Chapter 3: First Steps: Advance

"Takashi? You really cleaned up the whole house?!" Raya exclaimed coming out of the bathroom. Takashi smiled to himself putting on his shoes.

"Of course. The filth was killing me." Takashi said as the tied up his laces and got up to face Raya. "Also, I threw out that man's belongings outside."

"You... You did what-"

"I said I got rid of his stuff. Every last bit of it." Takashi replied firmly shutting Raya up. "Wanted to inform you before you found out yourself and blew a gasket."

"I never-"

"Really?" Takashi deadpanned as Raya looked away embarrassed remembering her outburst not long ago. "Well, whatever. I took my card and I'll come back home before 7:30 PM."

"Where are you going?"

"Shopping." Takashi replied shortly as Raya gave a questioning look. Takashi looked at her for a while before sighing and looking away. "Hah... There's nothing edible in the fridge. I cleared everything that was spoilt this morning and I need to restock."

"B-But that should be my job-"

"Which you didn't do." Takashi snapped at her causing Raya to pull back physically not expecting Takashi to be this assertive. 

"T-Takashi... I... I'm so sorry-" Raya's lips quivered as tears welled up in her eyes. Takashi's eyes widened before he sighed once again. Taking a deep breath, he calmed his nerves before addressing a sorrowful Raya. "I'm so-"

"No... It's fine. I'm just a bit bitter about how everything has turned out for us." Takashi sighed as Raya sniffled to herself. "I... Just don't do this again and I'll forgive you, if you want to be forgiven that is."

"I... Y-Yes."

"Good then. Just relax for today. Go sleep upstairs, I have spare keys so don't hold yourself up if you are feeling exhausted. I'll bring back dinner as well, okay?" Takashi reassured Raya as she nodded. "Alright then, I'll be on my way."

"Be careful." Raya said softly as Takashi nodded waving at her before closing the door. 

Closing the main gate of the house, Takashi stretched his body as he looked at the sun peeking behind the parting clouds. 

The street was clean courtesy of the heavy rain last night. Shallow puddles decorated the asphalt broad as Takashi began walking with a destination in his mind. 

"To the supermarket first." 

------

Takashi's mother was a crafty, shrewd businesswoman who preferred to live a humble life with her husband and her teenage son. 

After graduating from a prestigious university in Tokyo, she with her father's investment and encouragement started her chain of small restaurants and it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that she had amassed a moderate fortune. 

Financially she wouldn't ever have to rely on anybody else unless it was for something outlandish. 

The only small dent her fortune took recently was when she had to pay her lawyers for the divorce settlement between her and her ex-husband after she found that not only had he been cheating on her the whole time, but he also had a second family. 

After being discovered instead of being shameful of his dishonesty and misconduct, the man took strife in his deceitful doings and demanded a divorce. Raya was heartbroken and spiteful, she didn't let the man wiggle off easily. When the man refused to pay for the divorce settlement, she hired the best lawyers and with evidence she cornered the man, winning the case. 

She had won but she never felt so miserable. She spent the rest of her days trying to drown her depression, barely paying attention to her business, her home or to her teenage son who she knew had worries and issues of his own. 

Being an emotionally neglectful mother at that time, she did what she thought was the best for Takashi. Dumping all the settlement money she had won from his father into his account. 

But money doesn't buy happiness.

"It buys crazy-ass happiness." 

Takashi mused to himself with multiple bags in his hands and more in his inventory that was the result of his shopping spree. His father was a scientist and worked for a rather famous firm so the settlement money that sat in his account was more than hefty, to say the least. 

'There is still five years before the Z-Day and while five years is a lot of time but now it all comes down to my planning and decision making that will put me at a higher ground when all hell breaks loose.' Takashi mused to himself as he took a shortcut to his home. 'While I can create food using my system I shouldn't rely on it for the most simplistic things. I have enough money and if invest it right I'll have unlimited funds to allocate the resource I need to survive the apocalypse. I've already started securing food in my inventory and by the end of five years, I'll have more than enough food, hopefully. The problem, for now, is Matter Points and my training-

Takashi stopped mid-step as his eye landed on a large sign board. 

"Well... I guess that secures the Matter Points as well." Takashi smiled to himself as he stood in front of the gates of a small scrapyard. The metal gate and the brick fence of the scrapyard were quite high making it impossible for Takashi to scout out the area properly. "I need a higher vantage point-Oh! There it is."

