to himself in his mind.

Right at this time Akemi and Ruka quickly spotted an opportunity...

"If he wont have it, can we?" they both said at the time.

Akira quickly noticed their scheme and without even wasting a second he took the plate out of grandma Mei's hands and gulfed down all the food at once leaving them in shock.

"Eeeeeeh, come on you said you wont have it" they both complained to him.

Akira obviously just laughed at them, causing all his other siblings to just join in to the abrupt laughter with him.

After some time, all of them finished their food and were ready to leave and go to sleep. But before they could grandma Mei stopped them.

"Wait a second I have a surprise for you" she stood up and from one of the higher shelves she took out a simple wooden box.

She slowly opened it and revealed multiple sweet looking set of Dango dumplings.

"Aaaaah!" all the children shouted in joy, after all what kind of children don't like sweets.

She handed them all out with each having atleast three dumplings on a skewer covered in sweet soy sauce glaze.

They all exclaimed in joy once they tasted the Dango.

Especially, little Suzuna considering she loved sweet food like this one. Her eyes shone like fireworks making her smile even more cute.

After finishing the sweet Dango they all headed to their bedrooms to sleep.

"Goodnight, grandma Mei, thanks for the food and the Dango" all the children thanked even Akira.

Tucked in bed, Akira became embraced in a warm feeling that reminded him of his family that he had.

Looking back at the day he had today, the moments he spent with his family, all those joy filled experiences he couldnt help but consider himself fortunate.

After all there are many people in the world, people much more powerful than him, wealthier than him and much more influential than him.

And yet, he was sure of one thing, one thing only...That there were not enough people in the whole wide world who were as lucky as him to have such a family.