Sunrise park...

.

.

.

.

"I'm coming with you." The boy's voice attracts the attention of Kazuhiro.

"That is up to you, however-." Even though he does not mind having company on road, he still gets interrupted mid sentence.

"Thanks," He says, not offering him a chance to finish his sentence. He then proceeds to stand up from his seated position on the mattress, heading towards the door.

Kazuhiro has a clear image of the boy's characteristics. So far, it leaves a bad impression of him. Toru walks past the entity, as he suddenly falls head first onto the carpet floor.

He stood and scanned Toru's body. "He's still breathing. It's certain that he fell asleep." He later ponders if he should leave him there or set his body to the nearest bed.

Deciding on the former, he went over and took a seat by the edge of the bed, the entity pulls out the device and looks at the mission tab once more.

.

.

Xxxx

__Mission(s)__

● Of mother and son: -Time dependent-

Objective(s):

Help in searching for Toru's mother, Alive! 

Difficulty: ☆☆☆ | Hard

Reward(s):

▪︎ 10,000 SC

▪︎ 20 (INT)

▪︎ 20 (AP)

▪︎ Major increase in favor with Toru.

▪︎ A new title

▪︎ A new ability

.

Failure:

▪︎ -1000 SC

▪︎ A new ability.

Xxxx

.

.

'Time dependent, so far I have two theories on what it could mean. It could be that the mission has a time limit, on which it won't be availible even if you don't accept it. The other might mean that it is a time related mission, the timer starts once you accept it.'

'I prefer it being the latter; it would make it a bit easier to finish the task. As every second counts, However, one thing stood out: why would one get an ability if someone were to fail? Isn't that good? Or would it be a passive ability that would hinder its user, similar to a curse?'

.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

.

Shots can be heard from the outside, kazuhiro lowers his gaze towards the boy and checks up on him, still asleep. Grabbing the TV remote from the bed bench, he decides to turn it on. The first thing it displayed was that of a cooking show. Uninterested, he skips a few channels, surfing until he lands on the news outlet.

"Over 200 casualties have been reported and confirmed in Tokonosu city; the majority of those deaths came from the shootings, a rise in gang activity in some parts of the city due to having no order within them. We also have been informed that inmates have broken out of their cells, the lack of guards in the vicinity caused this issue. For those at home, evacuate immediately and head over to the west district, the police force and medical shelters are stationed there. Th-" Turning off the TV, he drowns himself in his thoughts.

'It's been a day since the start of the outbreak, and the country is already in turmoil. Not good, the longer I stay here, my chances of failing this mission increase. Perhaps I could get a clue around on where I can find that person.' Standing up, Kazu starts to search and scan the room for hints or information about the client's mother. First, heading to the wardrobe.

'It has its very own room, very wealthy it seems.' Looking around, the room was far more spacious, with dressers and wardrobes at the side and tall mirrors at the end of the room. He scrutinized many of the wears, only then to find business suits, traditional kimonos, and casual wear. Nothing that would indicate about her job.

'That would remove jobs that would require a workplace outfit, those of the fast food industry, flight attendants, police force, or any other jobs that would require a uniform.' Kazuhiro inspected every piece of clothing to find any hints that could lead him somewhere.

'Almost an hour has gone by, and the search was not entirely futile since I now know that she does not work in any of those jobs that I mentioned earlier.' The search took too long due to the dressing room's vast space.

Leaving the room, the entity spends the whole 30 mins inspecting the master bedroom thoroughly, but still, there is no information. He looks at the clock on top of the small table counter that was beside the bed. 'Three hours have gone by ever since I arrived here.'

Not knowing what to do, he sits on the ground, leaning on the bed bench. His options now is to wait for Toru to wake up so he could any credible information regarding the assigned mission.

.

.

'Hm...' Kazuhiro remembered something after a few minutes of delving into his thoughts. 'I remember picking up the picture frame of Toru alongside his classmates. It seemed to be for a class photoshoot. In the frame, there stood four teachers, two on each side. One of them had the exact feature resemblance in the other frame.'

'Maybe.' Still in the master bedroom, he stands up, taking the family picture frame on the desk with him, leaves the room, and heads towards Toru's room.

Once in the room, he picks up another picture frame, though this one was the class photo. Comparing the two, one of the teachers resembled the one in the family picture. Toru's mother, in the class picture frame, she wore an open white sweater with a shirt underneath and followed by a turquoise colored skirt.

'As I thought.' The frames still in hand, he looks around the boy's room. Landing on one of the school certificates of this year. 'Shintoko academy. That is the place. Though the issue is, where is it?'

"I knew you'd still be here. How else would you know where she is." The figure's hearing senses catches the sound of the familiar tone.

