A.R. Dragonfly Vol. 11: A.R. Dragonfly, #11

By Joshua Piedra

The world is constantly changing as it is forever in its nature to do so. Like the world, everyone's lives undergo change at one point or another. A series of events transpires that looks to do just that for Amber, Kaito, Lynn, Jessi, Rebekah and Sebastian. All they can do is embrace the change and face it head on.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Joshua Piedra
• Release date: May 4, 2023
• ISBN: 9798223462125

Book preview

Preface

We are one volume away from the final installment of the main story of A.R. Dragonfly! As always, thank you all for taking this journey with me by picking up a copy of Volume 11!

This volume was one of my favorites to write. Last volume, I spoiled Amber rotten between her birthday and the holiday season. This volume, as we get closer to the end, life begins to transform for our characters in some pretty serious ways. The end goal for everyone is in sight and with this being the second-to-last volume, there is no better time than to kick things into high gear!

I hope you read this volume and then reflect back on all of the characters and remember where they came from along with their journey to the moments they will experience here.

Enjoy the volume and, as always, I will see you on the other side of it!

Chapter 1

A Whole New World

The cold winter raged on for Kaito and Amber as they entered the month of February. It had been a few weeks since the announcement of Nickname Studios’ intent of laying off multiple team members hit the internet. At this point, nobody had been laid off which made Kaito wonder if they, perhaps, changed their minds or if they were waiting for a more opportune time to begin. Still, it was shocking news to everyone who played Blaze Auras and it certainly didn’t come at the best time. With tensions running high among the members of the community for their outrageous price tag on the Rise of Innovation expansion, the news of layoffs only further enraged the community. A game once beloved by fans around the world was now coming under the fire of heavy criticism. 

The fears Kaito felt over the future of Blaze Auras had only been elevated even more when he received a phone call from his father Yuujiro. There was no wondering what this phone call was about as Yuujiro himself said that they wouldn’t be setting a date to move until after the holidays. Thanksgiving, Christmas, and the New Year had already passed and while Valentine’s Day was right around the corner, it was hardly considered a major holiday which could only mean there was one reason why Yuujiro was calling him. Kaito took a deep breath and answered the call.

Hey, dad.

Hey, son. I’m calling to let you know that your mother and I have agreed on a moving date to Massachusetts. Ryunosuke has been a tremendous help in finding a place for us to live. We’ve been in communication with a real estate agent over there and we settled on, what we believe to be, the perfect home for us. We’re going to be packing up and heading out this weekend.

I see. Do you need any help?

That has already been arranged. We have a moving company coming by to pack everything up for us. I’m calling because all of the fun starts on Saturday so I figured that you and Amber would like to go out to dinner Friday night? It would be nice to spend time as a family together before we move.

Of course we will, dad.

Okay. We’ll come by and pick you two up at 7 PM that night. Will that work?

Amber’s stream starts at 7 but she can either do it early or just cancel it. I’m more than sure she wouldn’t want to pass this up.

Alright. If it’s too much of an inconvenience, let me know and we can make other arrangements.

It’ll be fine, dad. I’m sure of it.

Okay, son. We’ll see you Friday at 7, then.

Kaito hung up the call as Amber stood in the background in the doorway to their bedroom, arms folded. She instantly saw the look of distress on Kaito’s face and walked over, putting her arm around him. Kaito took one look at Amber with a tear in his eye. He tried to crack a smile but Amber knew that deep down, Kaito was scared. Even though he made a vow to Amber to do his best to make their relationship work, she could tell that the safety net had disappeared and that he was putting way too much pressure on himself. Amber pulled Kaito in close and gave him a quick kiss on the lips before embracing him in a hug.

You know I love you, right? asked Amber.

Kaito could only nod ‘yes’ into her shoulder.

Don’t get scared, okay? I know that sounds hella weird comin’ from someone like me but it’s true. Look how much I’ve changed because of you. I can talk to people, I can go places, heck… I’m even livin’ a normie life by goin’ to bed at night now. You showed me that I didn’t need to be scared in this world. I’d be lying if I said that I was completely cured, though. Going into public places still rattles me but I can deal with it because I know you’ll be there for me. You are the one that gives me that courage, Kaito. Why would I let you go? Even if you did the dumbest thing in the world, it still wouldn’t be enough to scare me away.

