Memories of Fated

Chapter Five - Sakamoto Kiyoshi

POV: Ito Tsubaki

It's not there... It's not there. It's not there. It's not there. The log out button is not there. How could it not be there? My fingers hover over the void, my arm trembling. With what? I don't know. Fear perhaps.

"Hey, Ito, are you ok?" Kyo moves in front of me, the menu snapping into oblivion. My hand still suspended over that place. The place where the log out button should be. Where is it? I don't even care that Kyoto called me Ito anymore. Everything that mattered before pales in comparison now. Only that one question is in front of me.

"Where is it?" My voice quivers.

"Ito it is ok, just calm down" Kyoto shakes me lightly on my shoulders.

Everything was not ok. What would happen? What would happen to my uncle? Would he go to jail? Would he lose all his money and then his sanity or maybe even his life?

What would happen to me? Would I be stuck in this game forever? All I knew in between the sea of questions in my mind was that this was not the time to be calm.

"It isn't there" My eyes welled. Was it even possible to cry in a game? What were the tears made of, data and pixels? But they felt real as they slid down my face.

"Ito" My friend's voice was ridged with caution. "You have to calm down, please, calm down" My avatar just trembled more.

"It is probably just a bug, we just have to wait for them to fix it." He pulls me to his chest, so I can hear his virtual heartbeat in my ears.

It isn't a bug. Deep down, I know that and I think Kyoto knows it too but I let his words wash away my panic. He is right. I don't have time to panic.

"Thank you, Kyoto, you're right," I say, wiping my tears as I pull away from him.

He laughs and it is like a calming melody to my ears. "I wish I could record you saying that," he tells me unhelpfully.

"But if it is a bug, they would have shut down the servers, logging everyone out," I say as I ponder, trying to get the horror of the situation out of my head. "Maybe it is just us the bug effects or a number of players."

"Maybe, but what about you, can you log out?"

I raise my hand, flicking my wrist and my menu appears. I press on the section where the log out button should be. Will it be there? Please be there.

But it isn't.

My soul sinks like a stone in water. I can't log out. I take a deep gulp of air. Calm, I tell myself. The stone may have sent ripples of dread through me, but the water was originally calm and it will be again.

"I am the same as you" I mutter flatly.

"Maybe it is just us, let's go and ask them" he points to the two figures standing in the distance.

"Yeah"

We start sprinting towards the two silhouettes, who I can tell are both boys as we draw closer.

One has jet black hair, with the majority of it over on one side, he wears a midnight blue top over the standard beige armour given to players in the normal avatar customisation.

The other has shoulder-length hair coloured a dark pink, a red and yellow bandana tied around his head. He wears the almost identical outfit to the avatar standing next to him, but with a white top underneath.

"Hi!" I wave at the two as I reach them, the pink head stands with his menu open, confused.

"I am Yira, that's Kyo" I gesture over my shoulder to Kyo, unaccustomed to running in this environment. "Having the same problem?"

The boy with black hair nods, "I am Tachi"

"The names Reece!" He stands too close, his face almost pressed up to mine.

The boy named Tachi moved to push Reece off but I beat him to it, kicking him in the side.

"Someone offended you already?" Kyo finally catches up "that must be a new record"

"It is not, he was just too close, geez" I huffed, pouting.

"So, you having it too?"

"Yeah, but it has to be a bug" Reece recovers from his kicking, jumping back up and standing beside Kyo.

Moving next to Tachi so we form a circle, I tell them about our hypothesis.

"That certainly seems possible" Tachi stares at the mix of colours in the sky as the thinks. The handle of his sword casts a shadow on the grass.

"What about calling the game master?" Reece begins to open his menu before I warn him.

"There is no point, it probably won't give you a straight answer"

"So we just have to wait" Kyo crosses his arms.

"Yeah"

"But we-" Our conversation is cut short as a bright blue glow blinds our vision and the loud echos of bells can be heard across the landscape. Then suddenly, the glows turns brighter, attacking my vision until what I see is no longer fields of grass but stacks of bricks.

Me and Kyo stand in the main plaza, other players teleporting around us, I spot Tachi and Reece a couple of metres away but so many people are appearing all a once that I quickly lose sight of them.

"A forced teleportation? But the only one who can do that is"

Before I can finish, a red warning light blinks in the sky, then it multiplies, until the sky is no longer a mix of colours, but one; red.

Liquid drips and forms a person concealed by a large blood-red cape with gold running along the stitching.

I had never seen this sprite in the game before, what was it? And enemy? A friend? If it was something that could hurt me, then I should move, but something roots me to the spot. Was it the roots of fear?

"Attention players" The black shadow covering the figures face made me feel even more afraid. The way I couldn't see his lips moving to form sound was unnatural to me.

"Welcome to my world"

What? But it said 'my world' but....but that is impossible. Unless...

The next words he says confirms my suspicions.

"My name is Sakamoto Kiyoshi.