"I told you that I would tag along, It's 10 in the morning, we can make it towards the west area of the city in approximately two hours on foot, If there aren't any hindrances along the way, of course." Toru says as he rubs his bruised forehead, followed by a yawn, "Just wait downstairs; I'll be there in three. I need to pack some stuff for the road." Moving sluggishly, he goes into his room, stuffing the things he needs in his backpack; the figure complies, and he goes and stands waiting downstairs, not willing to ask any queries about the current situation.

.

.

True to his words, Toru came down at precisely three minutes, now wearing a light grey open jacket, and underneath it was his school uniform. Moreover, the kid carried a backpack as well. "Ready, let's leave. We've got no time to waste." Walking past the creature and leaving through the house's main entrance, Kazuhiro followed behind him, ducking under the door frame.

.

.

The rays of the afternoon sun, shines above as they are both met with the destructive scene right in front of them, with cars crashed, dead bodies on the ground, their blood seeping onto the solid streets, and gunshots can heard from a distance, the two stand as they observe their surroundings.

"We're heading towards the park, it is the longest but the safest route that would lead us to the west district." Toru, Unfazed by the chaotic scene in front of him said as he later adds, "Also, let me get on your back, we would be there much quicker with you covering most of the distance with those long legs of yours." The kid stares at the entity as he then follows upon his request by picking him up and having him hold on to his thin skeletal back.

The kid adjusted his hold on to the creature's back. He then guides Kazuhiro on where to go by pointing out the direction."That way, then turn right." Turning around and then walking towards what seemed to be an alleyway between Toru's home and their neighbors, they planned to avoid the dangerous streets.

.

.

Avoiding the main roads and only taking thin and narrow pathways, be it alleyways, small shrubbery areas such as gardens, or narrow streets with multiple local shops surrounding them. During their walk, The awkward silence took place between them as they have only been heading straight for a few minutes.

Breaking the silence, Kazuhiro decides to speak his mind out.

"Apologies, Toru, for asking questions unrelated to the task at hand. Your eyes, they don't seem too well." If the kid goes down, then the whole mission would end in failure.

"I will be fine, I took a stimulant that would keep me awake for a few hours. I have a container of the pills with me if we happen to get delayed and somehow still far from the destination." The kid described his reasoning.

After only half a minute, a black steel gate appeared in the distance. The entrance to the park.

"Sunrise Park. It is the largest public park in the city." The kid says as they are now in front of the open entrance. "It has about eight gates, two on each side; we are currently in the east part of the park judging by the map beside the gate. we need to go to one of the western gates, which would lead us a few streets down towards the west bridge." The kid says as they both go in and guide Kazuhiro to the gate.

Even the park happens to be infested with those undead, too many to count, as they both venture inside the bloody park. Dead bodies were scattered all over the unsettling public garden, and some corpses were seen munching on fresh meat, be it humans or even animals.

"It stinks." Covering his nose using his sleeved jacket due to the unpleasant aroma coming from the deceased corpses.

Still walking, nothing unusual has surfaced until a faint sound of an engine coming from the short hill in the distance, turning both of their heads to the sound. A couple were seen running down the small hill, sprinting for their lives, and unfortunately, one of them fell due to the increased velocity of rushing down the slope. The sheer panic on their face, as they both knew that they were screwed, how could they outpace it.

A large vehicle drove up a hill at high speed, landing on the two vulnerable couple, drifting afterwards as it drags their remains on the walkway dirt path of the park.

"Two points right fucking there! How's that Shiro! I told you they were an easy kill." The driver laughed his ass off at the cruel display.

"Moron! I told you to leave the girl out of this! I HAVENT FUCKED FOR DAYS!" One of them was pissed at the outcome.

"Hey look, what's that?" The other pointed at the tall figure in the distance with a small child on its back.

"Hahaha! That must be the leader of those cockroaches. Hey pedo, you think you can one shot that fucker? The kid is yours for the taking." The driver said as the one sitting in the trunk holding a sniper rifle nodded nervously, removing his foggy squared glasses and placing them in the pocket of his orange jumpsuit.

His hands shook as he takes aim,

.

BANG!

.

He missed, and due to the strong recoil, he fell out behind the jeep, landing on the ground.

"Fucking cum stain." Switching the gear stick to reverse and pushing on the gas pedal.

"NO! WAIT-"

.

The man yelled though was abrutly cut off by tire running over him. His head Pops due to the heavy weight of the steel car.

"We got the weird one out. Oi! Shinji, pick up that rifle. I'm going to teach you how to aim in a moving car. " The driver yells as there are only four of them left.

"This is going to be fun."

.

.

.

.