They walked to the station. They've had quite enough of the park, Isaac being their cherry on top ruined the experience, if only a little.
It wasn't all bad as Kiro scrolled through the pictures of Isla he had stolen. He had his phone up to his face so that nobody would see.
"Do you know what the sanctum is?" He asked Isla who was still attached to his arm.
"Mm? Never heard of it." She shrugged.
Saanvi shrugged too. It was the first they'd heard about it when Ursa mentioned it just a few minutes ago.
"Well if two rich brats don't know about it, it can't be that important." He jokingly said.
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"Jerk!" Isla punched him lightly on the shoulder while she laughed.
Even Saanvi was laughing. Kiro was seeing a rare sight right in front of him. Which caused him to stare a little, he shook it off before she could notice though.
"Are you alright buddy?" He asked Hiro who seemed out of place ever since the toilet incident.
He lightly chuckled and stroked the back of his head, "yes, yes." He boarded the train first.
Kiro could tell something was amiss with him but he didn't ask any further. He reckoned he didn't want to spill his guts in front of the girl of his dreams.
They arrived at school a little over 5. Winter was almost here so the sun had almost already set at this point.
All they could talk about was how great the park had been and how they should visit it again some time. They decided to skip dinner too, they expected to get in trouble for this, since they skipped breakfast they may as well go all the way.
They said their goodbyes to the girls and walked the rest of the way together. In silence.
"Clearly this is no coincidence, it can't be." Kiro mumbled, putting his thinking hat on.
Since Isaac wanted to be part of it as per Ursa, then it can only be for the rich people. The fact that he can't join yet, could only mean, it was for rich adults. These thoughts were swirling inside Kiro's mind.
'They have a secret society? Of course they do!'
Kiro didn't share his conclusion with his friend. Scared he would freak Hiro out. Scared it wasn't safe to say it out in the open like this. He was better off believing he could still find his father and maybe he still can, he's been lost for just a year after all.
His grandfather on the other hand, it had been over a decade. He had zero hopes that he was still within the realm of the living. He smiled wryly, touching the necklace he had given him all those years ago.
'Rest in peace grandpa.' He said a little prayer. He didn't know if gods were real, but if he could go back in time, then they must be and maybe heaven was also real.
He patted his friend on the back. "Don't worry, I'll help you get to the bottom of this. I—well—I also had someone disappear without a trace, my grandpa."
Silence filled the room for the longest time.
Hiro smiled, wiping a single tear from his eye. "I'll go get my headgear, it'd be a waste not to play on the weekend."
Coming back as promised they entered the game and Kiro stayed with him to help around the shop. He could use the extra hands to sort out the unending materials Felix kept on sending.
Just like that, weeks turned into months. In a blink of an eye, it'd already been 3 months since entering school. They had already sat for their quarterly exams, they were waiting for results and they'd be off to holidays.
The weather wasn't so kind, snow had already fallen. It was December after all. Kiro was glad he had bought a jacket and dropped his stubbornness back then. This winter seemed to be colder than any he'd ever experience. Maybe it was because they were somewhere else.
Even after months, their business was steady. Though they hadn't gone to a single mercenary job, nobody seemed to trust them enough not to sell their information to other players.
Kiro was sat at his dorm couch with his best friend, when a breaking news signal showed on the TV and it automatically switched to the news channel.
[Breaking news. The game, Asgard Online has introduced real life currency conversion!]