But… I almost did that once before. When Takumi died, I ran. I ran away and told you I never wanted to see you again. I saw what happened to you when you came over to my place with my dad. When I saw the way you looked… I knew what I did to you. What if I do that again!? That’s what scares me, Amber! The fact that I already did that and it could happen again… where would I go? What would I do? If I screw this up, I’ll have nothing left!

Kaito… you’re overthinking everything again. For one, was it a rough time you put me through? Yes, but I’m still here, right? I’m standing right here in front of you as your girlfriend. If I had known Takumi died sooner, that wouldn’t have happened to me. I would have realized what you were going through and I would have pulled you out of that darkness sooner than I did. As for your parents… if something were to happen, and I don’t think it will but let’s just say it does for argument’s sake… you think they’re going to let their only son roam the streets of a city with nowhere to go? Worst case scenario is that you spend a week at Sebby’s before your parents move you to Massachusetts with them.

Amber… you know the real reason why I feel this way, right? Are you trying to just humor me right now?

I know, Kaito. I know. You can’t handle the thought of your parents abandoning you, right? That’s not what they’re doing. You know that deep down, don’t you? Your mind won’t let you realize it. You keep getting hung up on the past and it shows.

I’m sorry, Amber. I can’t shake the feeling. I can’t help but feel that way… like there is this constant dread that everyone is going to eventually leave me. No matter what I do, they all just go away in the end. I don’t want to lose anybody else. Not my parents, not Sebastian, not Lynn, not even Rebekah or Jessi. Most importantly, I never want to lose you, Amber. That’s why I…

Before Kaito could even finish that statement, he felt his phone buzz in his hand. He took a look at the screen and saw that he received an email notification from Twinge. He opened it up and his eyes nearly popped out of his head. Amber noticed the sudden change in Kaito’s demeanor and couldn’t help but glance at his phone screen. Amber joined Kaito in shock as Twinge was congratulating him on hitting 250,000 followers. Out of those 250,000, 26,500 of them were subscribers.

Kaito took one look at Amber and it was as if a silent message was sent to her. Amber and Kaito took off running into the bedroom where her phone was left laying on her desk. She, too, had a message which congratulated her on the same milestone. The difference was that Amber was still more popular than Kaito as she had nearly 300,000 subscribers. Their numbers continued to skyrocket after the news of them getting fired by Nickname Studios had fully spread to the internet. The amount of support from the community was overwhelming to both of them. Not only that but with it being a new month, that meant that Twinge had sent them their checks. When Kaito remembered that the explosion of followers and subscribers began shortly after the holidays, he opened his bank account on his phone and nearly had a heart attack when he saw the amount of money that had been deposited.

Uh… Amber? Might want to check your bank account.

Amber opened the app on her phone and she joined Kaito in the proverbial ICU ward with the Code Blue alarm going off in the background. When Kaito and Amber saw just how much money they had made, Kaito made a decision right then and there.

Amber… What I’m about to suggest is something unorthodox. With Blaze Auras in the state that it is in right now… with all of the drama and everything happening so fast… before this bubble potentially bursts, what do you say we do some light splurging? Nothing too over the top but something I think would do us… or mainly me… some good?

What do you have in mind?

Amber, after my parents move, how would you like to take a vacation and come to Japan with me?

J-Japan!?

Yeah! With the amount of money we just made, we could easily afford a trip there. To you, it might just be a vacation but to me, I think of it as a cleansing. If I can go back to Japan, I could visit my hometown and maybe come to peace with everything that has happened. Plus, it gets us away from all of the Blaze Auras drama that’s happening right now and it lets you experience my culture first-hand. I’ll take you around, show you places, get you to try some of the local cuisines, all that fun stuff. Maybe it’s just what the two of us need… to get out of here for a while and do something new?

Going to Massachusetts on a whim is one thing but this is halfway across the world, Kaito. This is a little bit much to be done spontaneously.

Yeah but it’s not like I have the tickets secured or anything. I think this is the first time I’m doing something without actually doing it first and hoping luck stays on my side! We don’t have to leave immediately. We can plan it, set things up, and when everything is good, we can just go for a week or two and then come back. I mean, our jobs are our streams and we’re no longer partnered so we can work our hours. We are our own bosses, Amber. Nothing is chaining us here to this apartment.

You know what? Let’s do it! Feck it. Let’s just do it!

You really mean that!?

