The sounds of tapping keyboards filled his ears as he stared blankly into the monitor sitting in front of him. A spreadsheet which he had been working on for seemingly months, taunted him with its broken formulas and corrupted data sets.
Ken sat at his computer feeling his soul get sucked dry by the boring office job he'd been employed at for over 2 years. 4 years of university wasted on a median paying role within a consumer goods company.
His head was pounding as he tried to fix whatever mess the bosses had made while last using his spreadsheet. Out of habit, he rubbed his right shoulder trying to sooth the pain.
'Huh?'
He almost recoiled in shock as he realized that his right shoulder wasn't hurting at all. For 7 years he had been in constant pain, so much that it had plagued him every moment that he was awake.
Ken tried to think of what could have cured him, yet the moment he did, the headache he was experiencing throbbed in response.
*DING*
He heard an alert come from the computer, grabbing his attention.
"An article?"
He opened up the email that just so happened to pop up in front of him which read, "Prodigy catcher Daichi Suzuki wins the Japan Series Trophy for the Hanshin Tigers with a walk of Grand Slam"
He frowned seeing the familiar name, yet a wave of happiness filled him.
"Maybe I should have gone to the game." He mumbled, feeling a little guilty.
Ken cradled his head after receiving yet another wave of pain from the headache he was experiencing. It was so bad that he was having trouble remembering what day it was.
"Do I need to go home?"
Weirdly, when he said the word home, the faces of both his mother and father appeared in his mind, making him feel odd.
'But I haven't lived with my parents since High School.' He thought, once again feeling the headache throbbing.
*DING*
Before he could follow this line of thought even more, Ken heard another notification through the computer. This time it was an instant message from one of his colleagues.
[Mika: Extensive damage detected to the temporal lobe. Recommend using Recovery Elixir]
"Huh? Temporal lobe? Recovery Elixir?"
He looked at the jargon that his obviously sleep deprived colleague had written and had half a mind to ignore it completely. However, he needed this job so he didn't want to put himself in a bad position with the bosses.
[Ken: Um sure. I'm not IT, but have you tried turning it off and on again?]
He breathed out a sigh of relief, hoping that that would end the matter.
"What's the time?" He mumbled, pulling out his phone from his pocket.
"Hmm? Is that my old phone?" Seeing the flip phone that he used to always carry around in High School, he felt surprised.
Things were becoming very weird in this moment, causing him to feel a hint of anxiety creeping up. He stood up and looked around, only to see an empty office around him.
This was even creepier considering he could still hear the tapping away of keyboards from the unattended office cubicles. While his mind was trying to process what was happening, his head was continuously throbbing.
The pain was so great that it made him feel a huge wave of nausea threaten to overcome him.
*DING*
[Mika: Time is running out, please confirm you wish to use the Recovery Elixir]
[Y/N]
Ken saw Mika's message pop up on his screen, demanding an answer. He clutched at his head as the pain was becoming unbearable.
"DAMN IT! WHAT DO YOU WANT FROM ME?" He screamed out, on the verge of losing consciousness.
There was a sinking sensation in his stomach as he once more stared at the screen shining in front of him. He had a feeling that if he lost consciousness, he wouldn't wake up again.
Fear instantly overtook his senses as he slammed his head on the keyboard while trying to stay awake. He tried to think of happier times, yet they were blocked by the severe pain in his mind.
[Warning: Intracranial pressure increasing. Please use Recovery Elixir]
[Y/N]
This time the voice came from inside his mind, a monotonous one which seemed to hold no emotion whatsoever. Ken gripped both sides of his head, feeling as if it was going to be torn apart from the inside.
"YES! YES! JUST PLEASE MAKE IT STOP"
He screamed in agony, begging for the pain to go away.
[Confirmed. Using Recovery Elixir]
At those words the pain instantly subsided, bringing with it a wave of warmth that he had never experienced in his lifetime. It was as if all of his pain and worries had disappeared, birthing him anew.
'Is this what death feels like?' He wondered.
However, in the next moment his consciousness went dark.
***
The sound of rhythmic beeps filled the small room located in the children's hospital wing in Osaka. Upon the bed lay a figure with bandages upon their head, looking peaceful as if they were sleeping soundly.
Chris walked into the room and saw his son who was just playing baseball not even a few hours ago, now bedridden. Daichi who was clutching his brothers hand was currently asleep, resting his head upon the side of the bed.
He felt a lump in his throat as he saw the scene in front of him.
The preliminary results weren't great. Not only had Ken received a mild traumatic brain injury, the Doctors had also hinted their may be bleeding in his brain. If things did not go well, a clot could form and create increased pressure on the brain.
Never in a million years had he expected his sons much awaited match to end in such a manner.
Chris took a look at his watch before quickly leaving the room. His wife should be arriving to the hospital any moment.
As soon as she saw the incident on TV, she had rushed home and grabbed a few things before catching the first flight to Osaka. No parent would be able to sit idly by once something like this had happened to their child.