Takashi walked past the scrapyard and into the elevator of a tall building that was near the scrapyard. Taking the stairs to the rooftop, Takashi placed his bags into his inventory and leaned on the parapet, looking down at the scrapyard. 

"Hmmm." Takashi hummed as he opened his crafting system and searched for binoculars in his 'Unlocked' sub-menu. Spending no more than 50 IMP, he had military-grade binoculars resting in his palms. 

Takashi scouted through the lenses that Enhanced his vision as he burned the visible layout of the scrapyard into his mind. 

"Alright, then. Now, I only have to wait until nightfall." Takashi muttered to himself as he stored his binoculars away, turning to leave. "Hopefully, this will turn out just fine-"

Takashi froze mid-sentence as the door of the rooftop opened up and his eyes landed on the figure of the security guard who was looking around to check if there was something out of the ordinary.

And there was. 

Takashi. 

Taking a few breaths, Takashi curbed down his rising heartbeat as he faked a cool, half-smile as he casually waved at the guard. The guard was startled before he hesitantly waved back at him. 

"What... What are you doing here, kid?" The guard asked in a civil tone as Takashi sighed in relief as the man wasn't all that suspicious about him. 

To the guard, Takashi was just a kid. 

"Nothing, Sir." Takashi replied with a polite formal tone. That coupled with a shy smile seemed to have calmed down the guard's worries as realised the kid in front of him was not a punk or a troublemaker. "Just... Appreciating life and the view."

"Hmm, that's good. It's rare for younglings such as yourself to do that. The floor is slippery from last night's rain. You might want to walk away slowly." The guard said as Takashi nodded. Takashi gave the scrapyard another glance before slowly walking away from the railings. "You weren't thinking about jumping off, were you?"

Takashi sensed the guard's concern and smiled at him. 

"I tried something similar but... It wasn't so pleasant." Takashi replied cryptically as the guard raised an eyebrow. "I won't do something as stupid as that again."

"Good, good. I don't mean to be rude but youngsters these days are so fragile, get a bad grade on a single test or if somebody calls them names, they see no other option than jumping off the cliff." The guard shook his head as he patted Takashi on his shoulder as he approached him. "Such a sad generation. I hope you aren't the same."

"I certainly hope I am not."

"Say kid, what would you do if get a bad grade on a test or if somebody calls you names?"

"Work hard and do better than the last time. Even if it's a small improvement, it's still an improvement."

"Heh? Good, good and... What about the bullies?"

"I'd knock their fucking teeth out."

"Hahaha!" The guard laughed as Takashi replied in a sober tone. The guard patted his back as he escorted him to the elevator. "As your elder, I would be criticised for saying this to you but that's exactly what you should be doing. Someone steps on your toes, and you stomp their feet flat in return. That's what I did, haha."

Takashi's looked at the guard beside him with a raised eyebrow. 

"What? You were expecting a lecture?" The guard asked as Takashi nodded. "It's not my place to lecture you. You aren't my kid."

"Oh, I see-"

"And even if you were, I would still tell you the same thing I did now." The guard grinned proudly as he straightened his uniform. Takashi nodded as the man closed the elevator door. 

"Say, sir?"

"Yes?"

"Where do you see yourself in five years?" Takashi asked a question that was mostly asked during job interviews which caused the guard to raise an eyebrow.

"Hmm, I don't have any regrets about how my life has turned out so far. I am about to be a father soon so I'm hoping to live a quiet and peaceful life raising my kid with my beautiful wife." The man grinned as Takashi hummed to himself. 

'Peace and quiet huh...' Takashi muttered to himself. 'In five years... There would be nothing as such.'

"You okay, kid?" The guard asked in a worried tone shaking Takashi out of his rut. 

"Yeah... Yeah! Just thinking. Anyways, congratulations to you, Sir. I wish the best of luck for you and your family." Takashi smiled as the guard grinned. Takashi stepped out of the elevator and bowed toward the guard before turning to leave. "Thank you for your courtesy, sir. Goodbye."

"Make sure to go back home before it gets dark." The guard warned as he waved at the strange boy. "Man... What a peculiar child."

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Looking at the darkening sky the guard sighed.

"Looks like it's about to rain again."