Yeah. ‘sides… you said it yourself. It will help you get your mind off of things and find closure, right? I want to see you happy, Kaito, so if this is what it’s going to take then I’ll go with you to Japan… on one condition.

Name it.

We go to Akihabara.

Of course. I wouldn’t take you there if I had no intention of showing you the motherland of anime.

Then it’s a deal!

They say that money can’t buy happiness but Kaito seemed to become happy once he saw the check he had received from Twinge. Kaito was right, though. Going back to Japan would be the ultimate test for him. He could go back to his hometown and come to peace with what happened to him there. Perhaps it could serve as the catalyst for him to get over his insecurities. While Kaito was nervous about this upcoming trip, he knew that he had to go through with it. After hearing Amber try to console him, he knew that he couldn’t keep putting her through this. He needed to find his closure.

The rest of the week passed and Friday had arrived. Amber had announced that she would be doing a joint stream with Kaito at Noon that day as they had evening plans. Since seeing the two of them in 2v2 matches was always a top request for both of their viewing audiences, that is how they ended up spending Kaito’s stream. Once they were done, they decided to get dressed up for their dinner with Yuujiro and Akane as Kaito knew that his father would pick an upscale restaurant. He had been on so many business trips that he had grown accustomed to fine dining, especially when it came to special occasions. Moving to a new state for a new job and leaving his son behind definitely counted as a special occasion so the chances of them having to dress up for this were quite high.

Kaito and Amber only had one real piece of dining attire and it was the same thing that they wore when Kaito took Amber to Verti’s for her birthday. When they got dressed up, Kaito could only remember how they were discriminated against at the restaurant and hoped that the same thing wouldn’t happen tonight.

7 PM approached when there was a knock on the door. Kaito noted that his father was a few minutes early but opened the door anyway. On the other side of the door wasn’t Yuujiro but Rebekah. Rebekah took one look at Kaito and almost fainted at the sight of how handsome he looked. Then she noticed Amber and her eyes nearly popped out of her head.

D-did I come at a bad time!? You’re obviously on your way out somewhere, right?

Yeah. My mom and dad are moving out of state for a new job. We’re going to dinner tonight because this will be the last I get to see them for a while.

Oh, wow! Yeah. I’ll get out of your hair then. This is super important!

Well, they’re not here yet. What did you need to see us for?

Oh! Well, it’s nothing, really. I just wanted to talk to you about something… or… someone, to be more exact but compared to this, my stuff isn’t even worth talking about! I’ll just catch you at another time! Go be with your parents and enjoy your dinner!

Thanks, Rebekah. We’ll definitely catch up with you later!

Kaito closed the door as Rebekah’s smile changed to a look of sadness. As she walked away from the apartment, she muttered to herself.

I wish I could do something like this with my parents… you two sure are lucky…

A few moments later, Yuujiro arrived outside of the apartment. Since they were keeping watch, Kaito and Amber headed out before Yuujiro could even make it fully onto the sidewalk. They took the fire escape down to ground level and hopped into the car which surprised Yuujiro a bit but he didn’t exactly question it. After doing a 180 and getting back into the car, they took off and drove into the heart of the city in the direction of the arena. There, Yuujiro knew of a high-class restaurant that would be perfect for them. The traffic was rather moderate so it was going to take some time to get there. Kaito decided that he was going to announce the news of their upcoming trip.

Say, dad. I just want you to know that after you guys move, I’m going to go back home for a little bit.

What!? What do you mean?

I talked it over with Amber and I decided that the two of us are going to take a trip to Japan. I want to go back home because… well… I need to do this.

I understand why you would want to. You’re going to be 21 next month, Kaito. You have the right to do what you want with your life. If you think that this is something that will help you, then who are we to tell you no?

Do you need a place to stay? asked Akane. I could call over to the Tomoki family to see if they have a room for you? Maki-san and Toshiaki-san would be happy to see you again.

No, that’s fine. We’re not going to be staying in Karuizawa that long. I promised Amber to take her to some of the different areas of Tokyo so this is kind of a half homecoming half vacation for me…. And pretty much a full vacation for Amber.

I see but do try and stop by and say hello while you’re there. I’m pretty sure you remember them babysitting you whenever Yuujiro and I had to go out of town. They’re practically family.

Kaito simply nodded in agreement with Akane. A short time later, the two of them arrived at a very upscale restaurant called Prime. As they suspected, it was a suit and tie affair inside, or at least moderate business attire. The restaurant was even fancy