------

Takashi bought something to eat on his way home. Takashi mixed a sleeping pill in Raya's portion as he served her the food. Takashi and Raya had small chat about Takashi's studies and his plans for the future for a while before Raya started feeling sleepy. 

Takashi smiled to himself as he wished Raya goodnight as he closed the door behind him. Takashi walked into his bedroom as he closed the window and drew the curtains. 

On his way back home, Takashi turned any kind of abandoned stuff he found into MP and so he had a generous amount of MP. 

Takashi opened his crafting menu as he began crafting the stuff he needed for his first exploit. By the time Takashi was finished, he barely had a few MP to spare but it was certainly worth the cost. 

Sprawled on his bed, was a padded, water-resistant jacket with a hoodie, a black face mask, water-resistant gloves, boots, dark form-fitting pants for easy movement, a jammer, small emp grenades and a taser. 

He had to pay extra for emp grenades since he didn't know how they were made but it was worth the cost. Putting on his new outfit, Takashi killed all of the lights of the house and the porch before locking the bedroom door from inside and stepping out of the window using a simple ladder. 

Takashi stored the ladder in his inventory as he climbed up his compound wall and began walking on it. Takashi made sure he didn't make any unnecessary noise as he walked on the neighbourhood compound walls before jumping off onto a darkened alley. 

Takashi was doing his best to avoid the streets he knew were littered with cameras and took multiple alternative routes purposely to make it impossible for the police to track him once tonight's matter was reported to them. The sound of the heavy rain drowned out most of the noise as Takashi smiled internally crouching around the corner.

He looked and waited for the camera to turn and he made a mad dash towards the pole effectively entering its blind stop before it turned back. 

Breathing in Takashi leaned on the pole as he looked at the camera upwards. He was about to move once again as an idea struck him. 

"Please, please work." Takashi put his hands on the pole and surely a prompt appeared. 

[Metal Pole x 1

Street Lights x 1

Surveillance Camera x1

Turn it into Matter? Y/N]

Takashi grinned like a maniac as he looked at the prompt before him. 

"Yes!"

Takashi with familiar fascination as the metal pole along with the devices it housed disintegrated into matter particles before they were stored away in his Vault. Takashi had successfully neutralised the entrance surveillance and he was sure that someone would come out to check just what had happened. 

Takashi moved slowly as he heard the sound of footsteps approaching. He moved to the other side of the gate and crouched putting himself out of the line of vision of the approaching guard as he retrieved the taser. 

Takashi's heart started racing as he heard the sound of metal grinding as the guard opened the gate from inside. 

"What? Why the heck is it so dark here-Where is the fucking pole-umph!"

Overwhelmed by shock the guard was unable to respond as Takashi kicked him behind his knee sending him to the ground before grabbing his mouth tightly and tasing the guy in the neck. 

The man convulsed for a moment before he went limp and passed out from the literal shock. Takashi breathed out as he let the man go. That was the only moment he got to capture calm down his heart as the walkie-talkie on the passed-out guard's person went off. 

Takashi quickly grabbed the radio device and threw it into a huge puddle of water before grabbing the passed-out man by his leg and pulling him inside. The job was easier said than done. The man weighed three times more than Takashi and by the time Takashi pulled the guy into a dark corner he was huffing and puffing. 

"O-Oh god... Hah... I'm so weak-" Takashi stopped mid-sentence and groaned as he heard another guard approaching. "T-This... I hope this wasn't a bad idea!"

Hissing to himself, Takashi ducked behind a wood crate beside the passed-out man and tried to remain as quiet as he could. 

"What the hell... Why is it so dark in here and where is that fat ass-Monori?! Daiki, what the hell happened?! Kiyoshi?! Do you copy?!"

As the newcomer approached the downed body of his friend, Takashi retrieved his signal jammer and turned it on. The man flinched, startled by the loud static distortion from his walkie-talkie. Fear of the unknown gripped his heart as he realised that the situation was too unnatural. 

Takashi slowly treaded out of his hiding spot and towards the frantic man. Takashi brandished the taser as he sneaked behind the man ready to grapple him. 

What Takashi didn't expect was his feet to make a splashing noise as he unknowingly stepped into a puddle of water and mud. Altered by the sudden noise the man turned around in fear, his eyes widening as they landed on a dark shadowy figure. 

Before he could scream the figure made a beeline for him, quickly hitting him in the nose with a metallic object, disorienting him and sending him to the ground. The man clutched his nose in agony, as he squirmed in the mud. He cursed as he tried to gather his bearings only to be zapped unconscious. 

Takashi breathed heavily as he grabbed the unconscious man and threw him onto his passed-out friend. Shaking his head to clear out all the rising doubts in his heart, he made way towards the main electrical panel. Opening the panel he took out one of the small emp grenades and tossed it after turning it on. 

Closing the panel he made a run for it as not even a moment later a surge of electricity fried the panel, which caused a blackout in the scrapyard. Takashi leaned up against the wall as he heard frantic movement in the lonely office cabin as the single remaining guard ran around like a headless chicken. 

Takashi opened the door quietly, as he stepped into the office cabin. He lowered his body, staying out of sight as the guard flashed his flashlight around in paranoia. 

"Fuck this! What the heck is happening today?! Oh my God! What is that-Oh! Damn... It's my coat. H-Haha... My coat." The guard laughed nervous as he gripped his baton. He wiped the sweat on his forehead as he made it towards the door to check where the two other jackasses had gone. "T-This better not be a prank-Huh?"

The guard noticed the door was slightly ajar and there was fresh muddy footstep of small feet. It almost looked like a child but that was impossible considering the factory premises were off-limits for anyone under sixteen. 

"I hope it's not Zashiki-Warashi, hahaha." The guard joked to himself to calm his growing fear as he slowly turned to check where the footsteps lead to.

'Shit! Shit! Shit!' Takashi cursed under his breath as he rushed out in a state of panic. 

*Bzzt!* 

The taser buzzed and glowed in the darkness, startling the man as he swung his baton around wildly.

Takashi tried to duck under the swing but the darkness made it impossible for him to predict the path of the attack and as a result, the hard baton hit him right in the face.

Takashi felt his vision turn black. Blacker than it already was in the darkness as he fell to the ground. 

"W-What the fuck?! Wha-What... A thief?!" The shrieked to himself in a state of panic shock. "What did you do my friends, you bastard?!"

Takashi groaned as he blinked the stars away from his vision as he flailed his arms to reach for the taser he dropped. Takashi became anxious as it was nowhere to be found in the darkness. 

"Fuck! Fuck!" Takashi cursed as the guard rushed at him intending to give him the beating of a lifetime. 

"You wanna rob me of my job?! I'll fuck you up?!" The guard raised the baton and swiftly brought it down at Takashi, as the latter's mind ran a thousand miles per second. 

*Clunk!*

"Huh?!" The guard was visibly shocked as instead of hitting the thief's face, his baton smacked across something hard and metallic. "W-What the fuck-"

Takashi kicked the guy in the groin as hard as he could, catching him off-guard and sending him backwards, cupping his soon-to-be-bruised ball in pain, dropping the baton. 

Gripping the crowbar he had just crafted, Takashi quickly rolled ahead and towards the man as he attacked the man's leg and hit him right in the kneecap.

*Crack!*

"Ahhhh-Ack!" The guard's scream was cut short as the Takashi used the curved end of the crowbar to hook it around the man's leg and pulled it sending him to the ground. The last thing that man saw was a leg descending onto his face before he was knocked out with a sick crunch. 

"H-ha...ha... Hahaha!" Takashi dropped to the ground breathing heavily before he burst into a fit of maniacal laughter. Shaking his head he looked at his shaky hands and quivering legs as gritted his teeth. "I... I won. But I almost blew it up!"

Takashi clenched his fists in irritation as he helped himself up after a few moments of rest. 

"This body is too weak! If I don't improve my physicality then I kiss my safety in the apocalypse bye-bye." Takashi grumbled as he grabbed the two unconscious guys outside and brought them in after a brief moment's struggle. "Hah... I better train myself so this shit doesn't happen again."

Takashi looted the office first, taking any valuables he found and destroying the camera footage to make it seem like a robbery before he moved on to the real treasure. 

The scraps of the scrapyard. 

(A/N: Duh.)

Looking at the heaps of scrap, Takashi shook his head as he started the real job of turning the scrap into his precious matter points.

"Looking at this, it almost feels like the baton I took to the fucking face was worth it." Takashi said as he looked at the number of matter points he had amassed in such a short amount of time. By the time Takashi was done, not even a single piece of scrap remained. 

"Almost."

Closing the gate behind him, Takashi left the scrapyard behind as he disappeared into the night.

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